Temples in Texts on Architecture (स्थापत्यशास्त्रेषु देवालयाः )

Introduction

Temples are truly the essence of Sanatana Dharma. The focus of Vaidika Sanatana Dharma was the Yajna Samstha but gradually the place of Yajna was taken over by the institutions of temples and allied rituals like puja, japa and vrata. The antiquity of temples as places of worship dates back at least to the Early Historic Period (6th century BCE) which coincides with the Second Urbanization in India. A few scholars assert that the form of Sanatana Dharma as practiced since the beginning of the Common Era revolves around the institution of temples. The archaeological evidences for temples date back to the 3rd century BCE but this does not negate the fact that temples were being constructed in the land of Bharata at least since the 6th century BCE. There are copious references to temples in literary as well as epigraphical sources (inscriptions). In this article we will be discussing some major literary references to temples.

Varahamihira's Brihat Samhita (वराहमिहिरस्य बृहत संहिता )

Varahamihira 's Brihat Samhita is the oldest available text which includes details about the construction of temples in its fifty-sixth adhyaya titled Prasadalakshanadhyayah. and is approximately dated to the 5th-6th centuries CE. Varahamihira states in the opening shloka of this adhyaya that after one constructs water tanks (salila) and lays out gardens (arama) one must undertake the task of building a temple to augment one 's own glory and religious merit. (Brihat Samhita 56.1). A person who aspires to attain the lokas through Ishta and Purta Dharmas must engage himself in the erection of temples so that he may procure the merits of both (Brihat Samhita 56.2). Varahamihira lays down that the site of the proposed temple must be divided into sixty-four squares and its middle door must be located in one of the cardinal quarters (Brihat Samhita 56.10). Succeeding shlokas of the text furnish details about the dimensions of the various constituent parts of the temple and their relative proportions. The text also recommends that temple doors must have three, five, seven and nine frames and these numbers confer auspiciousness. The text further lays down that two door keepers must be carved near the door and their size must be 1/4th of the door post.The remaining space must be adorned with auspicious birds, Bilva trees, Svastikas, pitchers, couples, leaves, creepers and flowers and Bhagavan Shiva 's ganas. Many of these motifs are clearly visible in temples from the Gupta Period onward. These motifs can also be seen in rock-cut cave temples dating to the same period (the Gupta Period falls approximately between the 4th c. CE to the 6th c. CE) (Brihat Samhita 56.11-16). The Brihat Samhita presents an inventory of twenty different kinds of temple structures. These twenty types of temples differ from each other in regard to dimensions, arrangements and plan. Their classification is based on number of storeys  and shikharas, divergent dimensions and plan and position of doors etc.The details of the various temples are as follows:

1 Meru

This is the loftiest temple described in the Brihat Samhita. It rises to a height of twelve storeys and is hexagonal in its plan. It had variegated windows and doors in the four cardinal directions. Its width was thirty two cubits (one cubit is equal to eighteen inches).

2. Mandara

The Mandara type of a temple is hexagonal with a width of thirty cubits and with a height of ten storeys and shikharas.

3. Kailasa

The Kailasa kind of a temple shares similarities with the Mandara with a height of eight storeys and its width being twenty eight cubits.

4. The Vimana Chhanda

This temple is equipped with latticed windows and is as broad as twenty one cubits

5. Nandana

The Nandana possesses a height of six storeys with sixteen cupolas and a width of thirty-two cubits.

6. Samudga

Samudga is a temple with a circular plan and measures eight cubits in width. It has a single storey and only one shikhara.

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