Module 7

Christianity


Facts:


- In Romanesque churches, architecture is largely focused on. They have rounded arches. In the Durham Cathedral in England, there is heavy, thick-walled architecture, and they’re geometry-based. Gothic architecture sprung from Romanesque architecture.

- The Chartres Cathedral is known for its beautiful stained-glass windows that tell the stories of France. It has the largest collection of 12th and 13th century stained glass.

- Flying Buttresses are a form of Gothic architecture

- Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City was built in 1506. The architectures included Amante, Michaelangelo, and Lorenzo Bernini. It took 120 years to build.

- Christians can celebrate death and resurrection here because Saint Peter was buried near it.


How do the videos relate to the text?

In the reading titled “Church Architecture,” it focuses on the basilica which was rectangular in shape, with the large central portion of the hall making up the nave. In the video, Reverend Doctor Simon Taylor explains “when I first came to this church thinking about whether I was for a job here, I do remember sitting in the pews in the nave and thinking, how am I ever going to pray in this place”. This church was the Saint Mary Redcliff. Pillars and columns are of importance in both the video and the text, they provide a sturdy starting point for church architecture. Churches are sacred places to pray and to have mass at and both the text and the video stressed the importance of that.


My opinion of the films:

The films are lengthy and I think in the “Christianity” video, one church could’ve been talked about the whole time rather than several in different locations. It was educational though and explained thoroughly why architecture is so important in religious structure. And I chose to watch this film at random, I didn’t have any reason, in particular, I suppose it was because I don’t know much about Christianity.


Hinduism


Facts:

- Hindu temples all are unique in their own complexity and variety, they all focus on a simple design consisting of an entrance, mandapas (halls), an inner sanctum (womb chamber, garbha griha), above this is a tower.


-Khajuraho, located in the North of India, has 25 temples standing. Completed in the 11th century, the Lakshmana Temple has a distinctive beehive shape, it is dedicated to Lord Vishnu.


-Kandariya, the largest and most ornate of the Khajuraho temples. These temples attract tourism, it has erotic carvings, Kama Sutra is represented here.


-Rajaraja Chola laid out the foundations for the Brihadisvara temple in 1002 CE, supposedly because he had been commanded to do so in a dream. This temple was dedicated to Shiva, people can offer deities coconuts and bananas. There are little packets of powder, which the narrator believes they use as makeup before they go into the temple.


-Brihadisvara has 13 stories, conforming to the rule that all such towers should have an odd number of stories, Brihadisvara was the world's first temple complex to be built entirely from granite.


How do the videos relate to the text?
The text and video both focus on one of the Lords, Shiva. The Shiva Nataraja is the literal embodiment of the divine, Shiva becomes present when you pray here. In the video in Brihadisvara, Shiva is represented in his “warrior pose”. In the video, we also learn that Phnom Bakheng, built-in 900 was dedicated to Lord Shiva. The text relates more to the art sculptures of Shiva, bronze, made by skilled artisans, these being created in the Chola Dynasty a time of a golden age. In “Shiva as Lord of the dance” “Shiva embodies those perfect physical qualities as he is frozen in the moment of his dance”.


My Opinion of the films:
I liked this video more than the Christianity one, it was easier to understand, and Hinduism is an interesting religion to me. The temples are unique looking to make the video interesting visually. I learned a lot about the deities and how important architecture is to the Hindu religion, something I didn’t know before. I chose this video because I wanted to learn about a religion that is polytheistic and in a country I don’t know a lot about personally.