monastery
Sign in to savethumb|Sharabai Monastery (Himachal Pradesh) A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities (as cenobites) or alone (as hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may be a chapel, church, or temple, and may also serve as an oratory, or in the case of communities anything from a single building housing only one senior and two or three junior monks or nuns, to vast complexes and estates housing tens or hundreds. A monastery complex typically comprises a num
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A monastery is a building or group of buildings where monks or nuns live and work, either together as a community or individually as hermits, and it always includes a space set aside for prayer such as a chapel, church, or temple. Monasteries range in size from small structures housing just a few people to large complexes and estates that accommodate dozens or hundreds of residents.
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24 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Terms
- Monastic life
- Buddhism
- Christianity
- Western Christianity
- Catholic
- Lutheran
- Anglican
- Eastern Orthodox
- Oriental Orthodox
- Others
- Trends
- Hinduism
- Advaita Vedanta
- Sri Vaishnava
- Nimbarka Vaishnava
- Dvaita Vedanta
- Jainism
- Sufism
- Monasteries in literature
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|Sharabai Monastery (Himachal Pradesh) A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities (as cenobites) or alone (as hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may be a chapel, church, or temple, and may also serve as an oratory, or in the case of communities anything from a single building housing only one senior and two or three junior monks or nuns, to vast complexes and estates housing tens or hundreds. A monastery complex typically comprises a number of buildings which include a church, dormitory, cloister, refectory, library, balneary and infirmary and outlying granges. Depending on the location, the monastic order and the occupation of its inhabitants, the complex may also include a wide range of buildings that facilitate self-sufficiency and service to the community. These may include a hospice, a school, and a range of agricultural and manufacturing buildings such as a barn, a forge, or a brewery.
In English usage, the term 'monastery' is generally used to denote the buildings of a community of monks. In modern usage, convent tends to be applied only to institutions of female monastics (nuns), particularly communities of teaching or nursing religious sisters. Historically, a convent denoted a house of friars (reflecting the Latin), now more commonly called a friary. Various religions may apply these terms in more specific ways.