Sacred Architecture: The Incarnation of Correspondence between Human and Universe

Belief in unity is the basis of Traditionalists’ thought and polarity is the basis of Modernists. In a traditionalist worldview, all dimensions of universe are connected to eachother and especially to Homo. In point of Plato's view in Timaeus, human and universe are together. Correspondence between world, human and temple, a God's house, is a manifestation of this unity. Sacred architecture is the perfect symbol of the complete relationship between human and universe. Upanishads is the manifestation of this concept in Hinduism wisdom. Formal rituals of worship turn into inward ones in Vedanta Wisdom. Accordingly, instead of human or animal sacrifice, it is the soul of the wayfarer that is sacrificed. Furthermore, temple turns into the body of sacrifice and instead of sacrifier, that is the Brahman, the wayfarer himself becomes a sacrifier and the temple, as the place for sacrificing, is replaced with his body. In consequence, human body also determines temple’s geometrical dimensions both in Hindu and Christian architecture. In traditional teachings, sacred place or temple is a microcosm and is considered by almost all Traditionalists as the perfect symbol of universe. In essence, it follows from this worldview on the one hand and from the belief in the correspondence between geometrical dimensions of human body and temple on the other, that temple is the geometrical and incarnated example of principle of correspondence between human and macrocosm. This article considers the relation between human and universe in philosophy, and sacred architecture, especially in Islamic wisdom and Ikhwan al-Safa thoughts.