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The Hindu Temple v1.c8.s1: The Names

The Hindu Temple v1.c8.s1

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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.

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