Construction of a Temple with Regard to the Rising Sun Ray

Using the example of a number of cultural traditions, the author considers a construction of the temple structure along a rising sun ray. There are two main types of temples built according to the rising sun ray: the temples oriented towards the sunrise by their sanctuaries, and the temples oriented towards the sunrise by the entrance portal. Examples of such a construction are given for the temples of Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Orthodox and Catholic Christianity, Hinduism and Shintoism. The first type of temple in Ancient Egypt is shown to represent the birth of the sun in its sanctuary. In Christianity, this type of temple represents a ray of the sun entering the temple from an apse window – from the God depicted there. The second type of temples in Ancient Egypt represents the revival of image of the pharaoh-god located in his sanctuary, with the rising sun ray. In the ancient tradition, this type of temple represents the meeting of the rising sun over the large pre-temple altar, along with a statue of a deity in the depths of the sanctuary. It is shown that the main cathedral of Catholic Christianity, St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome, is oriented towards sunrise not according to Christian, but according to ancient tradition. In the Hindu Shaiva tradition, the meeting of the rising sun in front of the temple portal is associated with penetration of its ray into the sanctuary and the highlighting of the statue or the main attribute of the god. In the Shinto tradition, the ascendant is presented in a special portal. The welcoming sacrifice takes place on the pre-temple altar. In general, the paper deals with the semantic, spatial, decorative, and ritual aspects of the construction performed of both types of temples.