Chartres Cathedral, The parthenon and lakshamana temple
Height:
All of these structures seem, in one way or another, to embody their creators desire for height. Chartres Cathedral and Lakshamana Temple both include structural elements like towers and spires which stretch up into the sky. The Parthenon achieves height by being placed on an elevated platform, not through any intrinsic properties of the structure.
MAterial:
Furthermore, all of these structures, Chartres Cathedral, The Parthenon and Lakshamana Temple, are built of varying types of stone. This may be the cause of their buildings wanting them to remain standing and functioning for a long time. The solid, permanent and imposing building material also helps to heighten the sense of importance and gravity of the structures.
LArge interiors:
Both the Parthenon and Chartres Cathedral have (had in the case of the partially ruined Parthenon) large interiors. The interior spaces were designed to be vast, so they would impart the true grandeur of the ideals they were built for. In the case of Chartres Cathedral, God, being the all-powerful and omnipotent being that he is said to be) could not be kept in a cramped stone hut. The interior of the house of God but be sufficiently grand to befit the God it honours. The same rational can be used to explain the large interior halls of the Parthenon, meanly substitute God for gods. While this commonality of large interior spaces holds true for most religious buildings, it does not apply to the Lakshamana Temple. While the interior ceiling is far higher than a human body, it does not approach the scales of the Parthenon or Chartres Cathedral. This relatively dominative scale may be the result of a characteristic of the Hindu Religion.
Built on Platforms:
Both the Lakshamana Temple and the Parthenon are constructed on elevated stone platforms. While the Parthenon’s is far larger and taller, they both serve the same function; to distinguish the sacred structure from the environment around it by means of disconnecting it from the plain of the ground. Now, one approaching the structure must make a conscious effort to transition from the ordinary ground to the artificial ground on which the buildings sit by ascending a staircase. This helps to emphasise the uniqueness and other-worldly nature of these buildings. This does not, however, hold true for the Chartres Cathedral, which is built directly on the ground. This is most likely because they wanted easy access into the building for the hundreds of daily parishioners.
Detailed Ornamentation:
All three of these buildings is decorated with detailed and lavish ornamentation. From reliefs carved into the walls to delicately sculpted spires to free standing statues of religious figures. All of this decoration most likely represents something of significance to the respective religion. In the case of the Parthenon, the Friezes that run above the columns and the statues that used to ornament the roof lines were all painted with bright and vivid colours, which have sine faded away. The upper parts of Lakshamana Temple are extremely sculptured with a wide variety of forms and designs. Different geometric forms appear to cascade up and away into other worlds. Chartres Cathedral is so lavishly decorated with carvings and metalwork, that is typical on gothic cathedrals, that there is hardly a square into on untouched stone. All of this decorated helps to denote the function of sacred structures while also emphasizing their importance by disapplying how much work went into their ornamentation.