Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

The Hindu Temple v1.c8.s6: (A) The Garbhagṛha

The Hindu Temple v1.c8.s6

Language
English

(A) The Garbhagṛha

v1.c8.s6.1

Meru, Mandara and Kailāsa are the first three names amongst the twenty types of temples described in the early texts, the ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’ and the ‘Matsya Purāṇa’; all three are the names of the Mountain, which is the axis of the world; that is Meru, the pole of this earth; Mandara as churning rod, planted on Viṣṇu, the tortoise, during the Satya Yuga, the first world age after the great commotion; and Kailāsa, as seat of Śiva, in the Himālaya. In these names rises the temple, the image, aim and destination of this world edifice.⁷⁸

v1.c8.s6.2

⁷⁸ Bṛ. S. LV. 17 f., ‘Matsyapurāṇa’, CCLXIX, 28 f. Inscriptions extol eloquently and unceasingly, the temple as the Mountain. The Mandasor inscription of the temple of Sūrya built in 437–438 A.D. describes it with its broad and lofty spires resembling a mountain; ‘Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum’, III. p. 83. This temple was repaired in 473-74 A.D. and then described as temple of Sūrya, which touches the sky, as it were with its beautiful Sikharas (‘Indian Antiquary’, XV. p. 196). The Gaṅgādhara stone inscription of Viśvavarman in Jhalawar, Mālva, speaks of a temple of Viṣṇu (Viṣṇu-sthāna) resembling the lofty peak of Kailāsa (‘Corp. Insc. Ind.’, III. p. 44) which is Śiva’s mountain, but is referred to as representing the World Mountain. The Hansot Plates of Cahamāna Bhartrivaddha (Broach: 756 A.D. ; ‘Ep. Ind.’, vol. XII. p. 203) designate Meru as Jayādhāra, support of Jaya, the Sun (see Part VIII. ch. ‘Āmalaka’). According to the ‘Prabandhacintāmaṇi’, King Karṇa of Gujerat constructed the Karṇameru-prāsāda in Anhilwad, the name of the king being linked with the temple type Meru. Meru is the ‘king of Prāsādas’ (‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’, LV. 3). In Vijayasena’s inscription at Deopārā (‘Ep. Ind.’ I. pp. 310, 314; P. Mus, op. cit., p. 413; Inscr. of Bengal, vol. III), the high temple of Pradyumneśvara is compared to the (central) Mountain on which rests the sun at midday, and this is the only Mountain worth mention among all the mountains. The temple as the Mountain is not only so described in the inscriptions, etc. The Pārvati temple at Nachna Kuthara (ASI. vol. XXI. p. 95) has the outer faces of its walls covered with carved rock shapes—a none too satisfactory experiment in form. The final shape of all these ‘mountain peaks’ is the Sikhara-cluster (Part VI).—In the geography of the Purāṇas, Mandara is the mountain east of Meru (‘Viṣṇu-P.’ II. ch. II. 17); it can be imagined as its eastern Ūruśṛṅga. Kailāsa, the abode of Śiva or of Kuvera, is situated to the north of Mt. Meru, or it is said to be one of its three peaks (‘Siddhānta-śiromaṇi’, II. III. 36), so that either of these peaks, Mandara and Kailāsa, is a part of Meru.

v1.c8.s6.3

To serve this image, various architectural forms such as the curvilinear Tabernacle having paraboloid lateral surfaces, the pyramid, dome and roof shapes, are employed. Their possibilities are exploited and yield a monumental unit. Their forms are developed logically; they are, moreover combined and indefinitely varied.

v1.c8.s6.4

There is no equivalent term in Western architecture to fit the high shape of the Hindu temple, its superstructure. This superstructure has the height of a spire, and fulfils the function of a roof. Its verticality is unobstructed by any horizontal roof line. If halls (maṇḍapa) are added to the Prāsāda, their high roofs ascend in relatively lower peaks, graded in height and isolated the one from the next.⁷⁹ The steep ascent of the superstructure from the walls of the Prāsāda then appears integrated in a slower approach, along a sky line rising with triangular indentations, towards the main Śikhara (Pl. I.). The towering superstructure, the Śikhara, moreover forms one monumental unit with the perpendicular walls which support it and from where it rises to the high point of its finial. A series of mouldings and recesses of the pedestal and socle (upapīṭha and adhiṣṭhāna) of the Prāsāda lead in stepped and curved, slanting profiles to its wall rich in corresponding mouldings (vedikā or ‘pābhāga’ and the crowning mouldings) whence spring the ascending curves (rekhā) of the Śikhara (Pl. XLIII); the complete Prāsāda has the form of an unbroken ascent from the base to the finial.⁸⁰ Within it and below the superstructure⁸¹ is the Garbhagṛha, the ‘womb of the house’ a small chamber, square, in the majority of preserved temples, and dark as a cave in a mountain. It is the innermost sanctuary of the Vimāna, and the entire temple.

v1.c8.s6.5

⁷⁹ This refers to the majority of Indian temples with their curvilinear Śikhara. The Maṇḍapa should not exceed in height the Śukanāsa of the Śikhara of the Prāsāda. The Śukanāsa, at different stages of the evolution of the Śikhara, reaches up to half of its height or less than that (Part VII, note 35).

v1.c8.s6.6

⁸⁰ This is not so in South India. There, the cube or the four sided prism of the walls, and the pyramid of the Bhūmis or storeys forming the superstructure are sharp in their distinctiveness and retain the outline of a drawing of the Tetraktys; an analogous form, pyramid on cube, is the rule in the structure of the Maṇḍapa in Orissa. In its vertical section moreover it does not coalesce with the Prāsāda into one comprehensive unit, but retains its integrity as a counterplay in the design of the whole. This is expressed by local tradition which considers the shape of the Maṇḍapa as female and that of the Prāsāda as male; while the ‘Bhuvanapradīpa’, XLII, l.c., speaks only of the ‘gainthiāla’, the ‘marriage knot’, between Prāsāda and Maṇḍapa.

v1.c8.s6.7

⁸¹ In some South Indian temples, the first Garbhagṛha is on the ground floor, and a second, third and fourth Garbhagṛha on each successive floor of the pyramidal superstructure (note 68). In earlier temples such as the Pārvatī Temple at Nachna Kuthara, C.I., (‘ASI. Western Circle, Progress Report’, 1919, pls. XV, XVIa) of Gupta age, a ‘replica’ of the flat roofed, one storeyed temple is placed on its roof. The two Garbhagṛhas, one above the other stand up in the shape of a high four sided tower, its upper half in which is the higher Garbhagṛha emerges above the walls and roof of its ambulatory (andhakārikā). cf. also the temple at Gop, the shape of the inner walls.

v1.c8.s6.8

In its interior it has four plain walls. They are massive annd their continuity is broken only by the entrance in the front wall.⁸² There is no other source of light. If the door is closed, the interior is dark. In the larger temples, where one or several halls precede the sanctuary, the image is but faintly lit by the light of day as it reaches it across the hall, a dim light just sufficient to set off the image against the darkness of its chamber; the darkness deepens towards the corners even though oil lamps may illumine the image during ritual worship (pūjā). Darkness too, descends on the image from the top of the cell, in the belly of the tower. The limits of the Garbhagṛha, the sanctuary, are more felt than seen, though even in the largest temples it remains in actual dimensions a chamber of small size, here surrounded as it is by two sets of walls and with spacious halls leading towards it⁸³ it appears proportionately smaller than in temples of lesser dimensions.

v1.c8.s6.9

⁸² See however note 73.

v1.c8.s6.10

⁸³ The length of the Garbhagṛha is about 12' . . . ; the length of the total building with its Maṇḍapas is 102' 3", in the Kandariya Temple in Khajuraho; (B. L. Dhama, ‘A Guide

v1.c8.s6.11

The square of the ground plan, the interior of the sanctuary, the small cubicle filled with darkness extended into the mass of the Prāsāda, and its towering superstructure, or the Śikhara, which rises from the beam or architrave (uttara) of its walls; these are the surroundings of image or symbol. This is the place towards which the devotee proceeds where worship is offered. This nucleus remains, poor, undisguised yet hidden, the place where dwells the Supreme Principle, as God, Īśvara, in the consecrated image or symbol.

v1.c8.s6.12

It is independent of time and place, a cavity held by primary elements of architecture and their relationship. With them an adequate space is enclosed for the purpose of ultimate realisation. This secluded spot is called Garbhagṛha. The name refers also to the human body and to the inception of life. By its name and form the Garbhagṛha is a place of primary significance; it does not date, is as old as the Hindu temple, and constitutes its essential part as much today as ever it did. The name of the Garbhagṛha is not, however, intrinsically connected with its form. Both are symbols and each stands for an aspect of the same reality. The name and form of the Garbhagṛha do not coincide on the plane of things seen. They coincide in their destination. The Garbhagṛha is not only the house of the Germ or embryo of the Temple as Puruṣa; it refers to man who comes to the Centre and attains his new birth in its darkness. The Garbhagṛha is Rahasya, secret and mysterious (Cidambaram).

v1.c8.s6.13

The form of the Garbhagṛha is based on a square and this makes permissible the use of the designation temple. The Romans called 'templum' a square fenced off for augury. Within such a preserve the outside influences are excluded. The cubical chamber of the Garbhagṛha is replete with static order. It stands firm. This must be so in a sanctuary, a place for the realisation of the Supreme Principle which is infinite and beyond all limits. The world in which we live is indefinite in extent and open on all sides to question and uncertainty; within limits, number and measure is the Garbhagṛha. Like the city of Brahman (Brahmapura) it rests within its four walls ('Maitrāyaṇī Upaniṣad', VI. 28; 38). Their thickness shuts off the outer world and keeps secret the interior. Its sacredness is protected from the evil influence of external distractions and from the destructive agents of time and accidents. The greatest possible lastingness is secured for the secluded place in which dwells the eternal present during Pūjā.

v1.c8.s6.14

Garbha which signifies the womb as well as the embryo in the microcosmic sense, denotes Prakṛti, primordial Substance, in its macrocosmic application. The name of the innermost sanctuary does not primarily designate it as the house of God; it refers to a state or degree of manifestation. The manifested world, ontologically exists by increasing condensation : ether, air, fire, water and earth, the subsequent element always retaining the qualities of the preceding ones. Four elements : air, fire, water and earth can be touched, seen, tasted and smelt; they proceed in ever increasing density from the first element, ether (ākāśa). It is perceived by hearing. Sound (śabda) is the quality of ether (ākāśa), the first and foremost of the elements in the process of manifestation. In the beginning was the Word.

v1.c8.s6.15

to Khajuraho', p. 9; see Fig. in Part VI); as a rule, the width of the Garbhagṛha is half of the width of the Prāsāda, but here, the exceptions are many (see Part VII).

v1.c8.s6.16

Similarly also within the Garbhagṛha is the image or symbol of wood or stone or crystal or it may itself consist of ether, as the Ākāśa-liṅga in Cidambaram. For in the inner ether, (ākāśa), circumscribed by the city of Brahman (Brahmapura) is contained all that is. "In this city of Brahman is a small lotus, a dwelling in which is a small cavity occupied by ether (ākāśa). That which lies in this place should be thought after and one will know it."⁸⁴ "As large as is this Ākāśa so large is that Ākāśa in the heart. Both heaven and earth are contained within it; both fire and air, both the sun and the moon, the lightning and the stars, and whatever there is in this world, and also what is not,—all that is contained within it."⁸⁵ This city of Brahman, is the body;⁸⁶ the small cavity of the heart, the centre of being in man, is the place of the small ether. This place of Brahman, in the heart of man, has its analogy in the Brahmasthāna, in the centre of the temple maṇḍala or plan, where also lies the heart of the Vāstupuruṣa.⁸⁷ This centre of the temple plan, has its equivalent in the Garbhagṛha where it does not coincide with it.

v1.c8.s6.17

⁸⁴ 'Chāndogya Upaniṣad', VIII. I. I.

v1.c8.s6.18

⁸⁵ 'Chāndogya Upaniṣad', VIII. I. 3. The 'small ether' is the 'gati', the path and origin of everything. 'Vedānta Sūtra', I. 3. 15.

v1.c8.s6.19

⁸⁶ 'Śaṅkara Bhāṣya'; Chānd. Up.', VIII. I. 5.

v1.c8.s6.20

⁸⁷ The Brahma-sthāna is the place of God Brahmā the deific name and form of the Brahman, the Supreme Principle.

v1.c8.s6.21

Ākāśa which is prior, ontologically, to the other elements and not perceptible by any other sense except hearing, is the element which corresponds to Prakṛti, primordial substance, out of which evolves all that is manifest. Ether fills everything, it is all pervading. It is in the air and it is in the stone. It is housed within the four walls and there it extends in all the six directions, east, west, north and south, to the walls, across them and also below and above, into the foundation of the temple and the height of its superstructure. Ākāśa, ether, corresponds to the primordial substance Prakṛti, in the process of manifestation. It is the first departure into manifestation from the unchanging Pure Principle or Essence, into ever more concrete substance. This departure or transformation, while taking form and shape takes place literally, across the walls which bound it. From the 'point of view', or the centre of the Garbhagṛha, the walls around it while sheltering it, are held together by the Essence and formed by it in every buttress, profile and figure. On its outside, the mass of the temple is seen to give full exposition, in the light of day to the meaning enshrined in darkness within.

v1.c8.s6.22

"In the beginning this Universe existed in the shape of darkness" (tamo-bhūtam; 'Manu Smṛti', I. 5). "In the beginning (of creation) there was darkness hidden in Darkness" (RV. X. 129. 3; 'Taitt. Br.', II. 8. 9. 4). The darkness in the Garbhagṛha is a necessary condition for the transformation which is wrought in the devotee. In darkness his change is effected and a new life is attained. The rite of Garbhādhāna had to be performed at night and also those which preceded the felling of the tree. If then the light is waved in front of the image, this illumination is an act of recognition of the God in the potent, superluminous darkness, revealed now and known further in all the images outside on the walls of the temple, of the many gods, the Devas, the shining ones, in the light of day. The effulgence, the images of the gods, which are carved on the walls and set into their niches is the splendour of the Hiranyagarbha, the Golden Germ, the light which shines from the primordial Darkness. It shines from the superluminous darkness of the Garbhagṛha across the walls and is seen in front of the 'ghanadvāras', the niches; their actual designation is "massive doors". Nobody can pass across them. They are irradiated from within. Through them the splendour of the Hiranyagarbha appears translated into the form of the figure of the god in each of the niches around the body of the temple. In other words, and on the 'plan', the Vāstumaṇḍala, the suns of all times are around the Brahmasthāna and in the outer border of the square, are the regents of the moon and the stars.

v1.c8.s6.23

Close to the small dark space, within the mass of the Prāsāda and above which it rises with its superstructure, is laid the Garbha, to the right of the door (p. 126), immured within its walls. These are the manifested substance of the indwelling Essence in the Garbhagṛha. The Essence leaves its impress on the walls in the four directions and the intermediate regions of space; charged with it, the walls are shaped by its impact.

v1.c8.s6.24

The temple is the concrete shape (mūrti) of the Essence; as such it is the residence and vesture of God. The masonry is the sheath (kośa) and body. The temple is the monument of manifestation. The devotee who comes to the temple, to look at it, does so as a 'seer', not as a spectator.

v1.c8.s6.25

Ritual action and architectural form express one and the same meaning. The structure of the temple accompanies, follows and translates into a relative permanence the rites and their rhythmic formulae (mantra). The rite for the elevation of the Temple is the Garbhādhāna, the insemination of the site with the 'seed' of the temple.

v1.c8.s6.26

The seed is deposited at night in the womb of mother Earth, as Garbha, Germ of the temple, close to the door jamb of the Garbhagṛha.³⁸ In the vertical, in the upward direction, which is that of growth, from below, along the jamb of the door and above it, the power of germination lifts as it were the lid of the Garbhagṛha, and transcends the flat ceiling of the Garbhagṛha, step by step, level by level in ever diminishing tiers to the top of the superstructure; there once again it rests and is level as the Skandha (shoulder course) before it attains its crown and is surmounted by its finial.

v1.c8.s6.27

³⁸ Part IV.

v1.c8.s6.28

The Garbhagṛha is the nucleus of an all sided increase on the outside, in the horizontal, a stepping forth from the dark interior into expanding bulk and multiplicity of form and meaning. Its outward impact within its walls is traversed in the vertical direction by the urge of growth which corresponds to the sprouting of the seed, and leads from the broad earth and the base of the temple towards its high point even above the superstructure. A synonym for Śikhara, the curvilinear superstructure, is the term Mañjarī which means a shoot. This refers to the form of the superstructure as much as it follows logically by way of natural symbolism from the rite of Garbhādhāna. The vivifying Germ (garbha) and the Embryo of splendour (Hiranyagarbha) are within the walls of the Garbhagṛha and have their images in the construction of the temple.

Linked texts (18)