Mormon Temple Artwork

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints build temples. Temples are sacred edifices that are used for holy worship. Temples in the Mormon church have the same purpose that temples in the Bible had. There are over 100 temples across the world in many different countries. The temple that is represented most in the form of art and artwork, is the Salt Lake Temple. The Salt Lake Temple took over 40 years to build under the direction of Brigham Young, John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff.

This gray building built out of granite has a castle like look to it. The front has three towers pointing to heaven and likewise the back. These six towers represent the leadership of the church as there are six presiding officers: three for the spiritual welfare of the members and three for the physical well-being. There are also forty rooms found within the walls.

Although many temples exist all over the world the temple that is chosen to represent the church is the Salt lake temple. You will see pictures of this building on pamphlets produced by the church describing temples and their purpose and on the churches website. Many LDS jigsaw puzzles use this edifice as the image for the puzzle.

Why is this temple the most used in photograph, art, and other artwork, even though this temple was not the first completed by the Mormon church? One reason might be that the headquarters of the Mormon church is located in Salt Lake City. This is also in many ways the show case temple for the church. Every Christmas the grounds are lighted up with thousands of lights. Many people in Utah have fond memories of visiting the grounds every Christmas. There is also so much history in the building; as it is over 100 years old it is a way that members of the church can reflect upon the sacrifice of the early pioneers who worked for years to complete it.

Nearby are located other very important prominent buildings in the Mormon faith: the Tabernacle, the LDS Conference Center, the Assembly Hall, LDS museum of history and art, and other church office buildings. Every six months, the church holds a conference for a world wide audience that is broadcast all over the world, the temple is shown on screen during brief intermissions.

The temple has been photographed inside, and there are pictures of many of the rooms inside the temple. You can find them in LDS books such as "House of the Lord". In the mid part of the twentieth century, when the temple was being renovated and updated, pictures were taken of the inside prior to the rededication to give members of the church and others an inside look, which had never been done previously. Once a temple is dedicated cameras are not allowed inside.

Since America is new in comparison to Europe and other old monarchies of the world, America does not have many castles; this is a great example of American architecture at its best.