The Temple at Burning Man

The Temple at Burning Man is the complement to the Man structure. See more about the Man at this post.

The Temple is a sacred space designed for honor, memory, and contemplation. People leave momentos of lost loved ones in its structure and use the opportunity to be with, and perhaps gain peace with, the loss of something precious. The Temple is on situated on an axis with the Man structure. They face each other and remind us to face our own ephemeral nature.

The temple is attended by temple guardians, and is burned - with all its emotion-laden contents, on the last night of Burning Man.

The design of the Temple changes every year. The 2025 Temple is described by its designers as follows:

“Temple of the Deep”

"The 2025 Temple was created by Spanish architect and Regional Contact Miguel Arraiz. The design references a literal black rock, inspired by the surrounding landscape. A bold evolution from previous years, “Temple of the Deep” has a natural yet futuristic vision that is simultaneously raw and ornate."

Notice the cracks in the panels. At night, light from within shined out through cracks, and when the Temple burned, fire escaped from the cracks. Because the Temple symbolizes renewal, it is powerful to see the light and the fire - life - insisting on escaping containment.

The roof of the temple was an open spiral, funneling the fire into the sky.

Because of the extremely private nature of articles placed by participants in the Temple, The Burning Man Project requests that no photographs be taken of such articles unless they were placed by you.

We did place a memorial in the Temple to our friend Jaima, a good friend to The Rusty Iris, who we lost this year to cancer.

The evening of the Temple Burn was gorgeous - ethereal - perfect for absorbing a week of the extraordinary.