Great Divine Temple (Tay Ninh Holy See)

The first and most important temple of Caodaism, at the Cao Dai Holy See complex in Tay Ninh province, Vietnam, oriented east to west and measuring 97.5 metres long by 22 metres wide, with a two-towered western facade. Ground was broken in 1931, but construction did not begin in earnest until 1936 for lack of funds, and the building was completed in 1947. The temple divides into three sections: the Hiep Thien Dai at the front, beneath twin bell and drum towers; the Cuu Trung Dai in the middle, its nine sections symbolising nine heavens and its ceiling painted with a night sky of stars; and the octagonal Bat Quai Dai at the rear, housing the Qian-Kun, a 3.3 metre sphere representing the universe and bearing the Divine Eye, Caodaism's central symbol, painted on it and repeated through the temple's ventilation windows. Painted dragon-wound columns line the nave, and the whole building is often described as a highly eclectic structure, patterned loosely after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, that fuses Buddhist, Daoist, Confucian and Roman Catholic architectural elements. It remains in active religious use.