Solomon's Temple is a church located in

Aizawl Aizawl (, American English, US: , British English, UK: ; Mizo language, Mizo: ), formerly known as Aijal, is the capital city and the most populous city of Mizoram, India. It is also the third largest city in northeast India. It is situated ato ...

Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The temple was constructed by the religious group Kohhran Thianghlim, translated as 'The Holy Church' in English. It was founded by Dr. L.B. Sailo in 1984 and is non-denominational. The temple is one of the largest in Mizoram state.

History

Dr. L.B. Sailo, the founder of Kohhran Thianghlim Church, said, "In the year 1991, God showed me Solomon's Temple in my dreams. I had never thought of Solomon's temple before, nor had any dream of constructing it, but when I saw it in my dreams in 1991, as soon as I woke up, I wrote down the temple as I saw in my dream." The church was built on the western outskirts of

, the capital of the

state in

. The foundation stone was laid on December 23, 1996, and construction finished 20 years later, with a Christmas service in 2017 inaugurating the temple.

Architecture

Area The Temple area accommodates 2,000 people within the main hall and 10,000 within its

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary a ...

. It is a square site measuring 180 ft. on each side. The interior of the Temple building is also square, measuring 120 ft. on each side. A 30 ft. wide

verandah A veranda (also spelled verandah in Australian and New Zealand English) is a roofed, open-air hallway or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front an ...

called 'The porch of Solomon's Temple' is attached to the exterior of the main hall on all four sides. This provides a shelter for people with its sizeable seating capacity. Design The main building has twelve main doors, three doors per wall. The exterior walls of the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

face exactly South, North, East, and West. Above the porch are four pillars, each carrying seven David's stars, meant to represent the seven churches of

the Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Christian Bible. Written in Greek, its title is derived from the first w ...

. On each of the pillars is a picture of the Cross of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

and the emblem of the Holy Church. Atop the porch is an

image An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or Three-dimensional space, three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be di ...

of two angels blowing trumpets which face the top of the pillar and flank the northern side of the

pillar A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

, which is now used as the main entrance. The temple has four towers, one on each corner. Each tower is topped with a crown, representing the Crown of Salvation, the Crown of Righteousness, the Crown of Life and the Crown of the Overcomer. There are two intersecting horizontal ridges that cross in the middle of the pitch roof such that when viewed from the air they form a cross, representing the

New Covenant The New Covenant () is a biblical interpretation which was originally derived from a Book of Jeremiah#Sections of the Book, phrase which is contained in the Book of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31–34), in the Hebrew Bible (or the Old Testament of the ...

. The Temple has 32 windows, 32

ventilation Ventilation may refer to: * Ventilation (physiology), the movement of air between the environment and the lungs via inhalation and exhalation ** Mechanical ventilation, in medicine, using artificial methods to assist breathing *** Respirator, a ma ...

s, and 32 skylights. It is a multi-story building. Temple Complex Within its compound, the temple complex has a natural park covered by a selection of forest trees that provide shade and fruit for animal life. There is a restaurant for temple visitors. The complex houses an

educational institution An educational institution is a place where people of different ages gain an education, including preschools, childcare, primary-elementary schools, secondary-high schools, and universities. They provide a large variety of learning environments a ...

and a

social service Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

center that provides help with

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and includes a polyclinics

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

. Finance The temple cost $3 million to complete. Most of the funds were contributed by church members with smaller donations received from outside the church.

Temple Service

The temple holds church services each

Sunday Sunday (Latin: ''dies solis'' meaning "day of the sun") is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. Sunday is a Christian sabbath, day of rest in most Western countries and a part of the Workweek and weekend, weekend. In some Middle Ea ...

. It also hosts special events such as Zanlai Au Aw (Midnight Herald) Anniversary organized by the Publication Board of Kohhran Thianghlim, and Missionary Day organized by the Mission Board and Jerusalem Khawmpui in late December of each year. The temple is also used as a center for blood donations organized by the Church's youth wing, Youth Evangelical Front.

Gallery

File:Solomon's Temple, Aizawl, Mizoram, India.jpg, Solomon's Temple, Aizawl, Mizoram, India, from Tanhril File:Solomon's Temple during Jerusalem Khawmpui 2013.jpg, Solomon's Temple during Jerusalem Khawmpui 2013 File:An Angel blowing trumpet and @ background is the flag of Holy Church.jpg, An Angel and the Flag of Holy Church File:Solomon's Temple from South-West.JPG, Solomon's Temple between the trees File:Solomon's Temple during Coronation Day 2013.jpg, Solomon's Temple on Coronation Day 2013 File:An Angel with a tower in the background.JPG, An Angel blowing Trumpet with a tower in the background File:Blood Donation with David's Pillar in the background.JPG, Blood Donation Day with David's Pillar in the background File:Blood Donation.JPG, Church members waiting for turn on Blood Donation camp at Temple File:Face of Temple with Blood Donation Banner.JPG, Face of Temple with Blood Donation Banner File:Temple eastern side under construction.JPG, Eastern side of the Temple under construction File:Temple tower at the sunset.JPG, Temple Tower at the sunset File:Blood Donation held at the porch of Temple.JPG, Blood Donation held at the porch of Temple File:Solomon's Temple on a cloudy day.jpg, Solomon's Temple on a cloudy day File:Solomon's Temple from south-eastern side.jpg, Solomon's Temple from south-eastern side File:Solomon's Temple Photo Competition-2018 1st Prize in 1st Category.jpg, Solomon's Temple from above (1st Prize in 1st Category, Solomon's Temple Photo Competition-2018) File:Solomon's Temple Photo Competition-2018 2nd prize in 1st category.jpg, Solomon's Temple (2nd Prize in 1st Category, Solomon's Temple Photo Competition-2018) File:Solomon's Temple Photo Competition-2018 3rd prize in 1st category.jpg, Solomon's Temple (3rd Prize in 1st Category, Solomon's Temple Photo Competition-2018)

References

{{commonscat, Solomon's Temple, Aizawl Aizawl Solomon's Temple Tourist attractions in Mizoram 1996 establishments in Mizoram Churches completed in 1996 Churches in Mizoram