Temple

/tem"peuhl/, n.

1. Shirley (Shirley Temple Black), born 1928, U.S. film actress, famous for child roles during the 1930s, and diplomat.

2. Sir William, 1628-99, English essayist and diplomat.

3. a city in central Texas. 42,483.

* * *

I

Edifice constructed for the worship of a deity.

Features commonly include a sanctuary and an altar. Ancient Egypt had two kinds of temple: mortuary temples for the cults of dead kings, with a chapel in which offerings were presented, and cult temples that held images of deities. The cult temple typically included a massive pylon entrance with a court leading to a hypostyle hall and, at the heart of the temple, a shrine for the cult image. Most Classical Greek temples were rectangular and built of marble or other stone on a low stylobate (stepped platform). A gable roof was supported by columns, with a portico at each end (amphiprostyle temple), a colonnade extending all around (peripteral temple), or a double line of columns all around (dipteral temple). An inner cella housed the image of a deity, and an altar stood outside the temple. Roman temples were profoundly influenced by Greek style, but the altar was inside the temple and the colonnade was often reduced to a row of engaged columns. Hindu temples vary regionally, but generally consist of a towering shrine and a columned hall surrounded by an elaborate wall. Buddhist temples range from half-buried sanctuaries with richly carved entrances to single carved towers or statues. The Chinese and Japanese Buddhist temple is typically a one-story building of richly carved, painted, or tiled timber constructed around an atrium used for worship, though towering pagodas were sometimes built as temples over a shrine. In the Americas, Inca and Mayan temples were constructed of stone, often richly carved; they were generally stair-stepped pyramids, with the shrine at the top. See also synagogue.

II

(as used in expressions)

Golden Temple

Horyu Temple

Jerusalem Temple of

Ryoan Temple

Shore Temple

Temple of Heaven

Temple Shirley

Shirley Temple Black

Temple Sir William

Todai Temple

Palmerston of Palmerston Henry John Temple 3rd Viscount

* * *

▪ Texas, United States

      city, Bell county, central Texas, U.S. It lies along the Little River, just southeast of Belton Lake (impounded on the Leon River) and some 35 miles (55 km) south-southwest of Waco. With the cities of Bartlett, Belton, Copperas Cove, Gatesville, Salado, and Killeen, it forms part of the Killeen-Temple Metropolitan Statistical Area.

      Founded by the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railroad in 1880, it was incorporated in 1882 and named for B.M. Temple, a railroad engineer. When, soon thereafter, the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railroad came through, it became a division point with railroad shops. During the 1880s Temple became a point of settlement for several hundred Czech immigrants; SPJST (Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas; Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas) Museum houses more than 18,000 books in the Czech language, as well as many artifacts of Czech pioneer life. The city's growth as a commercial centre for livestock and farm produce was fostered by the establishment of three hospitals (Santa Fe [1892], King's Daughters [1897], and Scott-White [1904]). Temple (community) College was founded in 1926, and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (Baptist; founded 1845) is in nearby Belton.

      Temple is headquarters for several state and regional agencies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and for agricultural-research centres. Manufactures include school and office furniture, electronic and optical products, animal feed, and farm machinery. Temple's history is commemorated in the city's Railroad and Pioneer Museum. Pop. (1990) city, 46,150; Killeen-Temple MSA, 255,301; (2000) city, 54,514; Killeen-Temple MSA, 312,952.

* * *