The purpose of temples

The purpose of building very high temples is to give people a chance to see them from a distant place. This system is carried on in India whenever a new temple is constructed, and it appears that it is coming down from a time before recorded history. The foolish propaganda by atheists that temples were constructed only in later days is refuted here because Vidura visited these temples at least five thousand years ago, and the temples of Visnu were in existence long, long before Vidura visited them. The great sages and demigods never established statues of men or demigods, but they established temples of Visnu for the benefit of common men, to raise them to the platform of God consciousness.

Srimad Bhagavatam 3.1.23 purport