Temples In India-1.pdf - Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAhumans who enter His presence for worship.As we go in through the several entrances,there is the central sanctum where theSivalinga is installed. At the entrance,Ganapati and Subramanya are installed onthe right and the left. There is anardhamandapa and a mahamandapa. Onthe northern side of this mandapa, aseparate sabha (hall) is provided forNataraja and His Consort, Sivakamasundari.These are in bronze. The vimanas over allshrines have only one kalasa, but thevimana over this hall has always three orfive. There is then a palliyarai (or sleepingroom)and besides it the sanctum for theShakti of the temple.As we go round the first corridor aroundthe sanctum, we see the temple kitcheninstalled at the south-eastern corner. Onthe southern outer side of the sanctum,there is Dakshinamoorti in a koshta (niche)on the wall. Very often we see a nartana(dancing) Ganapati, Jvarahara Murty andAgastya also in separate niches to the eastof Dakshinamoorti, on the wall of the ardhamandapa.On the back side or the sameouter wall we see the Lingodbhavamoortiat the centre in a koshta; sometimes thereis Vishnu instead.On the western side of the corridor, wesee installed, in three separate subtemples,Ganapati at the southern corner,Subramanya at the Centre andMahalakshmi at the northern corner. Usuallywe see also Kasi Visvanatha installedseparately at the northern corner.On the northern outer wall of the sanctum,Brahma is installed in a koshta over thegomuka (spout through which theabhisheka water flows out). A little to theeast, Chandesa is installed in a separateTEMPLE INDIAsub-temple facing south. A little farthereast, Durga is installed on the walls of theardha-mandapa in a koshta.Then we pass on to the eastern corridor.On its eastern side the Yagasala is at thenorth-eastern corner and then we findinvariably Bhairava. Surya and Sani inanother enclosure.This is the lay-out of the temple and itssub-temples. Nalvar and Saptamatas alsoArupattumoovar may sometimes be foundinstalled on the southern corridor in a longmandapa. Sometimes also Kali. But Mariand Aiyanar are never placed inside a Sivatemple. The Agamas do not provide anyplace in the temple for the group ofNavagrahas but the Smarta influence insociety in a later day has found odd placesinside the temple for installing them.The sthala-vruksha (the tree sacred to theshrine) and the temple tank are otherimportant adjuncts in the temple. The tank(pushkarini) is sometimes outside thetemple.About five percent of the temples may bewest-facing and the same arrangement isfollowed here. There are no north-facingor south-facing temples in Tamilnad, exceptthe rare one at Kulittalai which is northfacing.The Vishnu TempleThe Vishnu temples do not have so muchof detail in sub-temples. They have theentrance, the gopura and the vimana, witha separate temple for Vishnu’s consort,Lakshmi. Krishna in various forms and Ramamay be found installed in some; Narasimhaand Varahamurthi are given importance inmany temples.50