Menu
Introduction
During the Vedic period, God was worshiped by the Hindus using fire as His symbol. Under the open sky, they would erect a platform, light a holy fire on it, and offer oblations into the fire. They did not need temples for their worship.
Scholars are not exactly sure when the Indo-Aryans first started using temples. It is very likely that the first temples were made of mud or wood. For obvious reasons, temples made out of these materials did not survive long. Later, more durable materials such as brick and stone were used to build the temples. Studying the ancient temples, scholars have concluded that some of them were probably built around the first century A.D., if not earlier.
Temple Sites
Hindu temples are usually built in places of great scenic beauty: on river banks, in the hills, on the shores of lakes or by the sea. There are also beautiful cave temples carved out of cliffs.
Temple Architecture
The architecture of Hindu temples is varied, but they have in common: (1) a dome or a steeple, (2) an inner chamber where the image of the deity is installed, (3) a hall meant for the audience to sit in, (4) a front porch and (5) a man-made reservoir of fresh water within the temple precincts, if the temple is not close to a natural water source such as a river or a lake. Fresh water is needed to keep the temple floor clean and for temple rituals. The reservoir is also used by some devotees to take a purificatory bath before entering the temple.
The steeple or the dome is called shikhara or summit. The shikhara is meant to represent the mythological mountain Meru, thought to be the highest of all mountains. The inner chamber of the temple is called garbhagriha, which literally means “womb-chamber.” This chamber resembles a cave. The audience hall is called nata-mandira which means the hall for temple-dancing. In the past, women dancers called devadasis (handmaids of God) used to perform dance rituals in the audience hall for the entertainment of the deity.
The shikhara, which is the highest point of the temple, symbolises the worshipper’s desire to ascend to the highest peak of spiritual experience. The womb-chamber represents the cave or sanctuary of the worshiper’s heart where God has to be made manifest through worship.
Only the temple priests are usually allowed to enter the garbha-griha. Devotees sit in the audience hall, chant the scriptures or the holy name of God, meditate, or simply watch the priests perform the ritualistic worship. The garbha-griha usually does not have any windows. Instead, it has a wide front door, which when left open allows the devotees sitting in the nata-mandira to watch the ritualistic worship being performed in the garbha-griha. In some temples, however, the audience hall is a separate building not connected to the garbha-griha. The audience hall and the garbha-griha usually have images of different deities in niches in their walls.
Some temples have a walkway around the walls of the garbha-griha for circumambulation by devotees. Circumambulation is traditionally done around the deity in a clockwise direction. It is meant to show respect and honour to the deity. On the front porch of some temples a big metallic bell hangs from the ceiling. The devotees usually ring this bell once or twice while entering or leaving the temple.
Great variety is noticed in Hindu temple architecture. Some temples are rectangular, some octagonal, some semicircular and others of different shapes and sizes. The shape of the dome also may differ. In South India vimana style domes are used. In North India they are usually of nagara style. Some South Indian temples have rectangular or square compound walls with tall pagoda-shaped ornate gates. Such gates are called gopurams.
Priests and their Duties
Hindu temple priests are salaried workers, hired by the temple authorities to perform ritualistic worship. They are not to be confused with swamis (all renouncing sannyasins), who do not work for money. Priests are family men who are adepts in ritualistic worship. Traditionally they come from the Brahmin or priestly case, but lately, in some South Indian temples, worship is performed by priests belonging to non-Brahmin castes.
Some of the temples in India are owned by individual families, but the public usually has access to them. Other temples are owned by non-profit organisations, or religious trusts, as they are called in India. Trustees of the non-profit organisations manage those temples.
The priest’s duty is to perform worship rituals on behalf of the temple trustees or the owners of the temple. The worship starts at daybreak and continues intermittently till 9 or 10 o’clock in the evening. During the worship the priest offers various services to God, just as one would do in regard to someone who is highly loved and adored. As the human mind cannot think other than in human terms, God is looked upon as a person – no matter how glorified – and offered food, drink, flowers, perfume, etc. The priest is fully aware that God does not really need any of these things, because He is not wanting in anything. Nevertheless, he offers them to God as a token of his employer’s love and adoration. Devotees who are neither owners nor trustees of the temple can also bring food to be offered to the deity. In such cases the priest takes the food from the devotees and offers it to God on their behalf. The consecrated food, called prasada, is freely distributed by the priest – depending on the policy of the temple authorities – to the devotees, wandering monks or nuns, and the poor. Eating prasada is considered spiritually beneficial; therefore, devotees sometimes go to temples especially for this food. Some temples sell consecrated food to devotees who have not brought any food offering for the deity. It is also a tradition to give the deity a ritual batch every day. The batch water is considered very holy. Small quantities of that water are drunk by devotees for their mental and physical purification. It is stored in a metallic cup inside the temple for their use. This water is called mahasnana-jala or charanamrita in Sanskrit.
The Role of Temples in Hindu Society
Visiting temples is not obligatory for Hindus. Every Hindu home usually has a shrine, no matter how small, where daily prayers are offered. Hindus generally go to their temples only during important religious festivals. As a result, temples do not have as much hold on Hindus as Christian churches or Jewish synagogues have over their members. They are not the hubs of social activity. Temples usually have religious activities only. Marriages and funeral services, commonly conducted in churches, are not held in Hindu temples. But Hindu temples often organise kirtanas (devotional singing) and religious discourses for the public.