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The Hindu Temple v1.c8: Part V. Names and Origins of the Temple

The Hindu Temple v1.c8

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Part V. Names and Origins of the Temple

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मानं धाम्नास्तु सम्पूर्णं जगत्सम्पूर्णता भवेत् ॥

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"If the measurement of the Temple is in every way perfect, there will be perfection in the universe as well". 'Mayamata', XXII. 92.

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प्रासादं यच्छिवशक्त्यात्मकं तच्छक्त्यन्तैः स्याद्वसुधाद्यैस्तु तत्त्वैः । शेवी मूर्तिः खलु देवालयाख्येयस्माद् ध्येया प्रथमं चाभिपूज्या ॥

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"The Temple is made up of the presence of Śiva and Śakti and of the Principles and all Forms of manifestation from the elementary substance, Earth, to Śakti. The concrete form of Śiva is called House of God. Hence one should contemplate and worship it". 'Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati', Pt. III. Chapter XII. 16.

The Names

1. Vimāna

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"Puruṣa bears the measuring rod (māna, from 'mā'), knows division and thinks himself composed of parts. Hence he is known as Mati" (Mind; 'Vāyu-purāṇa', IV. 30-31).

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To measure ('mā') is to make a thing by giving shape to it and existence. Māyā or manifestation means division of the hitherto undivided Principle; on itself it performs this operation and as Puruṣa it henceforth thinks of itself as composed of parts. Puruṣa who is the first form of the Supreme Brahman ('Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad', III. 19; 'Viṣṇupurāṇa', I. 1. 2), thus bears the measuring rod. He is the great Architect of the universe and in this capacity his name is Viśvakarman.¹ He is as the God of Israel who has disposed everything—in the world, within ourselves and outside,—with measure, number and weight (Sap. XI. 20).

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¹ 'Mānasāra', II, 2-5.

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Manifestation comprises all that is seen; it has form, and is measurable; "all that can be measured is in the form of Umā and the measurer is the great Lord" ('Liṅgapurāṇa', LXX. 15). When Puruṣa thinks of himself, it is in the form of Umā, who shows by her name which is from the root 'mā' like Māyā, that she is the 'measured out', the manifest world come into existence by the thinking of Puruṣa. He thinks himself composed of parts while he is the measurer, the great Lord. Ontologically, the act of measuring his form is subsequent and refers back to his undivided presence; it is a reconstitution and similar to it in its purpose is the work of the architects.² It is derived from His activity whose path 'measures' the wide heaven (AV. IV. 2. 3).

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² 'Prakṛti' is Māyā and the Great Lord the Māyin, 'Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad', IV, 10. In the 'Mānasāra', II, 2-35, it is said that the four progenitors and prototypes of the four divisions of architects are born from the four faces of Viśvakarman. They are Viśvakarman, Maya, Tvaṣṭṛ, and Manu. Their descendants are the Sthapati, the master builder; the Sūtragrāhin or Sūtradhāra who holds the measuring rod or line, the surveyor and draftsman; the Vardhakī, the builder and painter (from 'vṛdh', to make grow) and the Takṣaka, the carpenter, see Part I note 18.

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The word used here is ‘vimāna’, and it has remained one of the most generally accepted names which designate a temple. Vi-māna, measured in its parts, is the form of God which is this universe, the macrocosm, and the temple as well, as a middle term made by man, the microcosm, according to his understanding and by measure. To measure means here as much as to create; there is identity of measure and object³.

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³ Gokarnasvāmin (Śiva) is called “the sole surveyor (sūtradhāra) in the construction of the Universe” in a grant of Devendravarman, of the year 254; ‘Epigraphia Indica’, XVIII, p. 309.

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The Sun measures with his ray the boundaries of heaven and earth (RV. VIII. 25. 18)⁴. Viṣṇu measures the earth (RV. VI. 49. 13; VII. 100. 4). To Varuṇa, the Asura, the measurer of the earth (RV. V. 85. 5; VIII. 42. 1), belongs the line (Varuṇyā rajju)⁵.

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⁴ The universe is measured by Savitṛ, the Sun (RV. V. 81. 3). The sphere over which a god rules is commensurate with his activity.

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⁵ Varuṇa’s cord (Ś.B. I. 3. 1. 14), in iconography, is shown as a noose. It is the fetter, while the line is the measure of Time and Death.

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To measure is to order. The order, which applies to the objects, is also within us, in the regularity of our breathing and the symmetry and proportion of our body. In conformity with the order of the macrocosm, the microcosm lives, ascertains its order and makes it known by uttering it, in the rhythms of its movements and voice; the latter are the metres. As the Gods have done, so does man, he builds and thereby gains the three worlds, knowing them rhythmically in their measured form and sequence. Thus it is said in the ‘Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa’ (VIII. 3. 3. 5): “The metre measure (mā) is this terrestrial world, for this world is measured; the metre forth-measure (pra-mā) is the air world for this is measured from this world; the metre countermeasure (prati-mā) is that heavenly world, for that world is countermeasured in the air”⁶. With this rhythmic formula (mantra) are laid down three layers of the altar (Agni); the fourth layer is the Brahman (Ś.B. VIII. 4. 1. 3).

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⁶ The rhythmic formulae for the Bṛhati and Vālakhilya bricks, are (‘Taitt. Saṃh.’ IV, 3. 7. 1): Thou art Earth metre (mā), Air metre (pramā), Heaven metre (pratimā) . . . The Season metre, the Star metre, the Mind metre, the Speech metre. . . The inner rhythms of man and the worlds, and their presiding divinities Agni, Vāta, Sūrya, the impelling and regulating agents in and of the special metre, are invoked in these mantras or rhythmic formulae which are addressed each to one brick, identified with the deity. Mahidhara, comm. ‘Vāj. S.’, XIV, 18, explains Chandas, metre, as derived from the root ‘chad’, to cover. Each brick, each building-unit is imbued with rhythm. It is a charged and compelling weight and shape, in the hands of the builder. Cf. Āp. Ś.S., XVI, 28. 1. ff., the 12 mantras when laying the bricks in conformity with the golden Puruṣa.

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Rhythm evokes a reality and measure builds it up. Whatever is produced is called ‘meya’ (‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’, IX. 28). It is measurable, capable of being known, a quantity (gaṇa; ‘Gaṇitasārasaṃgraha’, I. 10-15).⁷ Proportionate measurement (pra-māṇa) is essential to the temple (vi-māna) and to the image (prati-mā) alike. They are ‘made’ by it to the same extent as the Vedic altar and also the Vedi. When the Vedi is outlined on the ground, with the tip of the wooden sacrificial sword, this rhythmic formula (mantra) is recited: ‘‘With the sacrifice’s forth-measure (pra-mā), peri-metre (abhi-mā), counter-measure (prati-mā) and upward measure (un-mā), I comprise thee’’ (‘Āpastamba Śrauta Sūtra’, IV. 5. 4). Three fold and four fold measure is here meted out; it has direction and building power. It is the object, its energy and form. To have measured the measure, ‘‘so that one may not measure further; in a hundred autumns, not before’’ (AV. XVIII. 2. 38) means, that life has been lived consciously, adequately in every direction. ‘‘This measure (of life) man measures forth (pra), off (apa), apart (vi), out (nir), up (ut), together (sam), so that when he has measured it, it is said of him that he has gone to heaven’’ (AV. XVIII. 2. 39-45).

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⁷ Gaṇita, the science of quantities and their computation, mathematics, is applied to architecture, Vāstuvidyā; to Chandas, the science of rhythms, etc.; to the dimensions of this earth, to the space world (the interspace, ‘antarikṣa’) and to the world of light and the gods; and to the configuration and destinies of the beings therein.

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The temple as Vimāna, proportionately measured throughout, is the house and body of God. By temple is understood the main shrine only in which is contained the Garbhagṛha, the womb and house of the Embryo, the small, inmost sanctuary with its generally square plan.⁸ All other buildings within the sacred precinct, are accessory and subservient to it: the hall, Maṇḍapa, in front of the entrance, is itself, as in Orissa, a semi-separate structure to which may be added several more such buildings preparing the devotee for the entry into the temple. These accessory buildings conform in each case with the proportionate measure of the temple, the Vimāna; the Maṇḍapa, generally, coalesces with the Vimāna.

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⁸ Garbha, however, is also commonly used in the sense of cell or separate room. Similarly too, the name Prāsāda, the other most important word for temple in common use, denotes a palace or palatial structure. In this sense it is generally employed by the Buddhists in the ‘Jātakas’, etc., and also later in the ‘Mahāvaṃśa’, etc. References to these passages are given by A. K. Coomaraswamy, in ‘Early Indian Architecture: III. Palaces’, ‘Eastern Art’, Vol. III. The ordinary designation of the separate rooms in a Prāsāda is Gabbha, ibid. p. 191. Gabbha denotes ‘cell’ in the cave inscriptions, note 102. To these words in their Pāli usage, correspond many others, such as Vedikā, ib., which here denotes any balustrade and not only one around a sacrificial platform (vedi).

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Vimāna is the name of the temple built according to tradition (śāstra) by the application of various proportionate measurements or various standards of proportionate measurement.⁹ The module is either purely architectural or being taken from the Liṅga or image in the Garbhagṛha is, in principle, common to the building, the main object of worship and the builder. The Vimānas are thus variously proportioned. This is explained in detail in the ‘Matsyapurāṇa’ and ‘Garuḍapurāṇa’, and also in the ‘Hayaśīrṣapañcarātra’¹⁰. The purely architectural standard of proportionate measure¹¹ is generally the width of the square of the Prāsāda. This is the width of its wall, measured on the outside. The wall, as a rule, is thick; its inside width which is that of the Garbhagṛha is generally half of its external width¹². The total height of the Vimāna is double the external width of the wall¹³. These pure octaves of proportionate measurement however are not the only architectural relations (Part VII).

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⁹ This definition is given in the ‘Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati’, III. Ch. XXVIII, 2; and repeated in the ‘Śilparatna’, XVI. 2. Vimānam denotes as well a chariot of the gods, the sky-travellers (AV. X. 8. 3; 4th Rock edict of Aśoka; cf. ‘Arthaśāstra’, II. 32. 49, ‘devaratha’) and a temple-construction, either of which are proportionate in their parts as laid down by tradition. ‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’, XLIX. 2-9; ‘Vaikhānasāgama’, XLI., see also Part VII. Vimāna, in Buddhist texts, usually means a palace of the gods, cf. ‘Mahāvaṃśa’, XXVII. 9, 10, 13, where the Lohapāsāda is to be built ‘like’ a palace of the gods, or aerial palace (‘dibba-vimāna’ or ‘ākasaṭṭha-vimāna’), Coomaraswamy, l. c., p. 181. The ‘Vimāna-Vatthu’ deals of the celestial abodes destined for different beings according to their merits. In the Epics, Vimāna means a seven storeyed building, acc. to the commentary (‘Tilaka’ of ‘Rāmāyaṇa’, II. 33. 3 and II. 57. 18).

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¹⁰ See Chapter VII, first chart, giving the proportions of Prāsādas, the ‘cominon’ (Sarvasādhāraṇa) standard and others.

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¹¹ The absolute measures which were generally accepted, see Part II, note 89.

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¹² The rule, that “the width of the wall on the outside should be twice the width of the Garbhagṛha is observed in the sixth century A.D. (‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’, LV. 12; subsequently ‘Matsyapurāṇa’, CCLXIX, 1, and up to a recent past if not to this day, where traditional practice has not as yet become extinct, as for instance in Orissa, cf. ‘Bhuvanapradīpa’, LXXXIII, quoted and translated by N. K. Basu, in ‘Canons of Orissan Architecture’, p. 119. Re. other proportions, see however Part VII.

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¹³ Bṛhat Saṃhitā’, LV. 11.

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The other standard of proportionate measurement of the plan and section of the building is not architectural; it is the height of the Liṅga¹⁴ or the image¹⁵ in the Garbhagṛha. The measure of the donor, the Kāraka or Yajamāna enters into that of the building, if the Liṅga or image is considered as measured according to the ‘aṅgula’, his finger measure¹⁶; in this vestigial survival, the measure of a ‘puruṣa’, the length of man, is in certain temples at least, also the module of the Vimāna. Ś.B. X. 2. 1. 2; 2. 6, gives the measure of the Altar by finger breadths and also by the measure of man with arms stretched up.

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¹⁴ ‘Matsya Purāṇa’, CCLXIX. 8; ‘Garuḍa Purāṇa’, I. XLVII. 10-13.

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¹⁵ ‘Hayaśīrṣapañcarātra’, XIII. 318; ‘Agnipurāṇa’, XLII. 9-11. The more general reference seems to be to the Liṅga. The connection of Liṅga and temple appears more close and may be more original than that of image and temple.

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¹⁶ The ‘svairāṅgulapramāṇa’ given in the ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’, LVII. 4, and elsewhere denotes a division of the image. In the ‘Śukranītisāra’, IV. 4. 82, however, ‘aṅgula’ measures one-fourth part of the fist of the donor. According to the ‘Piṅgalāmata’, however, P. C. Bagchi, ‘Piṅgalāmata’, ch. IV, JISOA, vol. XI, p. 157, aṅgula is the breadth measurement of the upper phalange of one’s own thumb. This relative unit of measurement became standardised as 8 yavas=1 aṅgula. In the ‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’, LXVII. 27, which deals of Maṇḍapas, the ‘hasta’ measure is that of the donor himself (gṛheśitā, lit. householder), cf. Part II, note 89.

2. Prāsāda

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Vimāna, as name of the main temple building, is synonymous with Prāsāda. These two are the most significant words for temple.¹⁷ There are many more, for the house of God has more than one aspect and origin.

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¹⁷ I.P., III. ch. XXVIII, 1-2, explains them in the introductory śloka of the chapter on the architectural distinctions (lakṣaṇa) of Vimānas, etc. from where the Śilparatna’, XVI. 1, has taken the same definition: “Prāsādas please (prasīdanti) by their beauty the minds of gods and men.” This they do, in virtue of their meaning and form. The temple is seen and comprehended by the look of knowledge.

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The temple is the seat and dwelling of God, according to the majority of the names. The name Prāsāda has the widest application.¹⁸ The word does not mean a house or something that is built up. It denotes a settling down (pra-sad) and

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¹⁸ Prāsāda, in the sense of a sacred monument or sacred building is referred to in ancient texts and inscriptions: 'Śaṅkhāyana Śrauta Sūtra,', XVI. 18. 13-17: Prāsādas on all sides of the Āhavanīya fire. Patañjali, 'Mahābhāṣya', II. 2. 34: Prāsādas of Dhanapati, Rāma and Keśava. The testimony of the Śrauta Sūtras and Gṛhya Sūtras is assigned to the Mauryan age (3rd century B.C.), the date of Patañjali is about 200 B.C. 'Vedic Index', II. 44, understands Prāsāda (Śāṅkh. S.S., l.c.), as raised platform on a mound. Prāsāda, in the sense of palace does not occur until the 'Adbhuta Brāhmaṇa'; 'Weber, Indische Studien', I. 40; cf. 'Vedic Index', II. 51.

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Popular etymology accounts here for the meaning of the word Prāsāda. Its more recondite but essential meaning is explained in the I.P. itself.

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The Amarakoṣa explains: "Harmyādidhaninām vasāḥ prāsādo devabhūbhujam." Harmyas, etc. are the residences of the wealthy; Prāsādas are the residences of gods and kings.

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In the Epics, Prāsāda has the meaning of "3 storeyed building" ('Rāmāyaṇa', comm. 'Tilaka', II. 33. 3. and II. 57. 18). It is compared with Mount Meru and the Vindhya Mountain (II. 88. 5-7; IV. 33. 7); it is very high and snow-white ('Rāmāyaṇa', VI. 26. 5). Although of three storeys only its height need not have been less than that of the seven storeyed Vimānas. The commentary 'Tilaka' (II. 57. 18), defines Prāsāda as palace of the king; in II. 33. 3, Harmya is thus defined, whereas in the latter passage, Prāsāda is explained as the house of the wealthy. While neither Viṃāna nor Prāsāda are used in the sense of temple,—the words designating the house and seat of God, not necessarily a temple but a sacred monument, in the Epics are: Devagṛha ('Rāmāyaṇa', III. 55. 7) and Devāyatana (I. 5. 10-15), Devasthāna ('Mahābhārata', Sabhā. 46. 34; see also E. Washburn Hopkins, 'Epic Mythology', pp. 70-73)—their descriptions seem to imply a symbolic meaning. The 3 storeys may denote the 3 worlds—earth, air and heaven ('Nirukta', VII. 5); the seven storeys, their seven fold division (RV. VIII. 40. 5; X. 104. 8). Re. the 'whiteness' see Part IV, p. 123 and re. the designation 'Meru' etc., see Parts VI and VII.

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Further references to Prāsāda in the 'Mahābhārata' and 'Rāmāyaṇa' are given by P. K. Acharya, 'A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture', pp. 420-22. A number of inscriptions, of later ages, where Prāsāda means temple, are put together ib. pp. 423-30.

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Prāsāda, however, has retained the meaning of building or palace, in the 'Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra', XVIII. 22; whereas in the many chapters of this text which treat of temple architecture the word which most frequently designates the temple is Prāsāda.

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Here are some of the earliest inscriptions: On a Garuḍa pillar from Bhilsa, an 'uttama Prāsāda, of Bhagavat, 2nd century B.C., J. N. Banerjea, 'The Development of Hindu Iconography', p. 102; Mathurā Jain Inscr., 'Ep. Ind.', vol. II. p. 198; XI. p. 17.

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The 'Vejayanta Prāsāda', the Prāsāda of Indra, represented in a relief panel in Barhut ca. 1st century B.C. and inscribed (Coomaraswamy, HIIA, Fig. 43; and 'Early Indian Architecture', 'Eastern Art', vol. III, Plate XCII. 1), is a 3 storeyed building, full of Apsarās, etc., in its hall on the ground floor; they look out from arched dormer windows or doors leading to the balcony, in the 2nd and the 3rd storey; the roof is waggon-vaulted. Contiguous with the 3 storeyed building is a circular, open pillared shrine, with a round dome, and a separately projecting cornice below; the dome is inscribed "Sudhamma Deva-Sabhā".

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'Prāsāda-devālaya' occurs in the Nālandā stone inscr. (vs. 4-6) of Yaśovarmanadeva, c. 530. A.D.; 'Ep. Ind.', vol. XX. p. 43. Other inscriptions referring to extant temples (Prāsāda) and sites, are for example the one of the Lakṣmaṇa Temple, Sirpur, (c. 700 A.D.), 'Ep. Ind.', vol. XI. p. 190; or the Gurgi inscr. of Prabodhasiva, 'Ep. Ind.', vol. XXII. p. 127.

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The 'Mayamata', II. 6-7, enumerates the following buildings as Prāsādas: Sabhā, Śālā, Prapā, Raṅgamaṇḍapa and Mandira; they are part of the whole establishment of a South Indian temple. The meaning of Prāsāda is extended here from the temple itself (mandira) to the various halls, etc. which are attached to it. Cf. however the meaning of Sabhā in the Barhut inscription.

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a seat made of that which has settled down and acquired concrete form, the form of a dwelling, a residence, the seat of God. The rhythmic formula (mantra) which effects the settling, setting or steadying of the bricks of the Fire Altar is the Sādana mantra (Vāj. S. XII. 53)¹⁹. The meaning of Prāsāda is given explicitly in the ‘Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati’, Part III, chapter XII, verse 16. “The temple, Prāsāda, is made up of the presence of Śiva and Śakti, and of the Principles of Existence (tattva) from the elementary substance Earth (Vasudhā) and ending with Śakti. The concrete form (mūrti) of Śiva is called House of God (devālaya). So one should contemplate and worship it first.”

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¹⁹ The ‘sādanam’ of the bricks of the Fire-altar (Ś.B. VI. 1. 2. 28; VII. 1. 1. 30) is the prototype of the invocation of the goddesses, the Bricks (Part IV. page 112), who are forms of Vāk. Prāsāda in Śaṅkh. Ś.S. XVI, which is defined as ‘raised platform’, ‘Vedic Index’, II. 44, as its name implies, is originally a ‘seat’ piled up, a Citi. The ‘Nānārthārṇava Saṃkṣepa’, II. śl. 160 (T.Ś.S., p. 25) says: “The word Prāsāda is used in the sense of “well set” and “in the middle of the temple (mandiram)” ; or it is its central part in which is the inmost sanctuary”.

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This is in complete conformity with the meaning of the temple and the ‘bricks’ of which it is built. They are imbued with the presence of Śiva and all the Principles of Existence.²⁰

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²⁰ The translations here and on p. 130, intentionally use words somewhat different whose meaning may be inferred from the text.—‘Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati’, III. ch. XXVII. 62 f; treats of the ‘bricks’. The ‘Agni Purāṇa’, LXI. 11, similarly says that the ‘whole Prāsāda is to be understood as Puruṣa”; and “Lord Hari himself is visibly established in the Prāsāda” (26. b). See also ‘Agni Purāṇa’, CII. 14 and CII. 22-23.

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The house of God (devālaya) is the concrete manifestation (mūrti) of Śiva or of any other name under which is beheld the Supreme Principle, to the same degree as the corresponding image (mūrti). The ‘form’ according to which either is made is Śiva as Prāsāda mantra²¹.

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²¹ The image of Śiva with 5 faces and 10 hands or as alternate shape with four hands, is to be meditated upon as seated on a white lotus. The image corresponds to the Prāsāda mantra. The 10 hands on the right hold the following weapons, etc.: skullstaff, trident, spear, ‘varada’ and ‘abhaya mudrā’, which bestow boons and assure fearlessness; serpent, rosary, drum (ḍamaru), lotus, and lemon (bījapūraka) on the left. (‘I.P.’, II. ch. XXVIII, 61-64; ‘Tantrasamuccaya’, Pt. II. VII. 137). “He who does not know the Prāsāda, its great body of five mantras [pañcamantramahātanu (‘Agnipurāṇa’, CCXIV. 40); the 5 mantras are Īśāna, Tatpuruṣa, Aghora, Vāmadeva and Sadyojāta; (JISOA, vol. IX, pp. 174-75; 193) together with the 38 Kalās (the 38 Kalās: I.P. III. ch. VI. 36; ‘Śaradātilaka’, XVIII, 1-23; see ‘I.P.’, III. ch. XII. 82, JISOA, vol. X. p. 235, note)] cannot at all be called an Ācārya (‘Agni Purāṇa’, CCXIV. 41). The five mantras are equivalent to the 5 faces, Īśāna, Tatpuruṣa, Aghora, Vāmadeva and Sadyojāta, of the image. The principles of manifestation (tattva) are invoked on the image; they are allocated to its limbs and parts and are supported by them (see Part VIII).

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An explanation of Prāsāda from the Śaiva point of view is given below, based mainly on the ‘Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati’, a compendium dating from about 1000 A.D.

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The rhythmic formula, the Prāsāda (mantra) is Nāda (‘Tantrasamuccaya’, I. ch. V. 51, comm.). Nāda, the principal vibration, is the immanent cause (upādāna)), the primary substance of the world.

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The Supreme Principle, the Śivatattva, is Brahman which is bliss beyond the distinction of subject and object, knower and known, beyond time; undifferentiated, solid-Consciousness (cidghana). Śakti is not separate from Śiva, she is the energy or process of Consciousness with its willing, knowing and creating (Icchā, Jñāna and Kriyā Śakti) and leads from the unmanifest across the threshold of her own activity, where Śakti herself is Bindu, the point to the unmanifest; from here manifestation begins.²²

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²² Somewhat differently worded, the ‘Agni Purāṇa’, CCXIV. 33, says “by the recitation of the Prāsāda mantra, Nāda is roused”. Some Ācāryas consider Nāda, principial vibration, as the first among the Tattvas or principles of manifestation, and then Bindu, the point limit from where manifestation begins (kārya bindu; ‘Tantrasamuccaya’, part I, ch. V. 50, comm.).

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Bindu, the Point, is ‘parā’, beyond (the manifest), as well as ‘aparā’, manifest. This latter aspect has two degrees, subtle and gross. In its subtle capacity, Bindu is Nāda, the principial vibration; in its gross capacity, it is Bīja, the seed of everything. Nāda gives Mokṣa, release; it is Śūnya, the Void. (‘Ī.P.’ part III. ch. VI. 3 f). The High Point of the finial above the superstructure of the temple is the visual equivalent of Bindu.

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Śūnya, the Void, is Śakti as Kalā: Śiva pervades everything, is solid, undifferentiated-Consciousness; Śakti, as Śūnya, is vacuity-creating energy where things take shape and place as parts (kalā) of existence. This is negativity as a function of Consciousness whereby its contents are made positive. Prior to this function, which produces separateness and individuation, there is no thing in the beyond. The presence of Śakti with Śiva is and produces all the Principles of manifestation from Earth to Śakti.

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The temple, Prāsāda, is the symbolic substance, which, as a substratum, corresponds to the principial substance and immanent cause (upādānakāraṇa), Nāda, the principial vibration. From Nāda, the principial vibration, the world is made. This is shown by the rhythmical plan and structure of the Prāsāda. Such is the meaning of Prāsāda, the most generally employed name for the Hindu temple. It denotes especially the structural pile below, around and above the sanctuary (garbhagṛha).

Further Names of the Temple

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Other words for Temple with a wide currency and generally employed are: Devagṛham, Devāgāra, house of God; Devāyatanam, Devālaya, Devakulam²³, meaning seat or residence of God; Mandiram, Bhavanam, Sthānam²⁴, Veśman²⁵, meaning waiting or abiding place, dwelling; abode; station or abode; entrance or dwelling, respectively; Kīrtanam²⁶, Harmyam (from ‘hṛ’, to take) a palatial building and Vihāra (also from ‘hṛ’, to take asunder, ‘vi-har’; to construct)²⁷.

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²³ ‘Manu Smṛti’, IX. 280 (devatāgāra); ‘Gṛhya Sūtras’, ‘Śāṅkhāyana’, II. 12. 6, etc.; ‘Pañcatantra’, Bk. I. story I. 27 f.; “Śaila devagṛha” (a stone temple), Mora well inscription, ‘Ep. Ind.’, XXIV. p. 194. Devakulam, Bhāsa’s ‘Pratimānāṭaka’, III; ‘Ep. Ind.’, XXI. p. 81 (Gupta inscr.), is a small shrine, cf. ‘Temple, Door, Throne, etc.’ by St. Kramrisch, JISOA. vol. X. pp. 210 ff.

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²⁴ Mathurā inscriptions, ‘Ep. Ind.’, I. p. 390, No. 18; ‘Indian Antiquary’, XXXIII, p. 102,

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²⁵ ‘Ep. Ind.’, vols. IX. p. 254 (Pathari stone inscr. V. S. 917); III. p. 15. (Śrīraṅgam inscr., about 1250).

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²⁶ Nālandā inscr. of Yaśovarmmadeva about 530 A.D. (verse 13), ‘Ep. Ind.’, vol. XX. p. 43; Lakha-maṇḍal inscr., about 500 A.D., ‘Ep. Ind.’, I. p. 15; copperplate inscr., referring to the Kailāsanāth temple at Elura, 8th century, ‘Indian Antiquary’, vol. XII, pp. 229, 289; Khalimpur plate from Malda, Bengal, 9th century; ‘Ep. Ind.’, vol. IV. p. 239; Brahmā temple at Dudahi, ASI Report, vol. X. Kīrtanam or Kīrti is a temple or any work of art by which the builder praises the glory of the Lord and through which he attains fame (cf. Kīrtistambha); see also Part I, note 17.

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²⁷ “House of the wealthy” acc. to ‘Amarakoṣa’ (see also note 17); Mathurā inscr., ‘Ep. Ind.’, vol. IX. p. 241; vol. XXII. p. 124 (inscr. of Viṣṇu temple at Bayana, Bharatpur; dated V.S. 1012)—Harmyam and all the other more frequent names occur in early and late texts and inscriptions. Harmya is also the name of the ‘upper floor’ (uparibhūmi; ‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’, XVIII. 10). Harmikā is the small square shape on top of a stūpa. Harmya also designates the ‘High Temple’ (Parts VI, VIII; ‘Śilparatna’, XVI. 53). Vihāra is originally the sacrificial ground (Kātyāyana, I. 8. 26). It is the space between the sacred fires.—A. Bürck, ZDMG, 1902, on p. 307, “The ‘Āpastamba Śulva Sūtra’ ” translates ‘vihāra’ as ‘method of construction’ (of Vedi, Agni). Vihāra generally designates a Buddhist monastery. In a Jain inscription from Jalor, 1186 A.D., Vihāra refers to a temple of Pārśvanātha. (‘Ep. Ind.’, XI. p. 55).

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A seat and house of God is the temple by most of its names. The names Caitya and Kṣetra, however, the Hindu temple has inherited from the piled up sacred monument and from the sacred ground in the place of which it was to arise.

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In Vāstu-Śāstra, the synonyms are listed and throw some light on the multiple origins of the Hindu temple.²⁸ The ‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’ (XVIII. 57), gives the following names to the place for the gods : (1) Deva-dhiṣṇya, (2) Surasthāna, (3) Caitya, (4) Arcā-gṛha, (5) Devatā-āyatana and (6) Vibudha-āgāra. They designate (1) a seat²⁹, (2) an establishment, (5) a residence and (6) a house³⁰ of god (deva, sura, vibudha); whereas Arcā-gṛha is the house of the consecrated image, and Caitya is a sacred monument which is piled up like the Vedic Agni (citi). These are ancient names.

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²⁸ The ‘Mayamata’ (XIX. 10-12), gives the following 29 synonyms used for a building: (1) Vimāna, (2) Bhavana, (3) Harmya, (4) Saudha, (5) Dhāman, (6) Niketanam, (7) Prāsāda, (8) Sadanam²⁹, (9) Sadma, (10) Geha, (11) Āvāsaka, (12) Gṛha³⁰, (13) Ālaya, (14) Nilaya, (15) Vāsa, (16) Aspada, (17) Vāstu, (18) Vāstuka, (19) Kṣetra, (20) Āyatana, (21) Veśma, (22) Mandira, (23) Dhiṣṇyaka, (24) Pada, (25) Laya, (26) Kṣaya, (27) Āgāra, (28) Udavasita and (29) Sthāna. Many of these are synonyms used for a building or for house in general and the numbers 2, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28 (vasati) and (8) (saṃsthāna), accord with those enumerated in the ‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’, XVIII. 8-9, where the appelations are given denoting a house or building. But for Tala and Kaṣṭha, the 24 synonyms of the ‘Mānasāra, XIX. 108-12, occur in the list of the ‘Mayamata’ whereas the names Saṃśraya, Nidhanam, Niḍam, Śaraṇam, Okaḥ and Pratiśraya are found in the S.S., l.c.

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No. 13; also ‘Ep. Ind.’, vols. VI. p. 202; IX. p. 240; JBAS. vol. XLII. part I. p. 130. Sthāna, (Brahmasthāna; Mbh. III. 84. 103); “Mahā-sthāna”, ‘Ep. Ind.’, XXIV. p. 210.

The Object in Building a Temple

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“Let him who wishes to enter the worlds that are reached by sacrificial offerings and the performance of religious obligations (iṣṭāpūrta) build a temple to the gods, by doing which he attains both the results of sacrifice and the performance of religious obligations” (Br. S. LV. 2)³¹. The commentary explains that sacrificial fire offerings are called ‘iṣṭa’ and all other offerings are ‘pūrta’. The latter include the construction of tanks, wells, lakes and houses of the gods (devatāyatana). The sacrificial offerings secure for the sacrificer a place in heaven (svarga) according to the merit of his sacrifice. The Yajamāna, the sacrificer, is the donor of the temple; his sacramental person, transformed by his sacrificial and other offerings is transferred to heaven. The duration of his stay there is permanent (nitya) according to Kāśyapa, quoted by Utpala, the commentator of the ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’; this is secured by the enduring nature of the shrine. Essentially, the acts and rites in building the temple are sacrificial³². With these go lasting concrete and beneficial results embodied in the building, active in all the planes into which the temple symbolically reaches both in this and the other worlds.³³ Where the Fire-altar, Agni, acted mainly as instrument and sacramental body of the sacrificer for the attainment of his ultimate purpose, the temple ostensibly stays as a monument of its function. Its permanency depends upon its substance and on many factors which work on the monument while it stands, and affect it in time.

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²⁹ The Sasbahu Temple (Gwalior) is called Hari-sadanam, Sadanam of Viṣṇu, in the inscription of Mahīpāla (A.D. 1093), ‘Ind. Ant.’, vol. XV. p. 33; cf. Ś.B. VI. 1. 2. 28; note 19.

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³⁰ Devagṛha, however, is not only a house of God on earth; it is also the name of the luminaries, the abodes in the firmament of those Ṛṣis, etc. who attained Deva-hood by their Karmas. The stars and the luminous spheres in the firmament are Devagṛhas; ‘Matsyapurāṇa’, CXXVIII. 39-41. Cf. also the meaning of Vimāna as ‘prototype’ of the temple; Part VII. The other names which have not been explained as yet, denote: Saudha, a plastered, palatial building; Dhāman, a residence; Sadanam and sadma are from the same root ‘sad’ as Prāsāda; 13, 14 and 25: Laya, Ālaya and Nilaya, a place of rest, a residence; 16 and 24: Pada and Āspada, a station; 15, 17 and 18: Vāsa, Vāstu and Vāstuka from ‘vas’ (pp. 82-3) and 19: Kṣetra, sacred ground and abode (see note 28). The ‘Kāśyapaśilpa’ (XXIII. 1), enumerates as synonyms: Prāsāda, Sadanam, Sadma, Harmyam, Dhāman, Niketanam, Mandiram, Bhavanam, Vāsa, Geha, Divya-Vimānaka, Āśraya, Āspada, Ādhāra and Ādhārapratidhiṣṇya. Āśraya, Ādhāra and Ādhārapratidhiṣṇya signify the support which the temple, being a seat, gives to divinity.

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³¹ Kern translated, l.c. : “meritorious deeds of piety and charity”, a Christian interpretation; Iṣṭa, derived from the radical ‘Yaj’, the commentary explains are Yajña, that is offerings through fire. See Sāyaṇa’s commentary on RV. X. 14. 8.

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³² One of the main sacrifices being the Vāstu-homa.

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³³ “For the purpose of increasing the religious merit of his parents and of himself” says the Gwalior stone inscription of Mihiragula, was the stone temple (śailamaya Prāsāda) of Sūrya set up there (‘Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum’, vol. III. p. 162). For such reasons also, the ‘Agnipurāṇa’ ch. XXXVIII. 25-26, says “having got wealth by luck or exertion one should give it in the proper way to the best among the twice-born and cause temples to be constructed.” In the same chapter it is also said that a poor man building the smallest shrine reaps the same benefit which a rich man does by building the largest (XXXVIII. 10-11). This is in general the stated purpose; the temple by the symbolism of its architecture gives to it a detailed and definite exposition.

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Other factors, of the period and place influence it, while it is being built and leave their mark on its style. Whereas temples are built in differing styles, the Fire-altar is subject to no such variation; its shape is independent of time and place, independent even of extensiveness, so much so that one of the types of the Vedic Altar is prescribed to be made of rhythms only (chandaściti) and not of bricks which are their representatives³⁴. Ancient extant temples and preserved texts date from about the same age³⁵. In the northern half of India it coincides with the rule of the Gupta Dynasty. The ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’ and the ‘Matsya Purāṇa’, the former of the sixth century A.D. refer to the standard works on which they are based. Varāhamihira, the author of the ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’,

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³⁴ ‘Baudhāyana Śulva Sūtra’, II. 62-86; “In the case of the Chandaściti, the Agnicit, the builder of the Fire-altar, draws on the ground the Agni of prescribed shape. He then goes through the whole prescribed process of construction imagining all the while that he is placing every brick in its proper place with the rhythmic formula (mantra) that belongs to it. The mantras are recited but the bricks are not actually laid. The Chandaściti thus is the Citi or altar made up of Chandas, rhythms, or mantras instead of bricks or loose mud pieces (B. B. Dutt, ‘The Science of the Śulba’, p. 3, note).—Cf. the 36,000 Fire-altars made of mind, speech, breath, etc. ; ‘Vedānta Sūtra’, III. 3. 44 (Śaṅkarācārya’s comm.).

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³⁵ The ‘Gṛhya Sūtras’ refer to the shrines of gods as ‘devagṛha, devakula’, also ‘devāyatana’ (cf. note 23). The ‘Āpastamba Gṛhya Sūtra’, VII. 20 describes the carrying about of images by the house-holder and the placing of them in huts built for them. The ‘Adbhuta Brāhmaṇa’ (Ṣaḍviṃśa Brāhmaṇa, X. 5) speaks of ‘devāyatanam’ which may, but need not mean a temple.

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The rhythmic formulæ, the mantras however, even mentally recited, are extended in time. This time is not the dated time of history. It has its architectural analogy and notation in the Talacchanda, the ground plan of the temple (Pt. VII).

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An apparent exception to the aloofness of the Vedic altar from any geographical or ethnical factor is given in Ś.B. XIII, 8. 1. 5 (note 60). The northerners and easterners had round sepulchral mounds in contradistinction to those who knew the Three Vedas and whose sepulchral mounds were square. This is but an application of the supremacy of the four cornered shape; a lesser value is assigned to the circular shape.

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Temples, under the control of Government are mentioned by Megasthenes. Re. remains of temples such as foundation walls only, see Part IV.

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Representations of temples, abound in reliefs at Barhut, Sāñcī, Bodh-Gayā, Mathurā. Shrines are also represented on a few coins prior to and at the beginning of the Christian era (J. N. Banerjea, ‘The Development of Hindu Iconography’, Pl. I, Fig. 16, see note 89; Coomaraswamy, HIIA, Pl. XXX, Figs. 116, 117, 126A). These early representations of various types of shrines do not correspond, as a whole, to the actually preserved temples of subsequent ages, although in some of their parts there is continuity and development. Some of the early types of temples, however, such as those on the Audumbara coins of the Punjab have their structural equivalent in Bengal temples of the present day.

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‘Shrines’ (koṣṭhaka ; apartment, separate chamber or place) of Aparājita, Apratihata, Jayanta, Vaijayanta, Śiva, Vaiśravaṇa, and the Aśvins in a fort, and the house (gṛha) of the goddess Madirā, and “koṣṭhaka-ālayas” for the Vāstudevatās are spoken of in Kauṭilya’s ‘Arthaśāstra’, II. iv. (56) which, according to A. B. Keith seems to belong to the fourth century A.D. (‘The Age of Arthaśāstra’, ‘B.C. Law Volume’, p. 490).

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concludes his chapter on the Description of Temples (prāsādalakṣaṇam) with the modest statement that it is a brief summary of the work of Garga, and that reference has been made in it also to the elaborate treatises by Manu and others (ch. LV. 31). Elsewhere (29 f.), in the same chapter, Maya and Viśvakarman are quoted as authors whose seemingly different statements have the same meaning. The body of architectural knowledge behind the short compilation of the ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’ is supported by the names of eighteen chief preceptors (ācārya), of the traditional science of architecture, Vāstuśāstra, listed in the ‘Matsyapurāṇa’³⁶. The many names seem to indicate an equal number of branches or schools of Indian architecture prior to the sixth century A.D. and subsequently. The reconciliation of apparently conflicting statements about proportionate measurement (Br. S. LV. 30) can be taken as symptomatic of the diversities of the schools and their exponents³⁷. They represented as many variations as lay within the fundamental purpose of the temple. The merit of the works of the schools which made it seem worth while to record the names of their most eminent preceptors lay in the manifold and ever varying solutions of their central purpose. This was the setting up of the Prāsāda as Vimāna, proportionate in its parts and directing the form and measure of all the other buildings which accrued in the service of the Prāsāda.

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³⁶ The names of the 18 great architects are enumerated in Chapter CCLII, verses 2-4. They are: Bhṛgu, Atri, Vasiṣṭha, Viśvakarman, Maya, Nārada, Nagnajit, Viśālākṣa, Indra, Brahmā, Svāmikārttika, Nandīśvara, Saunaka, Garga, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Aniruddha, Śukra and Bṛhaspati. To Viśvakarman, Maya and Garga, are attributed definite statements by Varāhamihira. Besides these three Ācāryas, others too, of whom nothing is known as yet but their names, are relied upon in the texts on architecture. The number 18, of the great architects is also the number of Purāṇas; and of the places (sthāna) of calculation (‘Viṣṇupurāṇa’, VI. 3. 4., ‘Vāyupurāṇa’, CI. 102 f.).

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³⁷ The structure of the temple is a work of art and science. Their knowledge and practice are conducive towards the same end, the making of a perfect instrument whose sight and ritual use procure release. Hiuen Tsiang (S. Beal, ‘Records of the Western World’, I. p. 78) speaks of 5 Vidyās or Śāstras, traditional sciences, the second of which is Śilpasthānavidyā. As the name of this science indicates, it included the arts (śilpa) and architecture (sthāna; houses, squares, courts etc.) and mechanics; it explains the principles of Yin and Yang and the calendar. In the ‘Śukranītisāra’, IV. 3. 30, also, Śilpaśāstra, enumerated as one of the 32 sciences, includes architecture and the making of images. Architecture, moreover and painting (ib. 83-84) are enumerated by Śukrācārya amongst the 64 arts (kalā); and architecture (vāstuvidyā) and sculpture (takṣakarma) are similarly enumerated in Jayamaṅgala’s commentary to Vātsyāyana’s ‘Kāmasūtra’, Ch. I. 3 (see Part I, note 20). The double listing as science as well as art of architecture and sculpture does justice to their two-fold nature. This is also implied in architecture being part of Jyotiṣa (astrology) and Kalpa (ritual), two of the six Vedāṅgas. (See Part I, note 21).

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The diversity of the types of temples at one and the same site even may be seen for example within the enclosure of the temple of Makūteśvaranātha, near Bādami, in the Bijapur district. The widest range to which the architecture of the Prāsāda attained in the tenth century in northern and southern India is also represented by these early shrines. The temple dedicated to Śiva Makūteśvaranātha was built in the sixth century³⁸.

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³⁸ An inscription dated 601 A.D. and found on the site, engraved on a pillar, speaks of this temple (devagṛha). It is a storeyed building crowned by a dome shape. Other temples

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In the Hindu temples, such as they are known, and for which the texts lay down rules, the Prāsāda is the shell of the Garbhagṛha. The Garbhagṛha is essentially a small dark chamber, square in plan³⁹. In this respect it is unchangeable throughout the ages. The problems of architecture, developed in the West, to build a space resonant with the rhythm of the prayer and concentration of an assembled community, remained outside the Prāsāda. The Hindu temple is built with the fervour of devotion (bhakti) as a work of offering and pious liberality, in order to secure for the builder, a place in heaven, which means a high level of inward realisation and to increase the religious merit of his near relatives : by a transfer of merit, the Prāsāda functions similarly, for every devotee, who comes to and enters the temple. The temple is built as a work of supererogation, with the utmost effort in material means and the striving of the spirit so that the Prāsāda attains and leads to the Highest Point⁴⁰.

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³⁹ Or, rarely, rectangular and still less often, polygonal or circular, cf. the shape of sacrificial altars, Part II.

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⁴⁰ The liberating effect in building a temple is expressed in the 'Śaivāgamanibandhana', XIII, second but last verse (a Ms. from Tripunithura, cited without translation, by N. V. Mallaya, 'Studies in Sanskrit Texts on Temple Architecture', JAU. vol. IX, p. 172). It says that he who builds a temple of Śiva leads his ancestors of 21 generations to the world of Śambhu (Śiva).

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Congregational worship has no place in Hinduism⁴¹. It determined however the apsidal plan of the barrel-vaulted Caitya-hall, the Buddhist temple. The resolve to build and generally also the funds for the building were the contribution of the Yajamāna or Kāraka and he entrusted the work to priest and craftsman. The merit of their knowledge came back to him who had employed, remunerated and then dismissed them⁴².

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⁴¹ In the 'Mahānirvāṇa Tantra', XIII, 240-44, the Temple is praised : "Thou grantest merit (puṇya) and fame . . . ; all the holy places are in thee." The temple, like worship itself, serves more than one purpose. "One should worship with Sattva tendencies [in conformity to the Essence] for liberation ; with Rajas tendencies [expansively] for enjoyment and with a mixture of these tendencies for the fulfilment of mixed purposes" ('Viṣṇu-Saṃhitā', IV, 12).

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⁴¹ The single worshipper, or in South India, only the priest of the temple and the 'pūjārī' enter the Garbhagṛha and perform the sacred rites for the worshipper. When, as with the Vaiṣṇavas, congregational songs, etc., are performed, this takes place in front of the Garbhagṛha, in the Maṇḍapa, and leaves unaffected the form of the Prāsāda, with its small Garbhagṛha. The apsidal plan and barrel-vaulted structure is classified as Hastipṛṣṭha or 'elephant-back' in Vāstu-śāstra (see Part VII). It was re-adjusted for the purposes of Hindu worship by the introduction of internal walls so as to seclude the Garbhagṛha from the rest (Durga temple, Aihole, 6th century ; Cousens, op. cit. Pl. XI) or by a flat stone ceiling to exclude the vaulted roof in the brick temple of Kapoteśvara at Chezarla, Guntur District (Report of the Southern Circle, ASI., 1917-18, p. 35, Pl. XVIII).

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⁴² The Sthapati, the master builder, himself a Śilpin, is the Guru of the three other classes of Śilpins, the Sūtragrāhin, Vardhakin and Takṣaka. In the performance of certain architectural rites the Sthapati may officiate as priest ('Mānasāra', VIII.). In these, as well as other, prescriptions there is no absolute or dead uniformity in Vāstuśāstra (see Part I. p. 9). The Śilpin is the Kartṛ in relation to the Kāraka, the patron.

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within the enclosure have superstructures of a different type, curvilinear and also in the shape of a stepped pyramid—see Part VI, and H. Cousens, 'The Chālukyan Architecture', op. cit., Pls. XXVI, XXVII.

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To the pilgrim and devotee who goes to the temple, it is a Tīrtha made by art, as others are by nature, and often it is both in one. A Hindu temple unlike the Vedic altar does not fulfil its purpose by being built; it has of necessity to be seen. Darśana, the looking at the temple, the seat, abode and body of divinity and its worship (pūjā), are the purpose of visiting the temple. To fulfil this purpose in addition to being an offering and work of pious liberality the temple has not only its proportionate measurement but also the carvings on its walls, and the total fact of its form.

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The Prāsāda as far as preserved temples show, consists of thick walls and a roof forming a dark square chamber entered through a door with a more or less elaborate frame. Whereas in the later temples the superstructure is raised to

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When the building of the temple is completed, the Sthapati prays that the people be 'healthy, wealthy, happy, well known and famous for a long time and that the victorious king protect the whole earth, full of cattle and plants' ('Īśanāśivagurudevapaddhati', IV. Ch. XXXIV. 51).

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The relation between a definite type of temple, its patron and architect is illustrated by verses 35-43, Ch. LVI, of the 'Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra': "Meru, the Lord of Prāsādas, as described in this chapter must be built by a Kṣatriya only and the architect should be a Vaiśya or he may also be a Brāhmaṇa, versed in Vāstu-śāstra. . . A Kṣatriya, however, though versed in Vāstu-śāstra must by no means be the architect." Re. the King as patron of the Meru, see the inscription, Part V, note 78.

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The craftsmen were members of a guild or feudal servants of the king or the chieftain of a temple; cf. Coomaraswamy, 'The Indian Craftsman', 1909, passim.

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The "Sarvasiddhi-ācārya", however in an inscription from the Pāpanātha temple at Paṭṭadakal (after 650 A.D.) was not "a guild". Caṭṭara Revaḍi Ovajja, the builder of the Pāpanātha temple was given the title of Sarvasiddhi Ācārya. Another Sūtradhāri, of the southern country, named Guṇḍa, the builder of the Virūpākṣa temple at Paṭṭadakal, was given the title 'Tribhuvana-ācārya', ('Indian Antiquary', Vol. X. pp. 162, 165, 170 where an erroneous translation is given of Sarvasiddhi Ācārya).

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The hereditary transmission of architecture is well illustrated by an inscription in the Jagannātharāya temple in Udaipur, Rajputana, of the year 1653 A.D. Its architects, Sūtradhāra Mukunda and his younger brother Bhūdhara, belonged to the family of architects known as Bhangora. Their ancestors came to Mewar from Gujerat, about 1389 A.D. and were the chief architects of the rulers of Mewar since then. This is stated in a record in the possession of their descendant, Bhanvaralal, from where the above account was published in 'Epigraphia Indica', Vol. XXIV, p. 56. To this family of architects also belonged Mandana, who built the Kīrtistambha at Chitor (1440-48 A.D.) and who was the author of the 'Vāsturājavallabha', Rūpamaṇḍana', and other works on architecture and iconography.

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The connection of the craftsmen with the temple was not only for the purpose of work on the completion of which the architects received their remuneration and presents, such as gold, etc. (Part VIII, last chapter), or a village ('Ep. Ind.', l.c.). The guilds of the architects (sthapati) and potters, for instance, levied a small cess on every one of their members, working at a particular temple, when a donor intended to make a permanent provision for the maintenance of the temple or the supply of materials for the worship of the deity (Kaman inscr. of about the eighth century; 'Ep. Ind.', XXIV, p. 329).

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The Indian craftsmen, it is generally believed, were anonymous. Many however signed their names and some even proclaimed the pride which they took in their work in inscriptions like the one from temple No. 9 in Aihole (Fig. in Part VI) of about the 7th century: "There has not been, and there shall not be in Jambudvipa any expert (vidvān) in the art of building temples (vāstu-prāsāda) equal to Naraśobha" ('Indian Antiquary', Vol. IX, p. 74, Cousens, 'The Chālukyan Architecture', p. 44).

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great height in one form or another, towards its culminating point, in the earlier of the preserved shrines the roof is also flat. A raised plinth or terrace is a substructure of the body of the temple and frequently accommodates a path of circumambulation. In this its simplest and indispensable form, the Garbhagṛha is embedded in thick walls; if it has as is the rule, a high superstructure, it carries upward the architectural theme of the walls from which it arises. Their ever more complex articulation serves as ever more explicit exposition of the meaning of the temple in many figures, each with its name and place in the body of the building.

1. Citi, the Altar

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Consistent in its completeness and appearance, the Prāsāda is yet not of one origin as is the Vedic altar. Its socle or 'base' (adhiṣṭhāna, pīṭha, etc.), the covered and enclosed chamber (garbha-gṛha) and its superstructure, the support of the finial, are the three main architectural parts in the vertical direction, each of which refers to a different source⁴³. Yet so thoroughly were these parts amalgamated that they constituted the Hindu temple throughout India for about a millennium and a half in preserved structures; a continuous sequence of forms in the various provinces to which each has given its particular impress, whether in its most imposing monuments or unassuming wayside shrines.

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A temple may be approached through one or several, carved and pillared halls, and it may be surrounded by subsidiary shrines and buildings; it may be the centre of an entire temple town, with walls and gate towers, itself of great height and many storeys. Yet the constituent parts of the Prāsāda and its Garbhagṛha remain the same⁴⁴.

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On the massively packed socle (pīṭha), alike to the altar, the Citi, which is piled on the ground or Vedi, rest the walls (bhitti) of the Garbhagṛha. Their lowermost part is also called Vedi or Vedikā⁴⁵. It has a number of horizontal

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⁴³ The superstructure, of many origins and the most prominent part of the complete temple, seen historically, is not indispensable. Flat roofs (chādya), however, do not belong to the perfect, i.e., complete, type of a Hindu temple; they show it in its making and are separately dealt with in Vāstuśāstra (see Part VII). Another type of temple, illustrated in the reliefs of Barhut, etc. was known in various types by 100 B.C. approximately. This was an open pillared hall, rectangular or round, with or without a second storey, and always with a sloped roof, either in the shape of a dome, or of a vault, etc. The forms of parts only of this open, pillared temple, built in the main of wood, were integrated in the Hindu temple as represented by preserved structures.

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