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The Concept of a Temple (देवालयस्य सङ्कल्पना) (view source)
Revision as of 11:21, 16 March 2022
, 11:21, 16 March 2022→Dhvaja Stambha
==== Dhvaja Stambha ====
==== Dhvaja Stambha ====
The practice of erecting Dhvaja Stambhas before the temple has an antiquity of at least 2200 years before present. One of the earliest Dhvaja Stambhas in India was erected at Besnagar (ancient Vidisha) in Madhya Pradesh by a Greek ambassador named Heliodorus who declared himself to be a Bhagavata or a devotee of Bhagavat Vasudeva-Krishna and erected the Garuda Dhvaja Stambha in the honour of the God. A temple dedicated to Lord Shiva will have a dhvaja stambha or flag post with the image of Nandi at the pinnacle whereas a dhavaja stambha surmounted with an image of Garuda would be placed before a Vaishnava temple. A Shakta or Devi shrine would be considered complete after a dhavaja stambha with an image of a lion at its peak would be constructed in its precincts. A dhvaja stambha is a part of the paraphernalia associated with a king and the deity enshrined in the temple is perceived as the 'King of kings'. The general practice is that the image of the mount of the deity who is worshipped in a given temple is place atop the dhvaja stambha.The dhvaja stambhas could be made out of stone or metals like copper.
The practice of erecting Dhvaja Stambhas before the temple has an antiquity of at least 2200 years before present. One of the earliest Dhvaja Stambhas in India was erected at Besnagar (ancient Vidisha) in Madhya Pradesh by a Greek ambassador named Heliodorus who declared himself to be a Bhagavata or a devotee of Bhagavat Vasudeva-Krishna and erected the Garuda Dhvaja Stambha in the honour of the God. A temple dedicated to Lord Shiva will have a dhvaja stambha or flag post with the image of his mount Nandi at the pinnacle whereas a dhavaja stambha surmounted with an image of Garuda would be placed before a Vaishnava temple. A Shakta or Devi shrine would be considered complete after a dhavaja stambha with an image of a lion at its peak would be constructed in its precincts. A dhvaja stambha is a part of the paraphernalia associated with a king and the deity enshrined in the temple is perceived as the 'King of kings'. The general practice is that the image of the mount of the deity who is worshipped in a given temple is place atop the dhvaja stambha. The dhvaja stambhas could be made out of stone or metals like copper.
==== The Prakara Wall ====
Temples usually have a high wall enclosing its precincts. This wall is known has 'prakara' and it almost resembles a fortification wall. Sometimes a temple, depending upon its area and significance may have more than one prakara wall.The prakara wall is intercepted by gateways or gopurams (in the case of South Indian Temples) in the cardinal directions and in most cases there will be one gateway which would serve as the principal one. In the ancient times, shrines would be generally surrounded by a stone or wooden railing. In South Indian Shaiva temples, the prakara wall would be embellished will images of Nandi.
==== Pushkarni ====