Gap between pillars inside the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple

There are a huge number of pillars inside the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple in Luxor (a total of 134) and the structure covers an area of 50,000 square feet (or used to cover, but now there is no roof over the structure). The perspective with you take a photo can determine how you visualize it, so in this case, the photo seems to show that there is very little space between the pillars inside the Hypostyle Hall; while in reality, when you wander inside the Hypostyle Hall, there is a lot of space.

View Larger Map

Wide view of the front side of the Karnak Temple at Luxor

A view that gives a view of the section of the Karnak Temple compound that lies between the front and the parking space in front. It is a fairly big place, you can see large open spaces and some amount of trees in the area. And of course, you can see tourists coming to the temple, crossing a small bridge. There is a huge amount of open space in front of the temple, and in the distance, you can also see some hills (and you would not normally think of the desert area of Egypt as having any hills).

Palm Trees in a row in front of the Karnak temple in Luxor

The space in front of the Karnak temple is pretty large, with people having to walk a few minutes from the parking area to the actual start of the temple. In this photo, you get a brief view of the large space, in terms of the space between the palm trees in a row in front of the temple. In front of one tree, you can see a bored policeman on a chair, and since there have been no terrorist incidents for many years, things are much safer for tourists and the reputation of Egypt as a tourist friendly place had increased.

View Larger Map

Broken section between pillars inside the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple

The lighting in this photo is not very good, but you should be able to clearly make out the piece of broken rubble lying between the pillars, with the carving on the broken section being very clear as well. For monuments that are as old as the Karnak temple at Luxor, there will be wear and tear and damage.

Broken and sem-broken pillars inside the Karnak temple in Luxor

The Karnak temple is around 35 centuries old, part of the Middle Kingdom in ancient egypt, and was built by a number of pharaohs (each pharaoh added his own touch (or in the case of Hatshepsut, the female pharaoh, she added the Obelisks inside the temple)). However, because of the age of the temple and neglect over the years, a lot of the temple is in some sort of worn down condition.

Detailed view of paintings on the undeside of architrave in the Hypostyle Hall

In the previous photo, I had shown a view of the underside of the architrave on 2 of the pillars of the Hypostyle Hall. However, the painting on the underside was not so clear since it was taken without much zoom; in this photo, I took the camera lens to maximum zoom and focused on the painting on the underside of the structure.
The painting in this photo was inverted, but you can get a view of the painting very clearly, the painting is pretty clear. The depiction of the Hieroglyphs is very clear (although I cannot understand anything, not knowing how to read this ancient symbol based language). It felt so different, standing there and watching this ancient work put by the Egyptians from a different era.

View Larger Map

Close up of paintings on the lower portion of the architrave inside the Hypostyle Hall

There are not too many architraves on top of the pillars of the Hypostyle Hall, with most of the pillars being uncovered. I tried to get more details of the underside of one such architrave, and you can see signs of the painting that was there below the architrave; in addition to the carvings on the side of a pillar.

View Larger Map

A number of pillars inside the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple

A large number of pillars inside the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple. In previous photos, you can see many images of the pillars inside the Hypostyle Hall, but not too many pillars. In this photo, you see a large number of pillars (although most of the photos are not very big) in the frame, with a view of the carvings on the pillars of the Hall. The architrave on top of the pillars look a bit awkward though.

View Larger Map

Many pillars of the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple covered by architrave at the top

When you see most of the structures belonging to ancient Egypt, a large number of these structures are in some state of ruin, with the typical example being that the roof has fallen down in many of these. Even when you go to the Karnak temple, you can see the temple in various states of ruin; even in this photo of the Hypostyle Hall, you can see the roof has fallen down - there are just some architrave on top of the pillars inside the Hypostyle Hall.

View Larger Map

Detailed carvings on a pillar inside the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple

I was very impressed by the Karnak temple in Luxor. When you visit Egypt, you think of the Pyramids and the Great Sphinx, or you think of King Tutankhamen, but few people think of the Karnak temple. The temple is a huge structure, having been built by many pharaohs over a period of time, and containing the Hypostyle Hall, a huge structure covering an area of 50,000 square feet with 134 pillars.
I was looking at the carvings on a pillar inside the Hypostyle Hall, with the background coming in dark because of using the flash. Use of the flash took a meter reading from the carving and anything that was slightly darker became black.

View Larger Map

People standing at the base of the huge pillars of the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple

The pillars of the Hypostyle Hall inside the magnificent Karnak temple in Luxor are huge and very well decorated. The Hypostyle Hall is huge, with a total of 134 large pillars covering a total (when constructed) area of 50,000 square feet.
The sheer size of the Hypostyle Hall can be seen, when you see the tourists at the base of the pillars; a lot of people find it hard to believe that this large structure was built over 35 centuries back and still stands tall.
Learn more about Egypt. Buy the Lonely Planet Guide. Click to buy.

Carvings on the walls of the Karnak temple in Luxor

A set of carvings on the walls of the Karnak temple. As per the hieroglyphic language used by the ancient Egyptians, this would mean something that experts would be able to decipher (I was not able to decipher them obviously since I am not an expert); but it was interesting to see the carvings that were made on the stone of the temple, done so many centuries ago, retaining their form even after so many years.
Learn more about Egypt. Buy the Lonely Planet Guide. Click to buy.

Exhibit showing restoration of the Cachette Courtyard inside the Karnak temple in Luxor

The Cachette Courtyard is the first court, with the courts being defined as the place between the pylons; the Cachette courtyard which was one of the first to be re-discovered. In addition, the Cachette courtyard was the location which was the start of the route taken by ceremonial processions to the Luxor temple. In addition, on the walls of the Cachette courtyard, the pharaoh Merenptah celebrated his victories over the Sea People.
Learn more about places to visit in India. Buy Lonely Planet Guide to India. Click to buy.

Gap between the pillars of the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple in Luxor

The Hypostyle Hall inside the Karnak temple in Luxor is one of the most fascinating structures in the temple. This is a hall that was covering an area of approximately 50,000 square feet, and had a total of 134 pillars inside, with these pillars being well carved, and with paintings on the roof the hall. Now, very few portions of the roof remain, and most of these are now up after a lot of restoration that happened.
Learn more about places to visit in India. Buy Lonely Planet Guide to India. Click to buy.

Obelisk and tourists around it, seen from an archway inside the Karnak temple

The Obelisk is one of the most spectacular constructions inside the Karnak temple in Luxor (along with the pillars of the Hypostyle Hall); specially because the Obelisk seems in such a great condition when you compare this with the rest of the structures around it. The Obelisk remains popular to tourists, as you can see in this photo of a number of tourists surrounding the Obelisk (which is one of the 2 obelisks inside the Karnak temple).
Learn more about places to visit in India. Buy Lonely Planet Guide to India. Click to buy.

Photos of couple of obelisks inside the Karnak temple in Luxor

The Karnak temple in Luxor must be one of the rare such monuments which has 2 obelisks in the same complex (the ancient pharaohs used to place Obelisks at the entrance to temples, and the female pharaoh Hatshepsut created the obelisks, to be created in the city of Aswan).
In this photo, you can see the tops of both the Obelisks, rising above the structure of the Karnak temple.
Learn more about Egypt. Buy the Lonely Planet Guide. Click to buy.

A couple of large statues against a wall inside the Karnak temple in Luxor

Temples inside ancient Egypt were built by pharaohs towards the gods, and also as a projection of their own divinity, with the temples showing statues of the pharaoh being close to the gods; the temples also showed statues of the pharaoh with arms crossed (which was a practice for mummies of pharaohs during the New Kingdom around 1500 BC).
You can also see the state of the temple at that time, with many walls standing, but an overall state of wear and tear.
Learn more about Egypt. Buy the Lonely Planet Guide. Click to buy.

Side walls of the Karnak temple in Luxor, cordoned off for tourists

Large sections of the Karnak temple in Luxor are not open to tourists, with the precinct of Amon-Ra being the only open section. Even in the section open to tourists, restoration work is ongoing, with many structures and parts cordoned off (with rope, being just temporary cordoning off, since I could see a couple of people crossing the roped off section).
Here, the walls also show carvings, a lot of which is still retained even 35 centuries after the temple was built.
Learn more about Egypt. Buy the Lonely Planet Guide. Click to buy.

An isolated section of the Karnak temple in Luxor, along with some palm trees

The Karnak temple in Luxor is a temple built of sandstone, with almost the entire structure made of stone, leaving very little greenery in the whole structure. However, we did see some trees inside the structure, such as the palm trees seen in this photo.
Most tourists do a quick round of the temple, see the Hypostyle Hall, and then come back; very few people bother to see the entire section visible to tourists (and there are large sections of the temple that are not open to tourists as well).
Learn more about Egypt. Buy the Lonely Planet Guide. Click to buy.

Cordoned off structure inside the Karnak temple in Luxor

The Karnak temple was built in many sections by a number of pharaohs, and is one of the largest temple complexes inside Egypt. When inside the temple, I felt the need for a guide the maximum, since there were many structures inside that did not make sense to me, and a guide could have explained some of these.
One of these is this cordoned off structure inside the Karnak temple. It could well be the base of something much larger, such as a huge statue, but I did not anything similar to this inside the temple.
Learn more about Egypt. Buy the Lonely Planet Guide. Click to buy.