The Hindu Temple v1.c8.s4.24

v1.c8.s4.24

The flat roofed temple has the dolmen for its prototype. Like the menhir it marks (cf. the Liṅga, which means distinctive sign) a sacred site. Neither dolmen nor menhir are necessarily memorials to the dead, they commemorate the importance of the site which is marked by them. "Kynmaw" which means "to mark with a stone" is the word used by the Khasis in Assam, in connection with monoliths, table stones and cromlechs.⁶¹ There, in the dolmen, a suprasensible presence is confined and enshrined.⁶² The marking of a site (kṣetra) shows that it is dedicated to a higher presence. This is a general practice in India, where every orthodox Hindu, every day marks his body (kṣetra) with the symbol of the deity on his forehead. The stone dolmen and menhir, and the stone shrine and Liṅga, are cognate.