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Role Name Affiliation National Coordinator Subject Coordinator Prof Sujata Patel Dept. Of Sociology, University of Hyderabad Paper Coordinator Prof. Edward Rodrigues Centre for the Study of Social Systems Jawaharlal Nehru University Content Writer Dr. Nivedita Rao Kishinchand Chellaram College. Churchgate,Mumbai. Content Reviewer Prof.Edward Rodrigues Centre for the Study of Social Systems Jawaharlal Nehru University Language Editor Prof.Edward Rodrigues Centre for the Study of Social Systems Jawaharlal Nehru University Technical Conversion Module Structure . Description of the Module Items Description of the Module Subject Name Sociology Paper Name Religion and Society Module Name/Title THE TEMPLE COMPLEX Module Id Module no.17 Pre Requisites An understanding of the structure and practices of the Hindu temple institution. Objectives This module seeks to provide a historical context to the emergence of the temple form in India as well the various architectural forms it took. The module also undertakes to discuss various rituals and festivals associated with the temple and the patronage it received from society. Furthermore it locates the hierarchies of priesthood and the nature of reforms that were sought to be instituted by government agencies. Key words Puranic Hinduism, Temple Structure, Priesthood, Patronage, Temple Honours, Temple Reforms, Temple Entry Movements. Religion and Society Module 17: The Temple Complex Introduction The early centuries of the Christian era saw many changes in the religious life of north India. These changes came primarily as a response to the growing popularity of Mahayana Buddhism and its doctrine of the saviour figure of the Bodhisattva, veneration in the form of images placed in the Chaityas and Viharas and the relatively simple forms of devotional worship. Puranic Hinduism thus was a response to the growing popularity of Mahayana Buddhism as well a rethinking of Vedic religion centred on the sacrifice exclusively performed by and for the upper caste. Puranic Hinduism on the other hand revolved around bhakti or devotion. Puranic religion had a wider appeal since it involved little investment such as gifts, keeping of fasts and vows, collective journeys to pilgrimages and subscribing to local mythologies [Thapar, 2002] These new deities were venerated iconographically and like human beings required care and worship by their devotees. The Puranic deities were meant to aid the devotee to moksha or the final liberation. Thus temples to various incarnations and forms of Shiva, Vishnu and the Devi began to be erected as abodes of the deities and the Puranas came to be compiled in the Gupta periods with narratives of the myths and legends of the lives and achievements of these Puranic deities. The Puranas also contained manuals for the building of temples, the proper form of rituals to be performed and the manner of worship of these deities. The Hindu temple as we know it today is a product of centuries of acculturation and amalgamation of several strands of Puranic Hinduism with local or folk cults scattered all over the Indian subcontinent. The temple is the abode of the deity that is it is literally the house of the deity and is organised thus. It is also a place of worship. Temples may be vast institutional complexes often covering very large spaces and sometimes engulfing an entire town with a huge staff, landed property and vast amounts of wealth such as those in Tamil Nadu and Kerala while the majority of them are middle sized single structures and some as village temples to local deities are indeed very small and may have only the inner sanctum to house the deity. Apart from the smaller temples to local deities most Hindu temples to the Puranic high gods were built and maintained by the ruling elites consisting of the Brahmins, Kshatriyas royal houses and the dominant social classes. In the premodern periods R.Champakalaxmi notes that the role of the temple was manifold- it was owner of land and other movable and immovable property, was the focus of economic activities such as markets, fairs and pilgrimages, ran educational centres, maintained manuscripts and provided for medical as well as hospital facilities and in the cultural sphere also promoted dance, music, theatre and local festivities. It also played a very important role in legitimising the sovereignty of rulers through the performance of rituals and often was an arena of competing political rivalries. [R. Champakalakshmi 2007] The temple plan First the temple site is selected and then ritually purified. Next stage is the erection of the temple on a ground plan. The ground functions as a sacred geometric design called the Vastupurushmandala. [Michell, 1988] Vastu means residence while the purusha is the cosmic man and the mandala represents a closed polygon. The Vastupurushamandala is conceived on the square plan, as a shape the square usually is associated with the gods. The centre of this square is inhabited by the three most important gods of the puranic pantheon namely Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. Vishnu is represented by the many avatars while Shiva is represented as a human as well as the phallic symbol or the lingam while Brahma has all but vanished from the worship in temples. The Vedic divinities are subordinated to the periphery of the square and are generally symbolised as constellations or the nakshatra. These are followed by the lokpalas or wardens of the four directions- Mahendra on the east, Yama on the south, Varuna on the west and soma of the north. The dikpalas [ Indra, Agni, Yama, Nirriti, Varuna, Marut, Kubera, Isana.] or guardian deities occupy the cardinal and intermediate directions. [R. Champakalakshmi 2007] When a site is chosen for the building of a temple the sthapati or the chief mason is required to follow the Vastu mandala. The ritual is marked by levelling the ground, purification as well as sowing seeds to signify the birth of a holy site as well as the drawing of the mandala on the site. Most temples face the east in accordance with the rising sun but some temples face west or south as in the case of Vishnu. [R. Champakalakshmi 2007] A basic Hindu temple consists of a womb chamber or the garbha griha where the deity is installed, with a circumambulatory passageway around it called the pradakshina patha, a congregation hall or the sabha mandapa, an antechamber called the ardhamandapa and a porch. Towering the sanctum is the shikahra which is typically of three types. The Nagara style- the shikhara is designed as curvilinear roof. The Khajuraho temples, Solanki temples of Gujarat and temples in Rajasthan belong to this group The Dravida style – the shikhara is a storeyed or tiered construction interspersed with miniature shrines. Temples from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh belong to this group The Vesara style- this is a hybrid style wherein the shikhara has a prominent vertical band on each of its angles and small replicas of the shikhara positioned on an object resembling an altar. Temples of the Deccan such as that of Ambarnath in Mumbai belong to this group. [R. Champakalakshmi 2007] Origin and development of the temple- The beginnings of temple building is generally associated with the rule of the Guptas [4th-6th centuries] who ruled the Gangetic heartland and were considered as patronisers of the classical form in art and literature. Unlike the earlier Vedic worship which centred on a fire altar built for the purpose of the yajna and later destroyed, the puranic temple was a solid permanent structure built for puranic gods as their home and place of worship. The concept was not altogether new since there have been suggestions that deification of puranic deities in human form and shrines built of either wood or bamboo dedicated to deities did exist from Kushana periods. Temples also arose when local deities or heroes were absorbed into the Puranic pantheon. Eschmann analyses this process of Hinduization of a tribal deity and its development as a supra local deity venerated in Hindu temples. Typically this process would occur in those areas with a sizeable tribal population and its contact with caste society and the daily worship of the deity. Such a deity would have been a natural stone or may only be a wooden post and would require animal sacrifice performed by a non–Brahmin priest who may also be a mediator [bhagat] of the deity. The process of Hinduization would commence with donations of land or ritual articles for regular puja, placing of an icon/ image in place of the aniconical symbol, building a structure over the deity and finally replacing the non–Brahmin priest with a Brahmin one and subsequently transforming the form of worship from sacrifices to offerings of flowers, food and coconuts. [Eschman, Kulke & Tripathi 1978] Such a process of Hinduization of tribal deities is visible in the case of Jagannath, Lingaraj and Sthambeshvari all tribal deities of Orissa, the Vithoba cult of Maharashtra, the Khandoba cult of pastoral tribes of Maharashtra and the cult of mother goddesses in many parts of India. In the Hinduization of the Goddess sometimes a consort is added like Shiva and this allows for her complete absorption into Puranic Hinduism. Similarly temples in early medieval India were also constructed as royal cult centres such as that in the Jagannath-Puriin Orissa, Eklinga temple in Mewar, Tanjavur temple, the Virupaksha temple and the Minakshi temple in south India. The royal cults emerged as a symbiotic relationship between the monarch and the sacred centre wherein the deity became the ruler of the region and the king his representative. [Chattopadhyaya 2003] In the case of Jagannath temple Kulke notes that Anantavarman Codaganga [1078-1147 A.D.]an important Ganga king constructs a temple to lord Jagannath on imperial scale with land donations, great annual festivals and daily rituals on a grand scale.

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