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== यज्ञवेदी ॥ Vedic Fire Altar ==

== यज्ञवेदी ॥ Vedic Fire Altar ==

Another significant point in understanding the Hindu temple is that it is an evolution of the Vedic fire altar in which the Yajnas were performed, and that the Hindu temple, in a sense, a permanent form of the Vedic fire altar, the Yajna vedi. Stella Kramrisch says:

Another significant point in understanding the Hindu temple is that it is an evolution of the Vedic fire altar in which the Yajnas were performed, and that the temple, in a sense, a permanent form of the Vedic fire altar, the Yajna vedi. Stella Kramrisch says:

“The Sulva-sutras contained in the Kalpa-sutras, represent the rules and give proportionate measurement for laying out and piling up the Vedic altar. On them basically rests the building of the Hindu temple.” 

“The Sulva-sutras contained in the Kalpa-sutras, represent the rules and give proportionate measurement for laying out and piling up the Vedic altar. On them basically rests the building of the Hindu temple.” 

The temple was the solution to this problem. The deity who was invoked and imagined in the Vedic fire took a permanent form in the temple in the form of the temple deity and the entire temple structure was imagined as the Yajna vedi, the fire altar. A temple priest was appointed who maintained the ritual cleanliness, necessary to maintain the divine presence. And he would offer worship on behalf of the devotee and thus anyone who wished, could undertake the divine process. 

The temple was the solution to this problem. The deity who was invoked and imagined in the Vedic fire took a permanent form in the temple in the form of the temple deity and the entire temple structure was imagined as the Yajna vedi, the fire altar. A temple priest was appointed who maintained the ritual cleanliness, necessary to maintain the divine presence. And he would offer worship on behalf of the devotee and thus anyone who wished, could undertake the divine process. 

As the Hindu Shastras see it, the temple, as a concrete structure took form when people stopped seeing the divine and the sacred in everything; when divinity got limited to certain times and places; and need was felt to create a permanent structure in which a temple priest could officiate the sacred process. Thus, the Hindu temple took its present concrete form in stone. 

As the Shastras see it, the temple, as a concrete structure took form when people stopped seeing the divine and the sacred in everything; when divinity got limited to certain times and places; and need was felt to create a permanent structure in which a temple priest could officiate the sacred process. Thus, the Hindu temple took its present concrete form in stone. 

== शिल्पकलानैपुणम् ॥ Architectural Excellence ==

== शिल्पकलानैपुणम् ॥ Architectural Excellence ==