Temples Concept

Temple:

Temple is the place for the worship of a deity. In the Hindu community temple is the focus for all aspects of everyday life. It is the place where God may be approached and where divine knowledge can be discovered. The temple is designed to dissolve the boundaries between man and the divine.

Construction of Temple:

The temple is based on a strict grid made up of squares and equilateral triangles which are imbued with deep religious significance. Vaastu shastras are followed as symbolic, miniature representation. The construction of the temple follows in three dimensional forms exactly the pattern laid out by the mandala. The relationship between the underlying symbolic order and the actual physical appearance of the temple can best be understood by seeing it from above which was of course impossible for humans until quite recently.

The ground plan is that it is intended to lead from the temporal world to the eternal. The principal shrine should face the rising sun and so should have its entrance to the east. Movement towards the sanctuary, along the east-west axis and through a series of increasingly sacred spaces is of great importance and is reflected in the architecture. A typical Hindu temple consists of the following major elements - an entrance, often with a porch; one or more attached or detached mandapas or halls; the inner sanctum called the garbagriha, literally ‘womb chamber’; and the tower build directly above the garbagriha.

Concepts Associated with the Temple:

The darkness of the garbha-grha (sanctum sanctorum), illuminated by a dim burning of lights inside the space, suggests beautifully the idea of mystery that envelopes the universe and the spirit that moves behind the conceal of mystery. Here the space symbolizes the universe, darkness the mystery that envelops it, gloom the conceal of appearances and God, the spirit immanent in the universe. There are two concepts associated with the temple, the gross body and subtle body concepts. The Prasada and the idol are closely interlinked and they are considered as gross and subtle bodies respectively of the temple. The sthoola or gross body comprises the following seven parts.

Garbhagrham siraproktham antharaalam mukham thathha
Sukhaasanam galamchaiva baahuschaivaardhamadapam 
Mahamandapam kukshisyat praakaaram jaanujanghayoh
Gopuram devapaadamsyath yadyetha lakshnam subham

The garbha-graha corresponds to the head of the deity, the anthar-mandala (the inner square where bali-peethas of Devathas are located) His face, the namaskaara-madapa (where vedic chanting is done) His throat or neck, the inner pradakshina-vazhi and naalambalam together (inclusive of yaagasaala, Thitappalli etc which is known as antha-haara) His hands, the vilakkumaatam and area within the outer balikkallu (also known as madhya-haara) His belly, the maryaada or outerwall as knees and ankles and the gopura His feet. In short, every space within the maryaada (outer-wall) of the temple forms part of the sthhoola (gross body) of the principal deity.

The sookshma or subtle body concept, which is related to the idol, is based on aadhaara chakras mentioned in yogic literature. To quote Sir John Woodroffe the life force or praana-sakthi operates in the gross human body through the nervous' system whose central axis is the spinal column beginning from the base of the brain to the bottom of the body situated midway between the perinaeum, between the root of the genitals and the anus'. In this spinal column our yogic ancestors discovered six centres almost corresponding to the nervous plexuses from where all the conscious and unconscious activities originate and proceed. The base or the first plexus situated at the bottom of the body is called moolaadhara or root support'. Sir John Woodroffe continues' Above it in the origin of genitals, abdomen, heart, chest or throat and in the fore-head between two eyes (bhroo-madhya) are the adhishtaana,manipooraka, anaahatha, visuddhi and aajna chakras or lotuses (padmas) respectively The chakras are centres of sakthi as vital force. In other words they are centres of praana-sakthi manifested by praana-vaayu in the living body, the presiding Devathas of which are names for the universal consciousness as it manifests in the form of those centres.

Importance:

Component unit	Description	Concept and importance
Aadhaara-sila	It is made of solid granite stone and exactly square in shape with each side equal to half of the breadth of Jree peetha or equal to padma-pee!ha. The height of the sila is half of the breadth of the aadharasila so determined. There is a small depression at the top centre position for properly, keeping the nidhi-kuritbha. This cavity is filled with grain seeds (paddy etc).	Aadharasila and the grain seeds symbolize moolaadhara and swadhishtaana chakras which are bottom parts of the subtle body. The manthras for installation are OM, RI which are the basic vibration of Brahman and aadi-sakthi, i.e. kundalini-sakthi.. The seeds represent sperm cells of swadhishtaana-chakra.
Nidhi-kumbha	It is made up of granite stone or copper and filled in with precious stones, gold etc. The circumference (c) of thekumbha is h/6 and its height is c/8. Where h is the height from the basement to vaarotthara.	It is installed by chanting the particular manthra of the deity and symbolizes the manipooraka literally meaning 'filled up with jewels'. The manthra is the pasyanthi state i.e. the vibration that has taken a definite form representing a particular thing or sakthi or energy.
Padma	Though the padma is made up of 12 petals as per yoga-s'aasthra, Aacharyans of yoga-thanthra take it as 8 petals (ashtadala-padma) in which all deities can be worshipped by following thanthra. Let its measurements be m, which is h/8; circumference is m/9 and in the shape ofkumbha petals as per the diagram 20.	It represents anaahatha chakra or heart lotus. All letters of alphabet are awakened and made active here. The pasyanthi sabda or vibration here becomes the madhyama or intermediate state ready to project itself tovaikhari (audible) sound.
Koorma	Koorma is made up of granite stone with its head facing the same direction as the deity is facing. Its measure¬ments are length L=h/12, breadth=L/8, height=L/2	Koorma in Puraanas support the earth and symbolizes a particular form of praana sakthi or life force which manifests in the activating principle flowing through the nervous system and motivates the organism internally and externally. It is thus a nerve conduit placed in the chest or heart region
Yoga-naala	It is an empty copper tube connecting the koorma with the napumsaka-sila which is at the level of the ground floor of the garbha-grj.ha. The measurements of yoga-naala show a breadth of 2 angulams at the bottom and 1 angulam at the top.	Yoga-naala symbolises the Visuddhi-chakra the neck region where all vaikhari sabda(sound) are produced in the human being.
Napumsaka-sila	It is a granite stone without male or female principles, ie neuter. The sila is square in shape with measurements depending on the size of the idol. At the bottom of the sila there is a hole for fIxing the yoga-naala. Similarly at its top there is a square cavity to fix the peefha of the idol.	The sila symbolises the aajna-chakra, located at the mid-point of eyebrows, which is the coalescing point of male and female principles represented by Pingala and idanaadis. In shortnapumsaka-sila represents the aajna chakra where the 'OM or primordial sound appears in various forms of light to a practisingyogi.