1. Origin and Development of Temple building

The Hindu temple Architecture bears a great importance in the field of fine art along with various principles of life like that of beliefs, philosophy, ideas, social norms etc. Thus temple many times exhibit the way of life under Hinduism. From the ancient time the art of temple building has been developing in almost all the regions of India. The different architectural techniques of temple building in different regions are the result of geographical, climatic, ethnic, cultural, national and historical diversities. The Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa also bears an elaborate discussion on the Architecture of temple which has been taken up here for discussion.

In Hinduism tīrthayātra, i.e., the system of pilgrimage seems to be very auspicious, common and popular. The temple is a place where the devotees can get the environment to connect themselves with their lords. The Hindu temple consists of all the cosmic elements from fire to water, images of nature to deities, Gods remain feminine to masculine, kāma to artha, fleeting sounds and incense smells etc. by which one can celebrate life. Stella Kramrisch, the author of The Hindu Temple also keeps her view point in the same spirit.^[1] The Hindu temples are designed for the purpose of making connection between man and the divine and to help the people to develop their spiritual knowledge and truth. From almost all accounts, it comes up that the origin of Hindu temples goes far back to those fire altars, which were used for conveying the offerings to the deities through fire, sacredly energized by chanting the holy mantras of the Vedic time. The structures of Hindu temples were rooted in some specific circles and squares in the Vedic time. Those circular and square shaped surfaces were nothing but the yajñavedīs i.e., the place to hold the sacrifices. Stella Kramrich also agrees on it in her work The Hindu Temple.^[2]

In the Śatapathabrāhmaṇa it is stated that by worshiping fire in the Vedic age, the devotees or the sages obtained saṃvīd i.e., the entire earth and as because they were able to obtain this entire earth by it, therefore the, sacrificial ground is called vedī.^[3] According to the Taittirīyabrāhmaṇa, also the earth itself is regarded as altar.^[4] Thus the concept of the vedī or a ground for offering materials specifically to God of worship emerged in the Vedic era. Again after making the vedī, the concept of idol worship came into existence.

In the Śvetāśvetaropaniṣad, it is said that the form of God cannot be seen i.e., no one can see Him with the eyes.^[5] This may be the reason behind the generation of the concept of idol. It is stated in the Śrīmadbhagavadgītā that persons having body find difficulty while worshipping the formless.^[6] Thus it appears that in the Vedic period to Upaniṣadic period, the practice of idol worship was not in a prominent place as well as the need of temple building like present day was not in vogue. People of that time could emerge with the divinity through practising penance or sometimes doing some sacrificial rites. But it came with force in the epic and Purāṇic era. It can be assumed that the principles of Hindu temple Architecture arose from the instructions of sūtra literature which were connected to the construction, measurements and procedure of making fire altars.

In the Āpastambaśrautasūtra, the measurement of the abode of āhavanīya fire is mentioned with the unit of prakrama and it fixes the area as eight prakrama for Brahmins.^[7] In the commentary of Rudradātta on Āpastambaśrautasūtra, the unit called prakrama is identified as dvipada or tripada.^[8] In the later period, the practice of worship of image as well as the necessity of the construction of temple came into being gradually. The text of two epics viz., the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata, frequently mention about temple which bears the proof of having temples in the society of that time. In the Ayodhyākāṇḍa of the Rāmāyaṇa, it is mentioned that people of Ayodhyā were whitewashing the doors of their temples for the upcoming coronation of Rāma.^[9]

In the Mahābhārata also we find the reference of temple of that time.^[10] The Puranic literature also bears a great discussion on temple building. Two chapters i.e., 269^th and 270^th of the Matsyapurāṇa speak about temple building. The Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa has a great discussion on temple Architecture. In later period, various authors talk about different temples of India in their works.

In the Meghadūta of Kālidāsa, a beautiful description of Mahākāla temple of Ujjayinī is found.^[11] Moreover, different treatises like the Bṛhatsaṃhitā, Mayamata, Mānasāra etc. bear a great importance in the field of temple Architecture and they provide a great amount of knowledge about the temple construction of ancient time in India.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Stella Kramrisch, The Hindu Temple, Vol-1, p. 3

[2]:

Stella Kramrich, The Hindu Temple, p.19

[3]:

pṛthivī’samavindanta tadyudenenemā’sarvā’ samavindanta tasmādvedirnāmapṛthivī yāvatī vedistāvatī pṛthivītyetayā….. atapathabrāhmaṇaŚ, 1.2.5.7

[4]:

….pṛthivī vedīḥ/ Taittirīyabrāhmaṇa, 3.3.6.2

[5]:

na sandṛśe tiṣṭhati rūpamasya na cakṣuṣā paśyati kaścanainam/ vetāśvetaropaniṣadŚ, 4.20

[6]:

kleśo’dhikatarasteṣāmavyaktāsaktacetasām/ avyaktā hi gatirduḥkhaṃ dehavadbhiravāpyate// Śrīmadbhagavadgītā, 12.5

[7]:

……aṣṭāsu prakrameṣu brāhmaṇasyāhavanīyāyatanam/ Āpastambaśrautasūtra, 5.4.3

[8]:

prakramo dvipadstripado vā/ Richard Garbe, Āpastambaśrautasūtra, commentary of Rudradātta, p.243

[9]:

……..dvijendrairabhināditām/ śukladevagṛhadvārāṃ sarvavāditranisvanām// Rāmāyaṇa, 2.7.4

[10]:

………devāyatanacaityeṣu prākārāṭṭālakeṣu ca// Mahābhārata, 71.27

[11]:

apyanyasmiñjaladhara mahākālamāsādya kāle sthātavyaṃ te nayanaviṣayaṃ yāvadatyeti bhānuḥ/ kurvansaṃdhyābalipaṭahatāṃ śūlinaḥ ślāghanīyā-māmandrāṇāṃ phalamavikalaṃ lapsyase garjitānām// Meghadūta, 1. 37