The Hindu Temple v1.c7.s1.32

v1.c7.s1.32

She is invoked in the bricks of which the Vedic altar is piled and the Hindu temple is built. "O daughter of the sage Aṅgiras, thou unbroken, unhurt and full (in size), O Brick, grant thou the desired object." With these words the brick is laid down and established (its 'pratiṣṭhā' is performed. 'Agnipurāṇa', ch. XLI. 17; 'Hayaśīrṣapañcarātra', ch. XII. 257-58)¹⁴. As the daughter of Aṅgiras¹⁵ (Breath) she is immortal, a goddess, and many are her names. It has been breathed into her and so she is a sister to the Vedic hymns, whose father too is Aṅgiras. Having gone through the fire and having been given form, Earth as Brick is equivalent to the Word, Earth, all the same, herself retains her own significance in the same rite when in the base of the temple the Garbhādhāna¹⁶ is performed, when the Germ of the temple to be built is implanted and steadied in the womb of mother Earth.