English question! What is difference bet shrine and temple?

Question

shrine and temple are different??? or temple is one of shrines??

Answer 1

♡I don't know if this will help or not but when I came to live in Japan, my Japanese mother in law gave me a book called 'Japan at a Glance'. This is what it says about 'shrines';
☆"Shrines are buildings dedicated to the deities of Shinto, the unique religion of Japan. There are more than 80,000 shrines in Japan. People visit shrines on occasions such as New Year's day, the birth of a child, and during the celebration of shichigosan."
This is what it says about 'temples';
☆"Temples house Buddhist statues, which believers pray to, especially during 'bon' holidays or equinox week when people visit their ancestors' graves. People also visit temples on New Year's day to wish for happiness and health in the new year. Temples have facilities for training monks as well as housing and feeding them."
～So you see, there is a difference. I know when I (I'm American) call a shrine a temple and a temple a shrine here in Japan someone (Japanese) is always quick to point out the difference! (*^o^*) Well, I hope this helps!♡

Answer 2

I'm not 100% sure, but I think that a temple is a building for worship, whereas a shrine is a sacred place ... not necessarily for worship, but it's still possible!

This is all very well in some countries, where the only 'shrine' is a place with mementoes of someone who's dead. But I live in Japan, and it's difficult to justify the fact that English uses different words for the two! I'm constantly confused by the fact that - in English - Buddhism has temples and Shinto has shrines! People pray at all of them, so why the distinction? Personally, I feel that this particular disparity is down to the Western refusal to accept Shinto (or even paganism) as a 'religion'!

Answer 3

From dictionary.com:

Shrine:

1. A container or receptacle for sacred relics; a reliquary.
2.
a. The tomb of a venerated person, such as a saint.
b. A place at which devotion is paid to a venerated person.
3. A site hallowed by a venerated object or its associations: Independence Hall, shrine of American liberty.

Temple:

1.
a. A building dedicated to religious ceremonies or worship.
b. Temple Either of two successive buildings in ancient Jerusalem serving as the primary center for Jewish worship.
c. Judaism. A synagogue, especially of a Reform congregation.
d. Mormon Church. A building in which the sacred ordinances are administered.
2. Something regarded as having within it a divine presence.
3. A building used for meetings by any of several fraternal orders, especially the Knights Templars.
4. A building reserved for a highly valued function: the library, a temple of learning.
5. Temple Either of two groups of buildings in London, the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple, that house two of the four Inns of Court and that occupy the site of the medieval Knights Templars establishment.


So, a shrine is either a tomb where a venerated person is kept, or a place to worship and honor such a person; while a temple is a place of religious worship (or sometimes any building that is held in high regard).

Answer 4

There is a difference between shrine and temple , just as there is difference between worshiping and paying respect.
Temple is a place of worship for Hindus and Buddhists .
Shrine is like a tomb , of a holy saint or sage which people visit and pay respect .They DO NOT worship the saint .They respect the saint.
This is the difference.
I belong to Pakistan ,here there are many shrines ,India and Pakistan have long list of shrines , tombs etc where people pay respects ..temples are other than that , Just like we Muslims go in mosques to pray , Hindus go in temples , Christians in churches and Jews in Synagogues etc
I hope its clear to you now
Best regards,
Sidra

Answer 5

A shrine is generally an object of reverence - it can be a building. It can also be sitting on top of your desk, car dashboard, closet shelf, etc. A temple is generally a structure meant to house the act of worship. Therefore, a shrine can exist within a temple, but no vice versa.

Answer 6

A temple is a place people go to worship. a shrine is something you would find in a temple.

Answer 7

A temple is for worshipping and a Shrine is built in honor of an entity.

Answer 8

Generally, there is not much difference in English.
But in Japan, Shinto buildings of worship are called 'shrines', and Buddhist places are called 'temples', which reflects the different words used for these places in Japan.

Answer 9

A Temple is usually a large building for collective worship, like a church or a mosque depending on what religion worships within it. A shrine is dedicated to a specific person or relic, and worship or reverence is performed directly to it or through it.

Answer 10

Its called a shrine because there is some sort of relic or statue of some kind in there, which emphasis' the importance of the place...

A temple is just a place of worship...