Architecture, colour and religion

Abstract

In Latin religion is spelt as re-ligare and means a re-link (with God); that is our communication between human and the super human or sacred or simply God. Ritual is the primary means that makes communication possible between humans and the powers beyond immediate human life – the transcendent. Signs and symbols are used to express his feelings and emotions; thus act as the media for communication. The great symbols in religion are the natural expressions of human thought. Herbert YPMA claims that, colour is one of the oldest forms of communication known, and we are attracted to it like magpies to a shiny object. Colour is simple and pure. Therefore colour symbolism too predominates as a universal pattern, and integral link between man and his ritual, a sociological coding which guides his life all the way, a powerful presence, which can never be ignored. Colour resonates like a raga, musical note, creating mood nuances appropriate to the occasion, causing man to link colour with ritual, laying down certain laws as it were, in the colour vocabulary, to bring the discipline necessary for each occasion. In other words, colour plays an important part in the relationship of men socially. Colour symbolizes deep emotions of humanity and belief is universal. Although colour is a basic and vital aspect, which is lacking in our built environment today, it has been much ignored, misunderstood, misused, or not exploited to its full potential. This study looks in to investigate how color said to be religiously symbolic rather than universally symbolic and how color is generated, nurtured and articulated in the built environment.