Temples In India-1.pdf - Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAswallowed by it again. In this connection,it is necessary to mention here that themainland of Bharatha Varsha had in ancienttimes extended far beyond the presentsouthernmost point. The land was knownas the continent of Lemuria and it probablyconnected Madagascar and Africa in acontiguous strip. The first Tamil Sangamwas held in a place now under the sea.That area was gradually swallowed up bythe ocean. Now, at the request ofParasurama, this Virgin Mother faced theSouth and arrested the further march ofthe sea.Banasura is believed to have been killednear about Pothia Malai, north ofKanyakumari. From this mountain two riversflow-one called the Tamravarni on thenorthern side, created by Sage Agastya,and the other, the Kulithurai river, in thesouth.Parasurama established a Vinayaka atKanyakumari just before establishing theKanyakumari Amman. It was done with theidea that Vinayaka would help retaining theAmman there with all Her glory and getHer fulfil his purpose. Indra establishedanother Vinayaka when he arrived there,called Indrakantha Vinayaka.The processional deity in the Kanyakumaritemple is called Thyagasundari. The HolyMother, who appears in the state of beingready for marriage, is called Syamasundari.From: Temples of TamilnaduTEMPLE INDIATemple WorshipV. S. NATARAJASacred places receive their sanctity fromthe godly persons who had lived or areliving there. The divine vibrations sent outby these holy personages constitute anunending spiritual legacy to mankind. Thesesanctified places provide an impetus toseekers for progress in their spiritualpursuit. This fact explains why temples areresorted to by the pious everywhere andat all times.In India, temples were not in existenceduring the Vedic period and all ourmagnificent temples seen now are of latterdayorigin. In the distant past, all beautifuland inspiring places in Nature were madeuse of for worship of the Creator. Sacrificialfire was utilised as the medium betweenman and the Deity. This mode of worship,in course of time, gave place to templeworship. Cave temples cut and carved insuitable hills gave place to structuraltemples embodying the same principles.The whole universe is to be viewed as thetemple of God, the cosmic life vibrant in itbeing treated as God. The human body isreally the universe on a miniature scale.Whatever is great and glorious in Naturefinds a place in man also. There is nothingin Nature superior to the human being whois verily the temple of God and has in himthe potentiality to emerge in divinity if onlyhe chooses to do so.Symbolic Significance16The Hindu temple is a replica of the divinepossibilities in man. The main entrance to