At Middle Temple Hall, where law students often dine, duck into Fountain Court with its monkish atmosphere.

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Thierry Morel, the curator of Houghton Revisited, described Houghton Hall as "a temple built to house the collection".

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In October every year, the first rays of the rising sun reach across the Nile, penetrate the temple and move along the hypostyle hall, through the vestibule and into the sanctuary, where they illuminate the somewhat mutilated figures of Ra-Horakhty, Ramses II and Amun.

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Vithalla is a large temple complex featuring a stunning 100-column hall, a large chariot-shaped shrine and several mandapas.

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The performances took place in the forecourt of the Daibutsuden (the Great Buddha Hall) of the Todaiji-temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

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From the upper floors, a programmer could see, in the distance, the pagoda roof of the main hall of Tofuku-ji, an eight-hundred-year-old Zen temple, rising over the trees at the edge of town.

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