The world is so interesting. [Amazing Temples of the World by Michael Kerrigan]

Temples have been places of worship, a focus for spirituality and a place for communities to gather since the earliest days of human civilisation. The first temples date back to ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, deriving from the cult of deities and residing places for gods and immortals. Today, temple buildings remain lively focal points for the Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain and Sikh religions. Organised by continent, Amazing Temples of the World offers the reader an intimate portrait of some spectacular and unusual places of worship dating from the fourth millennium BCE to the present. Ornate or spartan, immense or intimate, from the Middle East to California, this book features such impressive places of worship as the Mahabodi Temple, India, built in the location where Buddha is thought to have achieved enlightenment; the fifth century BCE Temple of Confucius in Qufu, China, the largest Confucian temple in the world; Abu Simbel, in southern Egypt, the great carved monument to the Pharaoh Ramses II; the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, the spiritual home of the world’s 25 million Sikhs; and the Shri Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden, London, the biggest Hindu temple outside India. Illustrated with more than 180 photographs, Amazing Temples of the World includes more than 150 places of worship, from Ancient Greece and Rome, through traditional synagogues to modern Buddhist, Taoist and Sikh temples.

Michael Kerrigan's Amazing Temples of the World is an international photo journey, showcasing temple structures and complexes from a variety of world religions. For the most part not including Christian or Muslim locales of worship, the book instead paints a comprehensive picture of regional political, ethnic, and religious influence as reflected through buildings or ruins thereof.  From early Hindu temples and Greco-Roman ruins telling the stories of old civilizations to modern temples in the Americas and Europe reflecting reconciliations and multicultural populations, the showcased photographs and accompanying blurbs are a mini-world history tour. Amazing Temples of the World is a fantastic read for those looking for some travel eye candy or anyone interested in cultural histories. 

Unfortunately the book's not as comprehensive as it could be. That might be a pro or a con depending on your reading objectives. Quick read? Definite pro. Want to learn more? You're gonna have to do some deep diving research yourself on your own time. But as a read it's a great precursor to that history learning. I had some cringe moments with some of the wording in some blurbs, but not enough cringe or questioning head tilts to minimize my appreciation of my read and what I took away from it. In addition to a renewed appreciation for the diversity of the religions of the world, their complexities and legacies, I'm walking away with new locations added to my Geoguessr map, insights into European efforts at reconciliation, and a light impulse to look into Zoroastrianism. 4 stars from me.

Amazing Temples of the World (ISBN: 9781838860943) is due for publication October 14, 2021.