Amanda Duchesne sacred space

Amanda Duchesne

Shrine to Vairocana Buddha

General Description

The Shrine to Vairocana Buddha is part of the Longmen Grottoes near the city of Luoyang, an ancient capital of China. It is one of many shrines located in the Grottoes. There are many different caves and the carvings span from the year 480 to 900 and on. The carvings in these caves, especially the Shrine of Vairocana Buddha, are great examples of Buddhist art. Longmen is comprised of over a thousand caves, close to 100,000 sculpted figures and thousands of inscriptions.

Architectural Design

The architectural design of the Shrine to Vairocana Buddha is a type of landscape architecture. The Longmen Grottoes comprise numerous caves and sculptures carved into the limestone hills. Many of the sculptures are of Buddha's and other religious icons. The Vairocana Buddha Shrine is the largest and is part of Fengxian Cave. The shrine is approximately 57 feet tall. The head alone is about 13 feet tall. It was constructed during the early Tang Dynasty. It is truly a testament to the great skill stone sculptors possessed during this time.

Harmony With Nature

Even though the Vairocana Buddha is carved right into the cliff it still remains harmonious with nature. Its construction does not interfere with other landscape elements. The construction of this shrine as well as the Longmen Caves is not like a mine where caves are left abandoned and desolate. Rather, they enhance the landscape. The years have eroded many parts of Longmen. Luckily the Shrine of Vairocana Buddha is not lost.

Symbolism and Sacred Objects

Part of the symbolism of the Shrine to Vairocana Buddha is seen in the face. Some believe that the face of the Buddha is modeled after the Empress Wu Zetian. This can be symbolic of her godly right of status. Amy McNair from the University of Kansas hypothesizes that the Empress Wu took over the construction of the Shrine as a way to honor her ancestors. This could perhaps be why people speculate that the face is of the Empress. The Grottoes and the sculptures were commissioned by the emperors and thus were a way to assert their noble right to rule. The shrine also has other sacred elements, such as two disciples of the Buddha, heavenly kings and temple guards. The Vairocana Buddha is sitting on a throne of lotus petals most of which are long since eroded away.

How it is Used by Worshippers

The Longmen Grottoes are a major Buddhist pilgrimage site in China. Many Buddhists from around the world visit to worship. Since it is a substantial piece of art and history it has also become a tourist attraction for people from all over the world. The Shrine of Vairocana Buddha is part of Fengxian Cave; as such, it is part of the nearby Fengxian Temple. According to McNair, by worshipping at the shrine individuals would garner improved karma but so too would the emperor who commissioned it. This in turn would aid in their salvation.

Sources

1. http://www.orientalarchitecture.com/china/luoyang/longmen.php
   
2. http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/henan/luoyang/longmen.htm
   
3. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1003/documents/
   
4. http://www.international.ucla.edu/china/papers/mcnair_paper.pdf
   
5. http://www.world-heritage-tour.org/asia/china/longmen/feng-xian-si/sphere-flash.html
   

   
   

Jason Fanning sacred space

Jason Fanning

Art 1301

4/20/09

The Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu

General Description

The Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu is one of the oldest free-standing monumental buildings in the world and one of the best preserved ziggurats built by the early Mesopotamian civilizations. It was built over approximately two decades centered about 2100 B.C.E. and was never completely finished. It has sustained damage in various wars, primarily by the Elamites roughly seventeen centuries after its initial construction and during the first Gulf War¹.

Architectural Design

Ziggurats are similar in general form to pyramids and mastabas, though being of a simpler design. There are four basic layers to the Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu, with archaeological evidence pointing to each of these having been built and decorated as the structure was built upward. The Ziggurat was approximately 62 meters by 43 meters at the base. It was constructed of baked mud bricks, and had three staircases arranged in a T shape along the front region of the building. Each staircase contained one hundred steps and all converge to lead to the shrine. The Ziggurat is built at a slight incline and buttresses are used throughout the temple in order to brace the design and keep it from falling outward due to the weight of the mud bricks used in its construction². In its current incarnation, it is approximately 11 meters tall, though when it was undamaged it appears to have been much closer to 13 or 14 meters. Interestingly, there are no straight lines used in the building, with each wall having a slight curve to it, similar to how the later Greeks would curve columns to take into account the distortion encountered by the human eye.

Harmony with Nature

The Ziggurat is built entirely of natural components and rises from the earth and sand of the area, almost as if it is a natural hill. The materials used were all found locally, and like other ziggurats, it was built in a time far prior to synthetic materials having been developed. Ziggurat loosely translates into "mountain" and the ancient Sumerians who constructed the temple seem to have succeeded greatly in their efforts to appropriate the earth into a place of worship.

Symbolism and Sacred Objects

As mentioned earlier, the Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu was built in layers - each of these represented one of the basic astrological views of the people at the time, with the base being the underworld, the second tier the earth, the third the sky, and the fourth tier/shrine being the heavens. These tiers were all painted to represent the symbolic divisions as well, with the base coated in black, the middle whitewashed, the upper tier bright red, and the shrine itself glazed in a brilliant blue³. The Sumerians who constructed this temple believed that their deities came from the mountains they could see in the distance, and many archaeologists believe that this is the reason the superstructure of the temple is shaped much like a mountain⁴.

How it is Used by Worshippers

Though the Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu is no longer used as a place of worship, it was originally designed as a temple to the city's god, Sin. The Ziggurat was referred to as Etemennigur, translating roughly to "House whose foundation creates terror⁵." Ziggurats, in general, followed this pattern, with each one built to honor the deity of the city in which it was constructed.

References:

1 http://www.nishra.com/post/2008/05/05/Observations-of-Mesopotamian-and-Elamite-Ziggurats

2 http://www.lmc.ep.usp.br/people/otavio/estruturas/ur.htm

3 http://www.nishra.com/post/2008/05/05/Observations-of-Mesopotamian-and-Elamite-Ziggurats

4 http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/ziggurats/story/sto_set.html

5 http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/ziggurats/explore/exp_set.html