123-569: Kulathupuzha Sastha Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shasta , located in Kulathupuzha in the Kollam district of Kerala , India. It is one of the five important Sastha temples in Kerala, the others being Aryankavu , Achankovil , Sabarimala and Kanthamala. The idol there is believed to have been installed by Parashurama and is made up of eight pieces of stone. The temple is known for
246-444: A Vishnu temple, Krishna temple, Rama temple, Narayana temple, Shiva temple, Lakshmi temple, Ganesha temple, Durga temple, Hanuman temple, Surya temple, etc. It is this garbha-griya which devotees seek for darsana (literally, a sight of knowledge, or vision ). Above the vastu-purusha-mandala is a superstructure with a dome called Shikhara in north India, and Vimana in south India, that stretches towards
369-422: A Hindu temple project would start with a Yajamana (patron), and include a Sthapaka (guru, spiritual guide and architect-priest), a Sthapati (architect) who would design the building, a Sutragrahin (surveyor), and many Vardhakins (workers, masons, painters, plasterers, overseers) and Taksakas (sculptors). While the temple is under construction, all those working on the temple were revered and considered sacerdotal by
492-619: A Hindu yogin, states Gopinath Rao, one who has realised the Self and the Universal Principle within himself, there is no need for any temple or divine image for worship. However, for those who have yet to reach this height of realization, various symbolic manifestations through images, murtis and icons as well as mental modes of worship are offered as one of the spiritual paths in the Hindu way of life. Some ancient Hindu scriptures like
615-500: A UNESCO World Heritage site. The Indian rock-cut architecture evolved in Maharashtran temple style in the 1st millennium CE. The temples are carved from a single piece of rock as a complete temple or carved in a cave to look like the interior of a temple. Ellora Temple is an example of the former, while The Elephanta Caves are representative of the latter style. The Elephanta Caves consist of two groups of caves—the first
738-511: A bed and meal to pilgrims. They relied on any voluntary donation the visitor may leave and to land grants from local rulers. Some temples have operated their kitchens on a daily basis to serve the visitor and the needy, while others during major community gatherings or festivals. Examples include the major kitchens run by Hindu temples in Udupi (Karnataka), Puri (Odisha) and Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh). The tradition of sharing food in smaller temple
861-488: A brief introduction to 12 types of Hindu temples. Other texts, such as Pancaratra Prasada Prasadhana compiled by Daniel Smith and Silpa Ratnakara compiled by Narmada Sankara provide a more extensive list of Hindu temple types. Ancient Sanskrit manuals for temple construction discovered in Rajasthan, in northwestern region of India, include Sutradhara Mandana's Prasadamandana (literally, manual for planning and building
984-418: A carpenter builds a chariot. The various philosophical theories in the early Upanishads have been attributed to famous sages such as Yajnavalkya , Uddalaka Aruni , Shvetaketu , Shandilya , Aitareya, Balaki, Pippalada , and Sanatkumara . Women, such as Maitreyi and Gargi , participate in the dialogues and are also credited in the early Upanishads. There are some exceptions to the anonymous tradition of
1107-502: A house or a palace. A house-themed temple is a simple shelter that serves as a deity's home. The temple is a place where the devotee visits, just like he or she would visit a friend or relative. The use of moveable and immoveable images is mentioned by Pāṇini . In the Bhakti school of Hinduism, temples are venues for puja , which is a hospitality ritual, where the deity is honored, and where devotee calls upon, attends to and connects with
1230-623: A later date for the Upanishads than has generally been accepted. Bronkhorst places even the oldest of the Upanishads, such as the Brhadaranyaka as possibly still being composed at "a date close to Katyayana and Patañjali [the grammarian]" (i.e., c. 2nd century BCE). The later Upanishads, numbering about 95, also called minor Upanishads, are dated from the late 1st-millennium BCE to mid 2nd-millennium CE. Gavin Flood dates many of
1353-446: A main temple surrounded by smaller temples and shrines, but these are still arranged by principles of symmetry, grids and mathematical precision. An important principle found in the layout of Hindu temples is mirroring and repeating fractal-like design structure, each unique yet also repeating the central common principle, one which Susan Lewandowski refers to as "an organism of repeating cells". The ancient texts on Hindu temple design,
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#17327912306721476-601: A natural source of water is not present. Here too, they recommend that a pond be built preferably in front or to the left of the temple with water gardens. If water is neither present naturally nor by design, water is symbolically present at the consecration of the temple or the deity. Temples may also be built, suggests Visnudharmottara in Part III of Chapter 93, inside caves and carved stones, on hill tops affording peaceful views, on mountain slopes overlooking beautiful valleys, inside forests and hermitages, next to gardens, or at
1599-455: A number of ways. For example, one method of classification is the dimensionality of completion: Another way of classification is by the expressive state of the image: A Hindu temple may or may not include a murti or images, but larger temples usually do. Personal Hindu temples at home or a hermitage may have a pada for yoga or meditation, but be devoid of anthropomorphic representations of god. Nature or others arts may surround him or her. To
1722-539: A pluralism of worldviews. While some Upanishads have been deemed 'monistic', others, including the Katha Upanishad , are dualistic . The Maitri is one of the Upanishads that inclines more toward dualism, thus grounding classical Samkhya and Yoga schools of Hinduism, in contrast to the non-dualistic Upanishads at the foundation of its Vedanta school. They contain a plurality of ideas. The Upanishads include sections on philosophical theories that have been at
1845-464: A precision closer than a few centuries is as stable as a house of cards". Some scholars have tried to analyse similarities between Hindu Upanishads and Buddhist literature to establish chronology for the Upanishads. Precise dates are impossible, and most scholars give only broad ranges encompassing various centuries. Gavin Flood states that "the Upanisads are not a homogeneous group of texts. Even
1968-452: A sacred space. It represents the triple-knowledge (trayi- vidya ) of the Vedic vision by mapping the relationships between the cosmos ( brahmaṇḍa ) and the cell (pinda) by a unique plan based on astronomical numbers. Subhash Kak sees the temple form and its iconography to be a natural expansion of Vedic ideology related to recursion, change and equivalence. In ancient Indian texts, a temple
2091-437: A social meaning. Some temples have served as a venue to mark festivals, to celebrate arts through dance and music, to get married or commemorate marriages, the birth of a child, other significant life events or the death of a loved one. In political and economic life, Hindu temples have served as a venue for succession within dynasties and landmarks around which economic activity thrived. Almost all Hindu temples take two forms:
2214-400: A symbolic product of knowledge and human thought, while the circle is considered earthly, human and observed in everyday life (moon, sun, horizon, water drop, rainbow). Each supports the other. The square is divided into perfect 64 (or in some cases 81) sub-squares called padas. Each pada is conceptually assigned to a symbolic element, sometimes in the form of a deity. The central square(s) of
2337-500: A temple). Manasara , a text of South Indian origin, estimated to be in circulation by the 7th century CE, is a guidebook on South Indian temple design and construction. Isanasivagurudeva paddhati is another Sanskrit text from the 9th century describing the art of temple building in India in south and central India. In north India, Brihat-samhita by Varāhamihira is the widely cited ancient Sanskrit manual from 6th century describing
2460-560: Is "not entirely absent in the Early Upanishads". The development of thought in these Upanishadic theories contrasted with Buddhism, since the Upanishadic inquiry fails to find an empirical correlate of the assumed Atman, but nevertheless assumes its existence, "[reifying] consciousness as an eternal self." The Buddhist inquiry "is satisfied with the empirical investigation which shows that no such Atman exists because there
2583-416: Is a yantra , a design laying out a Hindu temple in a symmetrical, self-repeating structure derived from central beliefs, myths, cardinality and mathematical principles. The four cardinal directions help create the axis of a Hindu temple, around which is formed a perfect square in the space available. The circle of the mandala circumscribes the square. The square is considered divine for its perfection and as
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#17327912306722706-560: Is a large group of five Hindu caves and the second is a smaller group of two Buddhist caves. The Hindu caves contain rock-cut stone sculptures, representing the Shaiva Hindu sect, dedicated to the god Shiva. A typical, ancient Hindu temple has a profusion of arts—from paintings to sculpture, from symbolic icons to engravings, from thoughtful layout of space to fusion of mathematical principles with Hindu sense of time and cardinality. Ancient Sanskrit texts classify murtis and images in
2829-457: Is a place of pilgrimage, known in India as a Tirtha . It is a sacred site whose ambience and design attempts to symbolically condense the ideal tenets of the Hindu way of life. In a Hindu temple, all the cosmic components that produce and maintain life are there, from fire to water, from depictions of the natural world to gods, from genders that are feminine or masculine to those that are everlasting and universal. Susan Lewandowski states that
2952-478: Is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to whom it is dedicated. Hindu temple architecture, which makes extensive use of squares and circles, has its roots in Vedic traditions, which also influence the temples' construction and symbolism. Through astronomical numbers and particular alignments connected to
3075-791: Is a spiritual destination for many Hindus, as well as landmarks around which ancient arts, community celebrations and the economy have flourished. Hindu temple architecture are presented in many styles, are situated in diverse locations, deploy different construction methods, are adapted to different deities and regional beliefs, and share certain core ideas, symbolism and themes. They are found in South Asia, particularly India and Nepal , Bangladesh , Pakistan , Sri Lanka , in Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia , Vietnam , Malaysia , and Indonesia , and countries such as Canada , Fiji , France , Guyana , Kenya , Mauritius ,
3198-574: Is also believed that Sastha allowed a Jala Kanyaka ( mermaid ), who had a lust for him, to live in the temple pond in the form of a fish. A common belief is that the temple was founded by the Raja of Pandalam , but the idol of Sastha was founded by a Brahmin from Kottarakkara . Earlier, the temple was in the possession of the king of Kottarakkara. It was later handed over to the Travancore Devaswom Board . The tantric rights of
3321-460: Is consequently placed after the 5th century BCE, while another proposal questions this assumption and dates it independent of Buddha's date of birth. The Kena , Mandukya, and Isa Upanishads are typically placed after these Principal Upanishads, but other scholars date these differently. Not much is known about the authors except for those, like Yajnavalkayva and Uddalaka, mentioned in the texts. A few women discussants, such as Gargi and Maitreyi,
3444-541: Is considered as northern India. The region is bounded on the west by the upper Indus valley, on the east by lower Ganges region, on the north by the Himalayan foothills, and on the south by the Vindhya mountain range. Scholars are reasonably sure that the early Upanishads were produced at the geographical center of ancient Brahmanism, Kuru - Panchala , and Kosala - Videha , a "frontier region" of Brahmanism, together with
3567-503: Is everywhere in a Hindu temple. Life principles such as the pursuit of joy, connection and emotional pleasure (kama) are fused into mystical, erotic and architectural forms in Hindu temples. These motifs and principles of human life are part of the sacred texts of the Hindus, such as its Upanishads; the temples express these same principles in a different form, through art and spaces. For example, Brihadaranyaka Upanisad (4.3.21) recites: In
3690-432: Is grand. In Hindu tradition, this is discarded in favor of an open and diffusive architecture, where the secular world was not separated from the sacred, but transitioned and flowed into the sacred. The Hindu temple has structural walls, which were patterned usually within the 64-grid, or other geometric layouts. Yet the layout was open on all sides, except for the core space with a single opening for darsana. The temple space
3813-405: Is laid out in a series of courts ( mandapas ). The outermost regions may incorporate the negative and suffering side of life with the symbolism of evil, asuras and rakshashas ; but in small temples this layer is dispensed with. When present, this outer region diffuse into the next inner layer that bridges as human space, followed by another inner Devika padas space and symbolic arts incorporating
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3936-485: Is like blind men leading the blind, it is a mark of conceit and vain knowledge, ignorant inertia like that of children, a futile useless practice. The Maitri Upanishad states, The performance of all the sacrifices, described in the Maitrayana-Brahmana, is to lead up in the end to a knowledge of Brahman, to prepare a man for meditation. Therefore, let such man, after he has laid those fires, meditate on
4059-418: Is no evidence," states Jayatilleke. The Upanishads postulate Ātman and Brahman as the "summit of the hierarchically arranged and interconnected universe." Both have multiple meanings, and various ideas about the relation between Atman and Brahman can be found. Atman has "a wide range of lexical meanings, including ‘breath’, ‘spirit’, and ‘body’." In the Upanishads it refers to the body, but also to
4182-404: Is possible in the world." Modern era Indologists have discussed the similarities between the fundamental concepts in the Upanishads and the works of major Western philosophers . The Sanskrit term Upaniṣad originally meant “connection” or “equivalence", but came to be understood as "sitting near a teacher," from upa "by" and ni-ṣad "sit down", "sitting down near", referring to
4305-599: Is seen as particularly ancient by modern scholars. Of the remainder, 95 Upanishads are part of the Muktikā canon, composed from about the last centuries of 1st-millennium BCE through about 15th-century CE. New Upanishads, beyond the 108 in the Muktika canon, continued to be composed through the early modern and modern era, though often dealing with subjects that are unconnected to the Vedas. The mukhya Upanishads, along with
4428-417: Is the name of six methods or alternate viewpoints of understanding truth. These are Nyaya, Vaisesika, Sankhya, Yoga, Mimamsa and Vedanta —which flowered into individual schools of Hinduism, each of which is considered a valid, alternate path to understanding truth and achieving self-realization in the Hindu way of life. From names to forms, from images to stories carved into the walls of a temple, symbolism
4551-415: Is to discover the relations between ritual, cosmic realities (including gods), and the human body/person, postulating Ātman and Brahman as the "summit of the hierarchically arranged and interconnected universe", but various ideas about the relation between Atman and Brahman can be found. 108 Upanishads are known, of which the first dozen or so are the oldest and most important and are referred to as
4674-415: Is typically called prasada . Hindu temples are found in diverse locations each incorporating different methods of construction and styles: In arid western parts of India, such as Rajasthan and Gujarat, Hindu communities built large walk-in wells that served as the only source of water in dry months but also served as social meeting places and carried religious significance. These monuments went down into
4797-505: Is unknown. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan states, "almost all the early literature of India was anonymous, we do not know the names of the authors of the Upanishads". The ancient Upanishads are embedded in the Vedas, the oldest of Hinduism's religious scriptures, which some traditionally consider to be apauruṣeya , which means "not of a man, superhuman" and "impersonal, authorless". The Vedic texts assert that they were skillfully created by Rishis (sages), after inspired creativity, just as
4920-616: The Bhagavad Gita and the Brahmasutra (known collectively as the Prasthanatrayi ), are interpreted in divergent ways in the several later schools of Vedanta . Translations of the Upanishads in the early 19th century started to attract attention from a Western audience. German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer was deeply impressed by the Upanishads and called them "the most profitable and elevating reading which ...
5043-595: The Brahmana and Aranyaka layers of Vedic text, compiled into separate texts and these were then gathered into anthologies of the Upanishads. These lists associated each Upanishad with one of the four Vedas. Many such lists exist but they are inconsistent across India in terms of which Upanishads are included and how the newer Upanishads are assigned to the ancient Vedas. In south India, the collected list based on Muktika Upanishad, and published in Telugu language , became
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5166-582: The Chandogya , the oldest. The Aitareya, Kauṣītaki and Taittirīya Upanishads may date to as early as the mid-1st millennium BCE, while the remnant date from between roughly the 4th to 1st centuries BCE, roughly contemporary with the earliest portions of the Sanskrit epics . One chronology assumes that the Aitareya, Taittiriya, Kausitaki, Mundaka, Prasna , and Katha Upanishads has Buddha's influence, and
5289-689: The Meenoottu (fish feeding) offering. The temple is governed by the Travancore Devaswom Board . The temple is located in Kulathupuzha in the tehsil of Punalur in Kollam district . It is situated about 64 km (40 mi) from Kollam on the banks of the Kulathupuzha River, a tributary of the Kallada River . According to the legend, the Kulathupuzha temple is one of the five Sastha temples founded by Parashurama . It
5412-609: The Netherlands , South Africa , Suriname , Tanzania , Trinidad and Tobago , Uganda , the United Kingdom , the United States , Australia , New Zealand , and other countries with a significant Hindu population. The current state and outer appearance of Hindu temples reflect arts, materials and designs as they evolved over two millennia; they also reflect the effect of conflicts between Hinduism and Islam since
5535-748: The Rudrahridaya Upanishad and the Mahanarayana Upanishad , assert that all the Hindu gods and goddesses are the same, all an aspect and manifestation of Brahman , the Vedic concept for metaphysical ultimate reality before and after the creation of the Universe. The Principal Upanishads, also known as the Mukhya Upanishads , can be grouped into periods. Of the early periods are the Brihadaranyaka and
5658-564: The Telika Mandir in Gwalior , built in the 8th century CE, is not a square but a rectangle in 2:3 proportion. Further, the temple explores a number of structures and shrines in 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 2:5, 3:5 and 4:5 ratios. These ratios are exact, suggesting that the architect intended to use these harmonic ratios, and the rectangle pattern was not a mistake, nor an arbitrary approximation. Other examples of non-square harmonic ratios are found at
5781-523: The Vāstu-puruṣa-mandala and Vastu Śāstras , do not limit themselves to the design of a Hindu temple. They describe the temple as a holistic part of its community, and lay out various principles and a diversity of alternate designs for home, village and city layout along with the temple, gardens, water bodies and nature. A predominant number of Hindu temples exhibit the perfect-square grid principle. However, there are some exceptions. For example,
5904-419: The garbha-griya (literally, "womb house")—a small, perfect square, windowless, enclosed space without ornamentation that represents universal essence. In or near this space is typically a cult image—which, though many Indians may refer to casually as an idol, is more formally known as a murti, or the main worshippable deity, who varies with each temple. Often this murti gives the temple a local name, such as
6027-514: The 10th-century attached medical care along with their religious and educational roles. This is evidenced by various inscriptions found in Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere. An inscription dated to about 930 CE states the provision of a physician to two matha to care for the sick and destitute. Another inscription dated to 1069 at a Vishnu temple in Tamil Nadu describes a hospital attached to
6150-585: The 12th century. The Swaminarayanan Akshardham in Robbinsville, New Jersey , between the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas, was inaugurated in 2014 as one of the world's largest Hindu temples. A Hindu temple reflects a synthesis of arts, the ideals of dharma , beliefs, values and the way of life cherished under Hinduism. It is a link between man, deities, and the Universal Puruṣa in
6273-515: The 4th century CE suggest the existence of schools around Hindu temples, called Ghatikas or Mathas , where the Vedas were studied. In south India, 9th century Vedic schools attached to Hindu temples were called Calai or Salai , and these provided free boarding and lodging to students and scholars. The temples linked to Bhakti movement in the early 2nd millennium, were dominated by non-Brahmins. These assumed many educational functions, including
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#17327912306726396-638: The 64- or 81-grid is dedicated to Brahman (not to be confused with brahmin, the scholarly and priestly class in India), and are called Brahma padas . The 49-grid design is called Sthandila and is of great importance in creative expressions of Hindu temples in South India, particularly in Prakaras . The symmetric Vastu-purusa-mandala grids are sometimes combined to form a temple superstructure with two or more attached squares. The temples face sunrise, and
6519-408: The 6th century CE. Vastu-Sastra manuals included chapters on home construction, town planning, and how efficient villages, towns and kingdoms integrated temples, water bodies and gardens within them to achieve harmony with nature. While it is unclear, states Barnett, as to whether these temple and town planning texts were theoretical studies and if or when they were properly implemented in practice,
6642-866: The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad as the area of Videha, whose king, Janaka, features prominently in the Upanishad. The Chandogya Upanishad was probably composed in a more western than eastern location in the Indian subcontinent, possibly somewhere in the western region of the Kuru-Panchala country. Compared to the Principal Upanishads, the new Upanishads recorded in the Muktikā belong to an entirely different region, probably southern India, and are considerably relatively recent. In
6765-500: The Jabaladarshana Upanishad appear to endorse this idea Upanishad Divisions Sama vedic Yajur vedic Atharva vedic Vaishnava puranas Shaiva puranas Shakta puranas The Upanishads ( / ʊ ˈ p ʌ n ɪ ʃ ə d z / ; Sanskrit : उपनिषद् , IAST : Upaniṣad , pronounced [ˈʊpɐnɪʂɐd] ) are late Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts that "document
6888-584: The Karma doctrine is presented in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad , which is the oldest Upanishad. While the hymns of the Vedas emphasize rituals and the Brahmanas serve as a liturgical manual for those Vedic rituals, the spirit of the Upanishads is inherently opposed to ritual. The older Upanishads launch attacks of increasing intensity on the ritual. Anyone who worships a divinity other than
7011-623: The Naresar temple site of Madhya Pradesh and at the Nakti-Mata temple near Jaipur , Rajasthan. Michael Meister suggests that these exceptions mean that the ancient Sanskrit manuals for temple building were guidelines, and Hinduism permitted its artisans flexibility in expression and aesthetic independence. A Hindu temple is a symbolic reconstruction of the universe and the universal principles that enable everything in it to function. The temples reflect Hindu philosophy and its diverse views on
7134-523: The Self, to become complete and perfect. But who is to be meditated on? The opposition to the ritual is not explicit in the oldest Upanishads. On occasions, the Upanishads extend the task of the Aranyakas by making the ritual allegorical and giving it a philosophical meaning. For example, the Brihadaranyaka interprets the practice of horse-sacrifice or ashvamedha allegorically. It states that
7257-466: The Upanishads are categorized as "sectarian" since they present their ideas through a particular god or goddess of a specific Hindu tradition such as Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti, or a combination of these such as the Skanda Upanishad . These traditions sought to link their texts as Vedic, by asserting their texts to be an Upanishad, thereby a Śruti . Most of these sectarian Upanishads, for example
7380-460: The Upanishads, god becomes synonymous with self, and is declared to be everywhere, inmost being of each human being and within every living creature. The one reality or ekam sat of the Vedas becomes the ekam eva advitiyam or "the one and only and sans a second" in the Upanishads. Brahman-Atman and self-realization develops, in the Upanishad, as the means to moksha (liberation; freedom in this life or after-life). According to Jayatilleke ,
7503-551: The Upanishads. The Shvetashvatara Upanishad , for example, includes closing credits to sage Shvetashvatara , and he is considered the author of the Upanishad. Many scholars believe that early Upanishads were interpolated and expanded over time. There are differences within manuscripts of the same Upanishad discovered in different parts of South Asia, differences in non-Sanskrit version of the texts that have survived, and differences within each text in terms of meter, style, grammar and structure. The existing texts are believed to be
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#17327912306727626-783: The Vedic Upanishads. The main Shakta Upanishads, for example, mostly discuss doctrinal and interpretative differences between the two principal sects of a major Tantric form of Shaktism called Shri Vidya upasana . The many extant lists of authentic Shakta Upaniṣads vary, reflecting the sect of their compilers, so that they yield no evidence of their "location" in Tantric tradition, impeding correct interpretation. The Tantra content of these texts also weaken its identity as an Upaniṣad for non-Tantrikas. Sectarian texts such as these do not enjoy status as shruti and thus
7749-479: The age of 25. Apart from specialist technical competence, the manuals suggest that best Silpins for building a Hindu temple are those who know the essence of Vedas and Agamas, consider themselves as students, keep well verse with principles of traditional sciences and mathematics, painting and geography. Further they are kind, free from jealousy, righteous, have their sense under control, of happy disposition, and ardent in everything they do. According to Silparatna,
7872-409: The ancient Sanskrit texts of India (for example, the Vedas and Upanishads ), while their structural rules are described in various ancient Sanskrit treatises on architecture ( Bṛhat Saṃhitā , Vāstu Śāstras ). The layout, the motifs, the plan and the building process recite ancient rituals, geometric symbolisms, and reflect beliefs and values innate within various schools of Hinduism. A Hindu temple
7995-400: The areas immediately to the south and west of these. This region covers modern Bihar , Nepal , Uttar Pradesh , Uttarakhand , Himachal Pradesh , Haryana , eastern Rajasthan , and northern Madhya Pradesh . While significant attempts have been made recently to identify the exact locations of the individual Upanishads, the results are tentative. Witzel identifies the center of activity in
8118-617: The artworks and sculptures within them, were considered by the ancient Sanskrit texts to deploy arts whose number are unlimited, Kala (techniques) that were 64 in number, and Vidya (science) that were of 32 types. The Hindu manuals of temple construction describe the education, characteristics of good artists and architects. The general education of a Hindu Shilpin in ancient India included Lekha or Lipi (alphabet, reading and writing), Rupa (drawing and geometry), Ganana (arithmetic). These were imparted from age 5 to 12. The advanced students would continue in higher stages of Shilpa Sastra studies till
8241-539: The authority of the new Upanishads as scripture is not accepted in Hinduism. All Upanishads are associated with one of the four Vedas— Rigveda , Samaveda , Yajurveda (there are two primary versions or Samhitas of the Yajurveda: Shukla Yajurveda , Krishna Yajurveda ), and Atharvaveda . During the modern era, the ancient Upanishads that were embedded texts in the Vedas, were detached from
8364-606: The central space typically is surrounded by an ambulatory for the devotee to walk around and ritually circumambulate the Purusa, the universal essence. Often this space is visually decorated with carvings, paintings or images meant to inspire the devotee. In some temples, these images may be stories from Hindu Epics; in others, they may be Vedic tales about right and wrong or virtues and vice; in yet others, they may be murtis of locally worshipped deities. The pillars, walls and ceilings typically also have highly ornate carvings or images of
8487-468: The centre of the temple, typically below and sometimes above or next to the deity , is mere hollow space with no decoration, symbolically representing Purusa , the Supreme Principle, the sacred Universal, one without form, which is omnipresent, connects everything, and is the essence of everyone. A Hindu temple is meant to encourage reflection, facilitate purification of one's mind, and trigger
8610-574: The classic Upanishads , being less subtle and more formalized. As a result, they are not difficult to comprehend for the modern reader. There is no fixed list of the Upanishads as newer ones, beyond the Muktika anthology of 108 Upanishads, have continued to be discovered and composed. In 1908, for example, four previously unknown Upanishads were discovered in newly found manuscripts, and these were named Bashkala , Chhagaleya , Arsheya , and Saunaka , by Friedrich Schrader , who attributed them to
8733-522: The cosmos and on truth. Hinduism has no traditional ecclesiastical order, no centralized religious authorities, no governing body, no prophet nor any binding holy book save the Vedas; Hindus can choose to be polytheistic , pantheistic , monistic , or atheistic . Within this diffuse and open structure, spirituality in Hindu philosophy is an individual experience, and referred to as kṣaitrajña ( Sanskrit : क्षैत्रज्ञ ) ). It defines spiritual practice as one's journey towards moksha , awareness of self,
8856-521: The deity. In other schools of Hinduism, the person may simply perform japa , or meditation, or yoga , or introspection in his or her temple. Palace-themed temples often incorporate more elaborate and monumental architecture. The appropriate site for a temple, suggests ancient Sanskrit texts, is near water and gardens, where lotus and flowers bloom, where swans, ducks and other birds are heard, and where animals rest without fear of injury or harm. These harmonious places were recommended in these texts with
8979-404: The design and construction of Nagara style of Hindu temples. A Hindu temple design follows a geometrical design called vastu-purusha-mandala . The name is a composite Sanskrit word with three of the most important components of the plan. Mandala means circle, Purusha is universal essence at the core of Hindu tradition, while Vastu means the dwelling structure. The Vastu-purusha-mandala
9102-432: The discovery of higher truths, true nature of reality, and a consciousness that is liberated and content. A Hindu temple reflects these core beliefs. The central core of almost all Hindu temples is not a large communal space; the temple is designed for the individual, a couple or a family—a small, private space to allow visitors to experience darsana . Darsana is itself a symbolic word. In ancient Hindu scripts, darsana
9225-883: The donations (melvarum) they collected from devotees. According to James Heitzman, these donations came from a wide spectrum of the Indian society, ranging from kings, queens, officials in the kingdom to merchants, priests and shepherds. Temples also managed lands endowed to it by its devotees upon their death. They would provide employment to the poorest. Some temples had large treasury, with gold and silver coins, and these temples served as banks. Hindu temples over time became wealthy from grants and donations from royal patrons as well as private individuals. Major temples became employers and patrons of economic activity. They sponsored land reclamation and infrastructure improvements, states Michell, including building facilities such as water tanks, irrigation canals and new roads. A very detailed early record from 1101 lists over 600 employees (excluding
9348-714: The earth towards subterranean water, up to seven storeys, and were part of a temple complex. These vav (literally, stepwells) had intricate art reliefs on the walls, with numerous murtis and images of Hindu deities, water spirits and erotic symbolism. The step wells were named after Hindu deities; for example, Mata Bhavani's Stepwell , Ankol Mata Vav, Sikotari Vav and others. The temple ranged from being small single pada (cell) structure to large nearby complexes. These stepwells and their temple compounds have been variously dated from late 1st millennium BCE through 11th century CE. Of these, Rani ki vav , with hundreds of art reliefs including many of Vishnu deity avatars , has been declared
9471-565: The eastern states of India. Other ancient texts found expand these architectural principles, suggesting that different parts of India developed, invented and added their own interpretations. For example, in the Saurastra tradition of temple building found in western states of India, the feminine form, expressions and emotions are depicted in 32 types of Nataka-stri compared to 16 types described in Silpa Prakasa . Silpa Prakasa provides
9594-410: The embrace of the beloved, one forgets the whole world, everything both within and without; in the same way, one who embraces the Self knows neither within nor without. The architecture of Hindu temples is also symbolic. The whole structure fuses the daily life and its surroundings with the divine concepts, through a structure that is open yet raised on a terrace, transitioning from the secular towards
9717-400: The entrance for the devotee is typically this east side. The mandala pada facing sunrise is dedicated to Surya , the sun-god. The Surya pada is flanked by the padas of Satya, the deity of Truth, on one side and Indra , the king of the demigods, on other. The east and north faces of most temples feature a mix of gods and demigods; while the west and south feature demons and demigods related to
9840-406: The explanation that such are the places where gods play, and thus the best site for Hindu temples. The gods always play where lakes are, where the sun's rays are warded off by umbrellas of lotus leaf clusters, and where clear waterpaths are made by swans whose breasts toss the white lotus hither and thither, where swans, ducks, curleys and paddy birds are heard, and animals rest nearby in
9963-558: The exposition, recitation and public discourses of Sanskrit and Vedic texts. Some temple schools offered wide range of studies, ranging from Hindu scriptures to Buddhist texts, grammar, philosophy, martial arts, music and painting. By the 8th century, Hindu temples also served as the social venue for tests, debates, team competition and Vedic recitals called Anyonyam . According to Kenneth G. Zysk—a professor specializing in Indology and ancient medicine, Hindu mathas and temples had by
10086-485: The first prose period of the Upanishads. The text of three of them, namely the Chhagaleya , Arsheya , and Saunaka , were incomplete and inconsistent, likely poorly maintained or corrupted. Ancient Upanishads have long enjoyed a revered position in Hindu traditions, and authors of numerous sectarian texts have tried to benefit from this reputation by naming their texts as Upanishads. These "new Upanishads" number in
10209-503: The foundation of Indian traditions. For example, the Chandogya Upanishad includes one of the earliest known declarations of Ahimsa (non-violence) as an ethical precept. Discussion of other ethical premises such as Damah (temperance, self-restraint), Satya (truthfulness), Dāna (charity), Ārjava (non-hypocrisy), Daya (compassion), and others are found in the oldest Upanishads and many later Upanishads. Similarly,
10332-424: The four just and necessary pursuits of life—kama, artha, dharma and moksa. This walk around is called pradakshina . Large temples also have pillared halls, called mandapa —one of which, on the east side, serves as the waiting room for pilgrims and devotees. The mandapa may be a separate structure in older temples, but in newer temples this space is integrated into the temple superstructure. Mega-temple sites have
10455-690: The fourth chapter of the Kaushitaki Upanishad, a location named Kashi (modern Varanasi ) is mentioned. There are more than 200 known Upanishads , one of which, the Muktikā Upanishad, predates 1656 CE and contains a list of 108 canonical Upanishads, including itself as the last. These are further divided into Upanishads associated with Shaktism (goddess Shakti), Sannyasa (renunciation, monastic life), Shaivism (god Shiva), Vaishnavism (god Vishnu), Yoga , and Sāmānya (general, sometimes referred to as Samanya-Vedanta). Some of
10578-661: The head of a town street. Ancient builders of Hindu temples created manuals of architecture, called Vastu-Sastra (literally "science" of dwelling; vas-tu is a composite Sanskrit word; vas means "reside", tu means "you"); these contain Vastu-Vidya (literally, knowledge of dwelling) and Sastra meaning system or knowledge in Sanskrit. There exist many Vastu-Sastras on the art of building temples, such as one by Thakkura Pheru , describing where and how temples should be built. Sanskrit manuals have been found in India since
10701-476: The hundreds, cover diverse range of topics from physiology to renunciation to sectarian theories. They were composed between the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE through the early modern era (~1600 CE). While over two dozen of the minor Upanishads are dated to pre-3rd century CE, many of these new texts under the title of "Upanishads" originated in the first half of the 2nd millennium CE, they are not Vedic texts, and some do not deal with themes found in
10824-532: The manuals suggest that town planning and Hindu temples were conceived as ideals of art and integral part of Hindu social and spiritual life. The Silpa Prakasa of Odisha, authored by Ramacandra Bhattaraka Kaulacara in the 9th or 10th centuries CE, is another Sanskrit treatise on Temple Architecture. Silpa Prakasa describes the geometric principles in every aspect of the temple and symbolism such as 16 emotions of human beings carved as 16 types of female figures. These styles were perfected in Hindu temples prevalent in
10947-406: The most common by the 19th-century and this is a list of 108 Upanishads. In north India, a list of 52 Upanishads has been most common. The Muktikā Upanishad's list of 108 Upanishads groups the first 13 as mukhya , 21 as Sāmānya Vedānta , 18 as Sannyāsa , 14 as Vaishnava , 14 as Shaiva , 8 as Shakta , and 20 as Yoga . The 108 Upanishads as recorded in the Muktikā are shown in
11070-432: The most important literature in the history of Indian religions and culture, the Upanishads document a wide variety of "rites, incantations, and esoteric knowledge" departing from Vedic ritualism and interpreted in various ways in the later commentarial traditions. The Upanishads are widely known, and their diverse ideas, interpreted in various ways, informed later traditions of Hinduism. The central concern of all Upanishads
11193-557: The older texts were composed over a wide expanse of time from about 600 to 300 BCE." Stephen Phillips places the early or "principal" Upanishads in the 800 to 300 BCE range. Patrick Olivelle , a Sanskrit Philologist and Indologist , gives the following chronology for the early Upanishads, also called the Principal Upanishads : Meanwhile, the Indologist Johannes Bronkhorst argues for
11316-465: The over-lordship of the earth may be acquired by sacrificing a horse. It then goes on to say that spiritual autonomy can only be achieved by renouncing the universe which is conceived in the image of a horse. In similar fashion, Vedic gods such as the Agni , Aditya , Indra , Rudra , Visnu , Brahma , and others become equated in the Upanishads to the supreme, immortal, and incorporeal Brahman-Atman of
11439-452: The patron as well as others witnessing the construction. Further, it was a tradition that all tools and materials used in temple building and all creative work had the sanction of a sacrament. For example, if a carpenter or sculptor needed to fell a tree or cut a rock from a hill, he would propitiate the tree or rock with prayers, seeking forgiveness for cutting it from its surroundings, and explaining his intent and purpose. The axe used to cut
11562-554: The positive and joyful side of life about the good and the gods. This divine space then concentrically diffuses inwards and lifts the guest to the core of the temple, where resides the main murti , as well as the space for the Purusa, and ideas held to be most sacred principles in Hindu tradition. The symbolism in the arts and temples of Hinduism, suggests Edmund Leach, is similar to those in Christianity and other major religions of
11685-529: The priests) of the Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur , still one of the largest temples in Tamil Nadu . Most worked part-time and received the use of temple farmland as reward. For those thus employed by the temple, according to Michell, "some gratuitous services were usually considered obligatory, such as dragging the temple chariots on festival occasions and helping when a large building project
11808-515: The principal or main ( mukhya ) Upanishads. The mukhya Upanishads are found mostly in the concluding part of the Brahmanas and Aranyakas and were, for centuries, memorized by each generation and passed down orally . The mukhya Upanishads predate the Common Era , but there is no scholarly consensus on their date, or even on which ones are pre- or post-Buddhist. The Brhadaranyaka
11931-503: The process of inner realization within the devotee. The specific process is left to the devotee's school of belief. The primary deity of different Hindu temples varies to reflect this spiritual spectrum. In Hindu tradition, there is no dividing line between the secular and the lonely sacred. In the same spirit, Hindu temples are not just sacred spaces; they are also secular spaces. Their meaning and purpose have extended beyond spiritual life to social rituals and daily life, offering thus
12054-435: The ritual of introspection", and that "not rituals, but knowledge should be one's pursuit". The Mundaka Upanishad declares how man has been called upon, promised benefits for, scared unto and misled into performing sacrifices, oblations and pious works. Mundaka thereafter asserts this is foolish and frail, by those who encourage it and those who follow it, because it makes no difference to man's current life and after-life, it
12177-452: The sacred, inviting the visitor inwards and upwards towards the Brahma pada, the temple's central core, a symbolic space marked by its spire ( shikhara, vimana ). The ancient temples had grand, intricately carved entrances but no doors, and they lacked a boundary wall. In most cultures, suggests Edmund Leach , a boundary and gateway separates the secular and the sacred, and this gateway door
12300-416: The self is called a domestic animal of the gods in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad . The Chāndogya Upanishad parodies those who indulge in the acts of sacrifice by comparing them with a procession of dogs chanting Om! Let's eat. Om! Let's drink . The Kaushitaki Upanishad asserts that "external rituals such as Agnihotram offered in the morning and in the evening, must be replaced with inner Agnihotram,
12423-674: The shade of Nicula trees on the river banks. The gods always play where rivers have for their braclets the sound of curleys and the voice of swans for their speech, water as their garment, carps for their zone, the flowering trees on their banks as earrings, the confluence of rivers as their hips, raised sand banks as breasts and plumage of swans their mantle. The gods always play where groves are near, rivers, mountains and springs, and in towns with pleasure gardens. While major Hindu temples are recommended at sangams (confluence of rivers), river banks, lakes and seashore, Brhat Samhita and Puranas suggest temples may also be built where
12546-696: The sick and needy in the 1st millennium, but with the destruction of Buddhist centers after the 12th century, the Hindu religious institutions assumed these social responsibilities. According to George Michell, Hindu temples in South India were active charity centers and they provided free meal for wayfarers, pilgrims and devotees, as well as boarding facilities for students and hospitals for the sick. The 15th and 16th century Hindu temples at Hampi featured storage spaces (temple granary, kottara ), water tanks and kitchens. Many major pilgrimage sites have featured dharmashalas since early times. These were attached to Hindu temples, particularly in South India, providing
12669-459: The sky. Sometimes, in makeshift temples, the dome may be replaced with symbolic bamboo with few leaves at the top. The vertical dimension's cupola or dome is designed as a pyramid, a cone or other mountain-like shape, once again using the principle of concentric circles and squares. Scholars suggest that this shape is inspired by the cosmic mountain of Meru or Himalayan Kailasa, the abode of the gods, according to Vedic mythology. In larger temples,
12792-494: The student sitting down near the teacher while receiving spiritual knowledge (Gurumukh). Other dictionary meanings include "esoteric doctrine" and "secret doctrine". Monier-Williams ' Sanskrit Dictionary notes – "According to native authorities, Upanishad means setting to rest ignorance by revealing the knowledge of the supreme spirit." Adi Shankaracharya explains in his commentary on the Kaṭha and Brihadaranyaka Upanishad that
12915-538: The subordinate deities. The temple pond preserves a number of fish, as they are considered to be the favorites of Shasta. Devotees offer Meenoottu (fish feeding) for healing the warts in the skin. The fish are known as Thirumakkal (divine children). Most of them belong to the species Tor khudree and Hypselobarbus thomassi , which are at risk of extinction. Fishing is also strictly prohibited here. Hindu temple Traditional A Hindu temple , also known as Mandir , Devasthanam , Pura , or Kovil ,
13038-445: The table below. The mukhya Upanishads are the most important and highlighted. The central concern of all Upanishads is to discover the relations between ritual, cosmic realities (including gods), and the human body/person, postulating Ātman and Brahman as the "summit of the hierarchically arranged and interconnected universe," but various ideas about the relation between Atman and Brahman can be found. The Upanishads reflect
13161-535: The temple are held by the Kokkalathu Mutt . The principal deity of the temple is Shasta . He is in the form of Balasastha (child form) and is commonly known as Kulathupuzha Balakan . There is a popular song titled "Kulathupuzhayile Balakane" praising the deity of the temple. The deity here is in a fierce mood ( ugramūrti ) as well as in an auspicious mood ( mangalapradāyakan ). Shiva , Yakshi , Vishnu , Ganesha , Boothathan, Nāga , and Karuppu Sami are
13284-544: The temple's location and the relationship between the deity and the worshipper, the temple's design also illustrates the idea of recursion and the equivalency of the macrocosm and the microcosm . A temple incorporates all elements of the Hindu cosmos—presenting the good, the evil and the human, as well as the elements of the Hindu sense of cyclic time and the essence of life—symbolically presenting dharma , artha , kama , moksha , and karma . The spiritual principles symbolically represented in Hindu temples are detailed in
13407-566: The temple, listing the nurses, physicians, medicines and beds for patients. Similarly, a stone inscription in Andhra Pradesh dated to about 1262 mentions the provision of a prasutishala (maternity house), vaidya (physician), an arogyashala (health house) and a viprasattra (hospice, kitchen) with the religious center where people from all social backgrounds could be fed and cared for. According to Zysk, both Buddhist monasteries and Hindu religious centers provided facilities to care for
13530-738: The term upaniṣad first appears in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa as a "secret teaching" about the deeper meaning of the agnicayana ritual, signifying an esoteric doctrine. This interpretation is echoed in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, where it is described as satyasya satya ("the real behind the real"). According to Cohen, it is possible to interpret the term as "that which lies beneath." The upanishads focus on uncovering ultimate reality, introducing concepts like karma, reincarnation, and liberation, while retaining traces of earlier ritualistic thought, shifting emphasis from external sacrifices to their inner significance. The authorship of most Upanishads
13653-770: The texts were copied when they wore out. In South India, temples and associated mathas served custodial functions, and a large number of manuscripts on Hindu philosophy , poetry, grammar and other subjects were written, multiplied and preserved inside the temples. Archaeological and epigraphical evidence indicates existence of libraries called Sarasvati-bhandara , dated possibly to early 12th-century and employing librarians, attached to Hindu temples. Palm-leaf manuscripts called lontar in dedicated stone libraries have been discovered by archaeologists at Hindu temples in Bali Indonesia and in 10th century Cambodian temples such as Angkor Wat and Banteay Srei . Inscriptions from
13776-490: The thinkers of Upanishadic texts can be grouped into two categories. One group, which includes early Upanishads along with some middle and late Upanishads, were composed by metaphysicians who used rational arguments and empirical experience to formulate their speculations and philosophical premises. The second group includes many middle and later Upanishads, where their authors professed theories based on yoga and personal experiences. Yoga philosophy and practice, adds Jayatilleke,
13899-505: The transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hinduism . They are the most recent addition to the Vedas -- the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, and deal with meditation, philosophy , consciousness , and ontological knowledge. Earlier parts of the Vedas dealt with mantras, benedictions, rituals, ceremonies, and sacrifices. While among
14022-594: The tree would be anointed with butter to minimize the hurt to the tree. Even in modern times, in some parts of India such as Odisha , Visvakarma Puja is a ritual festival every year where the craftsmen and artists worship their arts, tools and materials. Hindu temples served as nuclei of important social, economic, artistic and intellectual functions in ancient and medieval India. Burton Stein states that South Indian temples managed regional development function, such as irrigation projects, land reclamation, post-disaster relief and recovery. These activities were paid for by
14145-489: The twenty Yoga Upanishads to be probably from the 100 BCE to 300 CE period. Patrick Olivelle and other scholars date seven of the twenty Sannyasa Upanishads to likely have been complete sometime between the last centuries of the 1st-millennium BCE to 300 CE. About half of the Sannyasa Upanishads were likely composed in 14th- to 15th-century CE. The general area of the composition of the early Upanishads
14268-497: The underlying principle in a Hindu temple is the belief that all things are one, that everything is connected. The pilgrim is welcomed through 64-grid or 81-grid mathematically structured spaces, a network of art, pillars with carvings and statues that display and celebrate the four important and necessary principles of human life—the pursuit of artha (prosperity, wealth), of kama (pleasure, sex), of dharma (virtues, ethical life) and of moksha (release, self-knowledge). At
14391-401: The underworld. This vastu-purusha-mandala plan and symbolism is systematically seen in ancient Hindu temples on the Indian subcontinent as well as those in southeast Asia, with regional creativity and variations. Beneath the mandala's central square(s) is the space for the all-pervasive, all-connecting Universal Spirit, the highest reality , the purusha . This space is sometimes known as
14514-426: The wife of Yajnavalkayva, also feature occasionally. Each of the principal Upanishads can be associated with one of the schools of exegesis of the four Vedas ( shakhas ). Many Shakhas are said to have existed, of which only a few remain. The new Upanishads often have little relation to the Vedic corpus and have not been cited or commented upon by any great Vedanta philosopher: their language differs from that of
14637-455: The word "Silpin". "Silpa", explains Stella Kramrisch, is a multicolored word and incorporates art, skill, craft, ingenuity, imagination, form, expression and inventiveness of any art or craft. Similarly, "Shilpin", notes Kramrisch, is a complex Sanskrit word, describing any person who embodies art, science, culture, skill, and rhythm and employs creative principles to produce any divine form of expression. Silpins who built Hindu temples, as well as
14760-570: The word means Ātmavidyā , that is, "knowledge of the self ", or Brahmavidyā "knowledge of Brahman". The word appears in the verses of many Upanishads, such as the fourth verse of the 13th volume in the first chapter of the Chandogya Upanishad. Max Müller as well as Paul Deussen translate the word Upanishad in these verses as "secret doctrine", Robert Hume translates it as "mystic meaning", while Patrick Olivelle translates it as "hidden connections". According to Signe Cohen,
14883-627: The work of many authors. Scholars are uncertain about when the Upanishads were composed. The chronology of the early Upanishads is difficult to resolve, states philosopher and Sanskritist Stephen Phillips, because all opinions rest on scanty evidence and analysis of archaism, style and repetitions across texts, and are driven by assumptions about likely evolution of ideas, and presumptions about which philosophy might have influenced which other Indian philosophies. Indologist Patrick Olivelle says that "in spite of claims made by some, in reality, any dating of these documents [early Upanishads] that attempts
15006-514: The world. Indian texts call the craftsmen and builders of temples "Silpin" ( Sanskrit : शिल्पिन् ), derived from "Silpa". One of the earliest mentions of the Sanskrit word "Silpa" is in Atharvaveda , from about 1000 BCE; according to scholars, the word was used to denote any work of art. Some scholars suggest that the word "Silpa" has no direct or one-word translation in English, nor does
15129-634: Was undertaken". Temples also acted as refuge during times of political unrest and danger. Historically, the Scheduled Castes or Dalits were prohibited from the entry into temples. In contemporary times, the process of building a Hindu temple by emigrants and diasporas from South Asia has also served as a process of building a community, a social venue to network, reduce prejudice and seek civil rights together. John Guy and Jorrit Britschgi state Hindu temples served as centers where ancient manuscripts were routinely used for learning and where
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