Emergence of Hindu Temples.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Preface:

Every religion has a place of worship of its own, where people belonging to that religion visit them to pray and be nearer to their god in mind and body to attain peace.

Being a Hindu, I wanted to know facts about temples hitherto unknown to me. Historical topics are fascinating and the more you explore, the more fascinating it becomes. As many Hindu temples have come up across USA, I felt this post would interest Indians and Americans living there to know certain Historical facts about how Hindu Temples emerged in India. As such, the readers need to exhibit patience to read through this lengthy post.

Visiting a temple is a way of life for Hindus. In times of need and difficulties we think of the God/Goddess, to seek our desires, and fulfill our vows. You will all appreciate, we are in difficult times, and everything seems to go wrong in the present day world. Our moments of happiness and mental equanimity have become far and few between, making us think of the almighty so often praying for his blessings.

There are ever so many TV channels that keep airing religious discourses, and showing places of holy temples therein. All have a universal message. Pray God and have faith in him. Awareness of Spiritualism is definitely on the increase, as one sees the large gathering of people of all ages listening in rapt attention and silence to the religious discourses.

Watching these programmes, the ‘Curious Animal’ in me awoke to explore the emergence of Hindu Temples- How, When and Where? Very soon, I found out it was not easy. The two books I opened to read were fascinating. The first one (1) - The Wonder That Was INDIA by A.L.Basham was an acclaimed masterpiece, and the other (2) – All about Hindu Temple by Swami Harhananda (A Sri Ramakrishna Math Publication). This apart, the information that is available on the Internet is so vast, one can dwell eternally or can get lost in direction. With this material to assist, I had to greatly resist my temptation of elaboration of valuable information, and yet include the essentials to be brief in narration. Believe me, it has not been easy. However, I have shown in italics, certain paras reproduced verbatim from the books to emphasise their historical authenticity.

History:

Being human, aware of the divine powers of the almighty, we need a place of worship to visualize the image or symbol of the God to establish direct contact with it. All such places of Worship became sacred, and they were referred as “DEVALAYM (House of God)”; “TEMPLE (A Building for practicing Religion)”; and the place associated with the Temple, came to be known as THEERTHA too.

It is believed that the Temples came into existence by the end of the VEDIC Period (Also Known as Protohistoric Period by the Historians) which was 1500-500 B.C. that is about 3500 to 2500 years dating from the present. This too came about following composition of HYMNS of Rg Veda during 1500-900 B.C by the Priests, who sung these hymns in a poetic form in praise of their gods at sacrifices. These priests were among the Aryan people who entered India in the 2^nd millennium B.C. The hymns composed by them were passed on to generations by word of mouth, and were considered so sacred that minor changes were not permitted. Even today they are most sacred and recited at all religious functions.

During the Vedic period, these hymns praising the gods were recited at a place they referred as Yagasala, which later transformed into Temples owing to influence of the cults of devotion.

“The Chief objects of worship were the devas. a word cognate with the Latin deus. The root from which this word is derived, div, is connected with brightness and radiance, and the DEVAS by connotation were “the shining ones”. The early gods of the Āryans, like those of the Greeks, were chiefly connected with the sky and were predominantly male. A few goddesses occur in the Rg Veda; for instance Prthvī, a vague and rarely mentioned personification of earth. Aditi, the great mother of the gods, Usas, the goddess of the dawn, to whom a number of lovely hymns were addressed. Likewise, Ratri, Aranyani were mentioned; none of these, however, played a significant part in the cult. (p.233 of the book by A.L.Basham).

The Hymns of Rg Veda mentioned the names of gods and goddesses. Some of the names mentioned were that of Indra, Surya, Agni, Varuna, Rudra, However from around 900 B.C., many of the old gods of Rg Veda lost their greatness, and became comparatively unimportant, while others rose in popularity, notably Vishnu, and Siva. The main body of Rg Veda does not mention the creator-god. By the end of the Rg Vedic period, however, such a god had developed, whether wholly from the speculations of the brahmanas or from non-Aryan influence. This god was Prajapati, “the Lord of Beings”, later called Brahma, the masculine form of neuter Brahman. (Italics extracted from page 240 of A.L.Basham’s book).

The consorts of the trinity Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva were worshipped as Goddesses and in the later period temples as a place to worship them too developed, along with the temples of Vishnu and Siva, following the cults of devotion. Lord Siva, identified with Vedic Rudra was also worshipped in the form of Linga, which practice of worshipping cone-shaped objects was an important part of Harappan Culture ( 2500-1500 B.C.). With Gods Vishnu and Siva, other deities were respectively associated, and temples in their name too came about.

Yagasala to Devalaya:

As Civilization progressed in India through different historical periods, Hindu religion, its culture, its philosophy, and its way of life evolved. With three more religious scriptures – the Sama, Yajur, and Atharva coming into existence and practice; the Brahmanas, Upanishads; the great epics – Ramayana and Mahabharata and together with The Bhagavad-Gita adding to Hindu scriptures, a strong base for a Hindu way of Life took a firm shape.

Though many rulers ruled in their respective regions of India, they focused on the development of their Palace and the Temple. In the temple where the religious sentiments of the people were concentrated, the worship of the god and the place of worship became sacred, and with it the city. Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Kanchipuram, Ujjain, Dwaraka, Kaashi, Prayaga, Madurai and Puri grew up as sacred pilgrim cities attracting pilgrims. They generated revenue and became wealthy.

The dynastic rulers patronized the temples in devotion, spent great deal of their time and wealth in constructing the temples and the complex in general. The complex and its plan were strictly followed as laid down in the religious scriptures. Thus Indian Temple Architecture took birth.

Temple Architecture:

In the beginning, temples were built with timber and clay and later with bricks. Cave-temples, and temples sculptured out of stone came into vogue. Still in a later period, temples were built with heavy stone whose structures evolved different styles of architecture that looked majestic, mammoth, aesthetically magnificent and beautiful.

Considering the vast size of India, it is remarkable that the building of temples has progressed more or less on a set pattern. This is because there was a basic philosophy behind the temple, its meaning and significance. (Extracted from the book – “All about Hindu Temples” by Swami Harshananda.).

Though the pattern remained same, varieties lead to different styles of architecture. The Indian Shilpasastras broadly classified them into THREE STYLES. They were NAGARA, DRAVIDIAN, and VESARA STYLES. The base plans of the temple were square, octagon or circle.

Temples built in the region from Himalayas to Vindhya were of NAGARA STYLE; Temples in the region from Vindhya to Krishna were of VESARA STYLE, and Temples in the region from Krishna to Kanyakumari were of DRAVIDIAN STYLE.

The styles were distinguished by the shape of their Towers (Gopurams) built over the GARBHAGRHA (Sanctum Sanctorum). The tower is also referred as VIMANA to signify that it is the airplane of the gods who descended on earth to bless the mankind. The NAGARA type had towers with rounded top and curvilinear outline, while the tower of the Dravidian style is in the shape of truncated pyramid. The third style, VESARA combined both styles. The towers under each style covered excellent sculptures. Other features of the temple were elaborate pillared halls, and these pillars were exquisitely carved.

Patronage of Temple Buildings by Rulers:

Temple building developed due to the patronage of the rulers during their dynastic rule. The temples that came up during the Gupta period (320-650 A.D) in the northern India, though withstood the vagaries of time, lacked impetus for further development. This apart many ancient temples were destroyed by Muslim invaders in the north. Relatively speaking, such was not the case in the southern region, where the rock-cut architecture took strides and in grand style.

The rock-cut temples that came up in south during the period 450-800 A.D were patronized by great ruling dynasties – the Chalukyas of BADAMI (BIJAPUR DISTRICT) in the west, the Pallavas of Kachipuram in the east, and in the down south, the Pandyans of Madurai. The subsequent ruling dynasties of the respective regions like the Rashtrakutas, the Hoysalas, the Vijayanagar Kingdom, and the Cholas further developed the Architecture. It needs to be mentioned that the Dravidian style temple buildings became very popular throughout south India only from the Vijayanagar times onward.

The NAGARA style Temple Building too developed simultaneously in Orissa, Central India, Rajasthan, and Gujarat during 8^th century to 13^th Century A.D.

Talking of patronage and development of Temple buildings, the Chalukyas of Badami in the northern Karnataka were the first to develop an architectural style of their own. It is a matter of significance that this happened because to the north and south of their kingdom, NAGARA and DRAVIDIAN styles existed, and the innovative Chalukyas blended the two styles and brought about VESARA style. This style began at AIHOLE, the first capital city of the Chalukyas, where they built over 125 temples of different styles. The ruler PULAKESI-! , shifted the capital to nearby BADAMI, which in those days was called Vātapi. Was the classical Carnatic kirtana- “Vātapi Ganapatim bhajé “about this place? YES. It is the place where Lord Ganesha was supposed to have been born to Lord Shiva and Parvati. The song Composed by Muthuswamy Dikshitar on Lord Ganesha, and sung in Hamsadhwani raagam is considered auspicious to begin with in concerts by musicians. TAKE A PAUSE, AND CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK TO LISTEN TO THIS CLASSICAL CARNATIC SONG PLAYED BY ARTISTE RAJESH VAIDYA ON HIS INSTRUMENTS.

http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=41312&mode=100&rand=0.5388325545037548

AND CONTINUE READING>>>>>>

With experience of building temples, the Chalukyas went on building great temples in PATTADAKAL, another nearby city. The temples here have both Dravidian and Nagara styles of temple architecture.

It’s a pity, I am hearing the names of these cities, which has so much history, only NOW!!!!! I did read the book of A.L.Basham before, but in bits and pieces. Well, here is another instance of GOD having a time-table for each one of us. What more is there for me in store? ONLY he knows. So, be positive and live to enjoy. That is his message for me and to you all as well.

Plan of a Hindu Temple:

The standard type of a Hindu temple remains same from the 5^th century to the present day. The heart of the temple is the sanctum sanctorum (grbhagrha), a small dark shrine-room with no windows and doors except the front opening, having the chief deity placed in the centre. The room is completely dark except for the light coming from the front door or light received from flickering oil-lamps. The grbhagrha opens on to a hall (Mukhamandapam) for worshippers, which normally is a separate hall but joined to the grbhagrha by a vestibule (antarāla). The hall is again approached by a porch (ardhamandapa). The mandapam is usually a big hall and is used for conducting religious performances like singing, dancing, harikathas, and other acts relating to religion.

The grbhagrha is surmounted by a tower (Sikhara), which is high in the Nagara type temples, and of lesser height in the Dravidian type temples. Just around the garbhagrha, a passage is provided for circumambulation (Pradakshina) clockwise for worshippers as reverence for the principle deity.

Representing as a flag post of the deity is the dhvajasthambham. At the top of the post, fixed like a flag is the insignia (lānchana) made of copper or brass that varies according to the principle deity. The figure on the lanchana is the Vāhana of the deity. Like Nandi in Siva temples, Lion in Durga temples, and Garuda in Vishnu temples.

The Balipitha with a lotus or the footprints of the deity is fixed near the dhvajasthambham, but nearer to the deity. Rice mixed with vermillion (Kumkumam) powder is kept on this at appropriate stages during the performance of rituals. This indicate the feeding of the parivāradevatās (attendant and associate deities). (Extracted from the book – “All about Hindu Temples” by Swami Harshananda.).

Around these are small temples for minor deities associated with the principle deity. Apart from these are Yagasala, Pākasāala (cooking shed), Kitchen, flower garden, water tank (pushkarinī), stores and other structures that are essential for upkeep of the temple.

This entire temple complex (rectangular in shape) is enclosed by high walls (Prākāram) on all sides with one main and three subsidiary gates opening in the cardinal directions. The main gate on the eastern side is adorned by a very high tower. This is to say that the image of the principle deity was positioned facing EAST. In the later period, the Dravidian architecture shifted its emphasis from the tower above the chief shrine to the entrance gateway. This tower soared much taller than the sikhara over the central shrine.

The entrance tower was usually in the form of an oblong pyramid, with its broadest side parallel to the wall. The new style is often called Pāndyan, from the name of the dynasty which supplanted the Cholas in the Tamil country, and the kings of which were responsible for building walls and gateway towers round many existing shrines. The style introduced more elaborate ornamentation, and the use of animal form in pilasters and columns, including the rampant horses and leogryphs which give a distinctive character to late Dravidian architecture.(page 358 of the book by A.L.Basham).

When looked at the temple plan horizontally, it appears to signify that the garbhagrha represents the head and the entrance Gopuram the feet of the deity. The ardhamandapa is the nose, the antarala is the neck; the various mandapams are the body, the prakaras are the hands and so on.

List of Temples indicating their architectural styles:

Temple	Architecture
	Style
Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, Tirupati	Dravidian
Lingaraaj Temple, Bhubaneswar	Nagara
Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam	Dravidian
Kailasanadha Temple,Kanchipuram	Dravidian
Kailasanadha Temple, Ellora	Dravidian
Brihadeeswara Temple, Tanjavur	Dravidian
Brihadeeswara Temple, Gangaikondacholapuram	Dravidian
Meenakshi Temple, Madurai	Dravidian
Shiva Temple, Ambarnath	Vesara
Chennakesava Temple, Belur	Hoysala
Sun Temple, Konark, Orissa	Nagara
Harasa Ramaswamy Temple, Hampi	Vijayanagara
Vithala Temple, Hampi	Vijayanagara
Jagannath Temple, Puri (PHASE 1)	Nagara
Jagannath Temple, Puri (PHASE 2)	Nagara
Durga Temple, Aihole, Karnataka	Vesara
Kashiviswanatha Temple, Pattadakal	Nagara
Mallikarjuna Temple, Pattadakal	Dravidian
Virupaksha Temple, Pattadakal	Dravidian
Sangameswara Temple, Pattadakal, Karnataka	Dravidian
Papanatha Temple, Pattadakal	Vesara

The photos of these temples can be viewed at the following link for more clarity. You need a Google mail ID to sign and view them.

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/venkatamadhusudan/HINDUTEMPLESARCHITECTURE?locked=true#

The credit for these photos goes to the owners of the websites from where I downloaded them. The major websites which I browsed were:

Interesting Websites relating to Temple Architecture:

http://www.cyberfocusindia.com/

http://images.google.co.in/images?hl=en&q=Photos+of+indian+temple+architecture&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=tGxqSuK5M4iVkAXVwbmlCw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1

http://www.templenet.com/temparc.html#The%20Nagara%20Style

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Aihole

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattadakal

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Image:Durga_temple_Aihole.JPG

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Aihole

http://www.asi.nic.in/index.asp

Worshipping the God:

The purpose of our visit to the temple is to seek the Darsanam of the almighty. In the process of doing so, we approach the entrance gateway, look up at the high tower in awe, bend down at the gate touching the entrance threshold with our hands in reverence, cross it by putting our right foot inside the sacred complex. We arrive at the Dhvajasthambham, then at the Balipitha to take the Kumkumam, applying to our forehead. We pass through the Mukhamandapam to arrive at the Garbhagrha. We make a minimum of three Pradakshinas of the garbhagrha, and then stand in front of the deity all the while praying through recitation of known slokas. We then pass our offerings to the priest, who on our behalf does the puja inside the garbhagrha. We watch in reverence the rituals being performed and feel content with the view of the god. We then receive the theertham/ prasadam given by the priest, who passes on the blessings of the god by keeping the silver crown on our head for a while. This gives us a great mental satisfaction.

As per the religious scripts, it is considered sacred that Hindus should perform at least one important worship of their family in the temple.

Concluding remarks:

Much more can be written on temples, deities, rituals, and the ways to construct a temple. For the present it is beyond this brief.

Tailpiece:

The devotees who are unable to visit the temple, god has a way for them. He makes us feel he is in us in the form of our soul, and says Dil Ek Mandir; Nenjil Oru Āalayam; and Manasé Mandiram.( HEART IS A TEMPLE)

May the Almighty bless all of us.