The current state and outer appearance of Hindu temples reflect arts, materials anddesigns as they evolved over two millennia; they also reflect the effect of conflicts between Hinduism and Islam
since the 12th century.
The Swaminarayanan Akshardham in
Robbinsville, New Jersey, United States,between the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas, was inaugurated in 2014 as one of the world's largest Hindu temples.
Significance and meaning of
a temple
A Hindu temple reflects a synthesis of arts, the ideals of dharma, beliefs, values, Andthe way of life cherished under Hinduism.It is a link between man, deities, and the Universal Purusa in a sacred space.It represents the triple-knowledge (trayi-vidya) of the Vedic vision by mapping the relationships between the cosmos (brahmanda) and the cell (pinda) by a unique plan that is 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.
The 9x9 (81) grid "Parama Sayika" layout plan found in large ceremonial Hindu Temples. It is one of many grids used to build Hindu temples. In
this structure of symmetry, each concentric layer has significance. The outermost layer, Paisachika
padas, signify aspects of Asuras and evil; while inner Devika padas signify aspects of Devas and good. In
between the good and evil is the concentric layer of Manusha padas signifying human life; All these
layers surround Brahma padas, which signifies creative energy and the site for temple's primary idol
for darsana. Finally at the very center of Brahma padas is Garbhagriha (Purusa Space), signifying Universal Principle present in everything and
everyone.
In ancient Indian texts, a temple is a place for Tirtha – pilgrimage.It is a sacred site whose ambience and design attempts to symbolically condense the ideal tenets of
Hindu way of life.All the cosmic
elements that create and sustain life are present in a Hindu temple – from fire to water, from images of nature to deities,from the feminine to the masculine, from the fleeting sounds and incense smells to the eternal nothingness yet universality at
the core of the temple.
Susan Lewandowski states that the
underlying principle in a Hindu temple is built around the belief that all things are one, 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), the pursuit of kama
(pleasure, sex), the pursuit of dharma
(virtues, ethical life) and the pursuit of moksha (release, self-knowledge).
At the center 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 present
everywhere, connects everything, and is the essence of everyone. A Hindu temple is meant to encourage reflection, facilitate purification of one's mind, and trigger 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 lonelysacred.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 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,commemorate the birth of a child, other significant life events, or mark the death of a loved one. In political and economic life, Hindu temples have served as a venue for the succession within dynasties and landmarks around which economic activity thrived.
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