I'm not going to make you wait. Here is the Temple of Heaven building. Beautiful, no?
Again, it was difficult to get close to many of the Temple buildings.
But I could get close at some points, and the interiors were impressive. Here's an altar area.
As you would expect, the decorations were amazing. I loved this ceiling. It's going to be a background on my laptop at some point.
Much like at the Forbidden City, the wooden roof and wall structure was also well decorated.
I have not yet shown you one of the doors which were all over in these ancient sites. Big red doors with nine rows of nine golden decorative "balls."
One of the features of the Temple of Heaven was an area which documented the ceremony conducted by the Emperor and his very large retinue. Here is one of the signs which explained one of the many steps in the ceremony, which took an entire day.
And finally, because I can't resist it, another of those decorative series of animals lining the roof corner.
I hope it's clear to you -- if you ever get to travel to Beijing, there are many amazing things to see. Don't miss the chance, if you have it.
1 comment:
Your pictures are so beautiful, thanks for sharing them! The Temple of Heaven is a huge park located inside Beijing, China, not far from the Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. It is actually 3 times the size of the Forbidden City, and that place is enormous! It was built during the Ming Dynasty and was a place where the emperor would go for sacrifices and pray for good harvests. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Temple of Heaven was only visited by the emperor and his royal family. The last time this park was visited by an emperor was in 1914 during the end of the Qing Dynasty.
What is most interesting about the Temple of Heaven is the layout. While at first glance, it seems like buildings scattered around a large park, but there is a lot of symbolism that went into the construction of the park. The buildings and structures are either square shaped or circular shaped. The park symbolizes the connection between Heaven and earth. Heaven is represented as a circle and earth as a square. Since the park is so large, there are so many things to see and do. There are usually many tour groups walking though explaining all the little facts and insights to this impressive park. For information on the Temple of Heaven's history, pictures, tours and entrance fees, you can visit Temple of Heaven Travel Guide.
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