The Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India: A Study of Indo-Aryan Civilisation c8.62

c8.62

In the Râmâyana the word gopuram is used in the sense of a town gateway, and the meaning of it, “cow fort,” or shelter, also gives a clue to its secular origin in the daily life of an Indian village. The medieval temple gopurams are not cattle-shelters; but it is easy to imagine that in the ancient Aryan village communities the gate through which the cattle went to their pastures would be called the “cow-gate,” and that in case of a hostile raid they would be first driven to the "cow-fort" for safety. And as the routine of daily life became recognised as the *dharma* of Aryan religion, the forms and names of secular things sanctified by immemorial usage in the Aryan family were woven into the ritual of the pious Hindu. In India, religion is never regarded as external to secular life, but as its consecration and illumination.