Classical temples

Temples grew out of the stupa and rock-cut traditions, and became central to India's culture.

A temple was not only a place of worship. It was also a place of:

• learning and literature;
• sculpture, dance, music and painting;
• social and economic life, where people met, and bought and sold.

Classical temples first appeared in the Gupta period. They were built with a king's support, and with gifts from many donors.

Builders followed the śhilpaśhāstra: old books of rules for architecture and sculpture.

Learn the main parts. You will meet them in every temple:

• a grand entrance: the gopuram in the south, or a toraṇa in some northern temples;
• one or more maṇḍapas: halls with pillars;
• the garbhagṛiha: the innermost room, which holds the mūrti (image) of the deity.

Above the garbhagṛiha rises a tower. In north India it is called the śhikhara. In south India it is called the vimāna.

Most temples are lined up east–west, with the garbhagṛiha facing east.

Now the big idea behind the plan. A temple is designed, across and upwards, as a picture of the human body: the body of Puruṣha, the cosmic being.

Going upwards, the top of the tower is the head, and the platform the temple stands on is the feet. So the temple stands for our own being and for the whole universe at the same time.

That turns a visit into a journey. You leave the outside world at the gateway and walk inwards, to the garbhagṛiha at the centre. The chapter says this mirrors our own inner, spiritual journey.