Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

The Hindu Temple v2.c11.s2: Symbols of Entry and Exit : The Door and Its Images

The Hindu Temple v2.c11.s2

Language
English

Symbols of Entry and Exit : The Door and Its Images

v2.c11.s2.2

Approaching the image or Liṅga in the Garbhagṛha (Pl. V) it appears framed by the door which leads to this inmost sanctuary. With the wings of the wooden door opened, during Pūjā, the image is seen by the devotee in the middle of the door; the frame of the door is also that of the image; the distance between door and image is translated into colour and atmosphere. Having the image for its centre and subject, this picture is framed by the door-way with its carvings on sill, jambs, and lintel. The several parts of the door-way as given in the ‘Bṛhatsaṃhitā’ form a geometrical progression; the width of the threshold being equal to that of the door-jambs, the width of the door-way or entrance is double of each; and its height is twice the width. Similarly also are the parts of the door-way proportioned, assigned as they are to various images and carvings. At the bottom are the large figures of the Guardian divinities of the door, etc.; they occupy ¼ of the height of the door.

v2.c11.s2.3

These pure proportions of the early texts are the basis on which are worked out the many variations of the symmetry of the door and temple (Pl. V). Each Prāsāda is a composition of its own; in it the original proportions and themes are composed each time in a new consistency.

v2.c11.s2.4

The name for the antepagments of the door-jamb is ‘śākhā’, meaning ‘branch’. A number of branches were fixed in the ground, tied and bundled together originally; 3, 5, 7, or 9 contribute their stems to the varied vertical mouldings of the door-jambs (Bṛ. S.LV. 14). The horizontal themes of sill and lintel, add their balance; the augmentation of the lintel by repeating and varying its horizontal themes twice and thrice, similarly the raising of the threshold by one step or more, increase the effectiveness of the door from a place of entry to one of display.³⁴ The door “frames” the image and this frame is wrought with many carvings. It appears as if the many divinities carved on the door frame belonged to the image in the Garbhagṛha, were its ‘parivāra’ or “surrounding” divinities.

v2.c11.s2.5

³⁴ The incorporation of the free-standing Toraṇa into this surface of display can be seen from the rock cut example in Nasik, of 100 A.D. approximately, onwards. The division into rectangular panels, each with a relief composition of its own is derived from such Toraṇa compositions as are preserved in Sāñcī. See also Part VIII, note 6.

v2.c11.s2.6

The meaning of door and image is closely connected. The divinity to whom the temple is dedicated has his symbol or image in the Garbhagṛha; his image, as a rule, is also carved, on a small scale, on the centre of the lintel. He presides over the entrance and his gate-keepers (dvāra-pāla) are stationed below, to the right and left, at the door-jambs.³⁵ These guardians of the threshold flank the gods and symbols of the entrance.

v2.c11.s2.7

³⁵ The Dvārapālas bear the weapons, etc. by which they are recognised as belonging to a particular god; they are Śiva-dvārapālas, or those of Brahmā, Viṣṇu etc. cf. ‘Rūpamaṇḍana’, II. 13—17; III. 65—70; IV. 102—107.

v2.c11.s2.8

Carved on the centre of the threshold ('udumbara'; 'bhuvangama') is a long stemmed full blown lotus, symbol of this universe in which divinity is established, symbol also of the state of dispassion of the Bhakta in which divinity is revealed to him. None may tread on it.³⁶ It is the mark of the threshold, above it, the image in the Garbhagṛha appears raised to the Bhakta who approaches it; and, while he or the priest is about to enter the innermost sanctuary he too is raised to the status of divinity.

v2.c11.s2.9

³⁶ I.P. III. ch. XIII. 29. The priest enters the Garbhagṛha with the right foot first, without touching the threshold of the door. 'Viṣṇudharmottara', III. ch. XLVIII. 16.

v2.c11.s2.10

In this respect the door is God through whom man enters into the presence of the Supreme Principle which is established in the Garbhagṛha and has its seat in the consecrated image. To be able to enter into the Supreme Presence, man has to undergo a transmutation, for only when he has acquired a celestial body himself is he qualified to pass the company of the gods and confront the Supreme Presence which is beyond form and dwells in the image of the divinity of the temple. The transformation or regeneration which man has to undergo is promoted by the divinities carved on the door-jambs.³⁷

v2.c11.s2.11

³⁷ The symbolism of the threshold, but for the central lotus stalk and flower, varies in its devices; hosts of gods dance, rejoice, are present at the moment when the threshold is being passed. Thus the compartments of the door sill are replete with them; or else Kīrttimukhas or Śārdūlas (see below) flank the lotus stalk, etc.

v2.c11.s2.12

Most conspicuous and significant are the large images of the River-goddesses, often accompanied by their retinues, their figures being set against the several Śākhās. Above their groups are carved and repeated in many panels such shapes and configurations, in which life is young and quick; procreative couples on the posts, and baby-shapes of Gaṇas ("quantities" of celestials) amidst creepers rambling around the door-way. Serpents are interlaced on the door-way of Viṣṇu temples, especially.³⁸

v2.c11.s2.13

³⁸ Temple of Rājīva Locana, Rajim (ASI; C.I. Photograph, 1903-4, No. 2191). The names of the antepagments denote the themes which are carved on them, 'patra'; gandharva-śākhā, etc., the one covered with a leaf pattern, the other showing dancing genii (Cousens, 'Archit. Ant.', op. cit. p. 27).

v2.c11.s2.14

Thus they enclose the door ascending in an unbroken continuity of swaying creepers, superposed and in panels, each filled with a sinuous pattern of limbs rounded with the sap of youth; all these are sculptural metamorphoses and elaborations of the theme of the River-goddesses for it is from their waters that they arise.

v2.c11.s2.15

The Rivers have their source and origin in heaven. Thence they descend to earth.³⁹ On the entrance of the early temples their images are carved to either side of the lintel ('pataṅga'; 'ūrdhvapaṭṭikā'). On its middle the image of the main divinity of the temple, and to either side of it those of other great Gods are carved.⁴⁰ This then is the celestial region whence the rivers have descended, Gaṅgā, the most sacred of all, celestial Mandākinī, and also Yamunā. From heaven they have come to earth; in the later temples their images are stationed on either side, at the bottom of the door, the current and ripples of flowing waters are in their swaying stances. To look at them is equal in effect to the ritual bath in their waters, especially in the most sacred water of the Ganges. The energy of the waters is so great that the bath itself confers Dīkṣā, initiation ('Maitr. S.' III. 6.2): Ablution, transmutation, and initiation are effected at the entrance. This indeed is its initial and essential meaning in sacred architecture for initiation is derived from 'in-ire' meaning 'to enter'. The power of the flowing waters is in their celestial nature and origin. None are as sacred as those of the Gaṅgā who in her celestial form is Śakti.⁴¹

v2.c11.s2.16

³⁹ Cf. Part I. p. 3. The descent of Gaṅgā and Yamunā is narrated in a rock carving at Udayagiri, Bhopal, c.I., c.400 A.D. (Coomaraswamy, 'Yakṣas', II. Pl. 20). In temples of the Gupta age (Deogarh; ib. Pl. 21) the images of the two River goddesses are carved to the right and left respectively of the door lintel, also if rarely, in mediæval times, of which the Vyomakeśvara temple (opposite the entrance to the Liṅgaraja Temple, Bhuvaneśvar) is an example. In this small shrine, of c. the 10th century, the position of the River goddesses is the same as on the temples of the Gupta age.

v2.c11.s2.17

⁴⁰ The celestial region is also indicated on the lintel by a frieze of the Navagrahas, the nine planets, in some temples (especially in Orissa); there, the image of Lakṣmī is generally carved in lieu of that of the main divinity of the temple.

v2.c11.s2.18

⁴¹ In their iconographically complete 'images', the River goddesses, Gaṅgā and Yamunā, are carried by their vehicles (vāhana), the Makara, the first of all the sea-monsters and the tortoise, respectively. In the first is embodied the power of the water itself, which is fearful and benign; the latter does not refer to the water itself but to the stability at its bottom. The Vāhanas however need not be represented nor any water vessel as attribute of these Nadīdevatās while their figures are carved, as a rule, to the side of the threshold from the seventh century A.D. onwards; their images sometimes are very large and fill the length of the door jamb (Kharod, Bilaspur, C.P.; ASIAR. 1909-10, Pl. V.a.) whereas elsewhere they are assimilated to those of Tree goddesses (Vanadevatās). The iconography of the entrance is not everywhere complete; plain architectural shapes of the śākhās (Raikona Temple, Nalgonda Distr.) belong as much to relatively late temples as purely floral scrolls and lozenges only constitute the carvings of the door jambs of earlier temples (Sitteśvar Temple, Candrāvatī, Jhalawar). The widest possible latitude was given to the craftsman to draw selectively from the iconographical repertory of the entrance. River goddesses attending upon or accompanying a Nāga are represented in the Amarāvatī reliefs (Coomaraswāmy, Yakṣas, II. p. 70). A Yakṣinī Sudarśanā standing on a Makara Vāhana however is carved also in Barhut (Barua, 'Barhut', III. 74). Nāgas, dwarf shaped Gaṇas, etc. belong to the wider circle of the River goddesses when they figure on either side of the threshold. The Goddesses, as shown by the 'Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati', III. XII. 20-21, as well as by a North Indian inscription of the Vaidyanātha Temple, Baijnath (Kangra) are River goddesses (Vogel, 'Gaṅgā et Yamunā dans l'Iconographie Brahmanique', 'Études Asiatiques', 1925, pp. 387-88), whenever they are carved to the right and left of the threshold whether they are equipped with all, or most of their attributes of identification as at Kharod (Bilaspur), Bajaura (Kulu), Dah Parbatiya (Assam) or on a door frame in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, or not.

v2.c11.s2.19

The presence of the Rivers purifies the devotee from all taints of his human state. It is equivalent to a bath taken in the sacred waters.⁴² The entrance to the Garbhagṛha is the sculptural metamorphosis of the natural Tīrtha. The door-way is an iconostasis of the descent of the Rivers, of Śakti; and of the ascent of life competing for its heavenly origin in the creepers rambling upwards on the 'branches' (śākhā) of the frame, in the multiform concatenations within their stalks and, on each single śākhā, in the sequences of lovers ('mithuna'), prancing chimaerae (śārdūla) and jubilant spirits (gaṇa) (cf. Bṛ. S. LV. 15). All these have their support (dhṛ) on these waters, are borne by it. Thus is illustrated the knowledge that the waters are Dharma (‘Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa’, XI. 1.6.24), the support of Life and generation; of a new birth and a transformed body.

v2.c11.s2.20

⁴² cf. 'Brahmavaivarta Purāṇa', II. X. 48-52. cf. Part I.

v2.c11.s2.21

Upwards and downwards are the images arrayed at the entrance when its broad frame is seen as a surface of display. ‘Historically’ too, the river goddesses have descended from the high positions on either side of the lintel to their stations on either side of the threshold; from there now the creepers ramble upwards, to the lintel. Beheld however in the dynamic impact of its carved Śākhās, the Rivers and the host of gods seem to have thronged out from the Garbhagṛha : in this dark ‘cave’ they have their source.

v2.c11.s2.22

Having come forth from the darkness, young and dazzling in their vigour, the river-goddesses conduct from the level of the threshold not only the glance of regenerate man. They foster and nourish not only him in his new born state but they strengthen also the seed and embryo (garbha) of the temple which had been deposited to the right of the door—below the door-jamb—and prior to its having been set up (Part IV, p. 126). Thus their presence, position and movement draw upward and reinforce the subtle parts of all the elements which constitute the Seed⁴³ of the ‘body’ of the Puruṣa, which is the structure of the temple.

v2.c11.s2.23

⁴³ ‘Jaiminīya Up. Brāhmaṇa’, III. 6. cf. ‘Vedānta Sūtra’ III. 1-2. Comm. Śaṅkarācārya.

v2.c11.s2.24

The inception of a new life is beset with dangers. The guardians of the threshold thus are the most enduring images of the door⁴⁴ where perils must be warded off and contamination with the impurities of the world prevented. They bear the weapon and traits of the particular god whom they serve in each temple and they frequently exhibit his ‘fearful’ aspect.⁴⁵ Thus they are the agents of the image in the Garbhagṛha, and of its smaller version in the centre of the lintel.

v2.c11.s2.25

⁴⁴ They occupy their positions in the earliest and in the latest temples.

v2.c11.s2.26

⁴⁵ Mahākāla, for example, to the left of the door of a Śiva temple (I.P., l.c. verse 53); images of Time and Death are necessarily amongst the Guardians of the threshold, assisting the dying to the old life which is preliminary to the new regenerate state. “Every passage is a dangerous one, every gateway a death, but if safely passed through the gateway of a new life.” (Coomaraswamy, in a Review of C. Hentze, ‘Frühchinesische Bronzen und Kulturdarstellungen’, ‘The Art Bulletin’, 1940 (?) p. 53.

v2.c11.s2.27

The iconography of the entrance has a double function. It belongs to the main deity of the temple who—as Christ—said of Himself “I am the Door” (John X. 9). In this function the door-frame is also that of the image in the Garbhagṛha, its place of manifestation. In this function too, the Ghanadvāras, the “massive doors” or niches, on the outside of the temple have come to enshrine various aspects of divinity in which it manifests its presence.

v2.c11.s2.28

The door however in its original function and open, is at the same time the place of the threshold and entry or initiation. The iconography of the River-goddesses is effective in this function where the door is a structural equivalent of a Tīrtha. The one or the other aspect prevails in the carvings of the entrance. Where its initiatory function predominates, the goddess Lakṣmī, bathed by elephants, is carved as the central image of the lintel and not the special divinity to whom the temple is consecrated. Lakṣmī is Vāruṇī, the energy and wealth of the Waters. Varuṇa, their Lord, the Asura (RV. VIII. 42. 1), rules over the gods, encloses them,⁴⁶ he is unseen and deathless (RV. I. 164. 38; X. 85. 17-18). It is to this greater and deathless form of the Supreme Principle that the door leads as the place of ‘initiation’.⁴⁷

v2.c11.s2.29

⁴⁶ In its double function as place of ‘exit’ or manifestation of the deity and as place of entry of the transformed Bhakta, the door, called Mukha (mouth) is akin to the “Kīrttimukha” (see infra).

v2.c11.s2.30

⁴⁷ In principle, the temple has 4 doors (cf. Part V, notes 69, 73), facing the cardinal points (‘Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati’, III. ch. XII. 17). They are Śāntidvāra: the Door “Peace”, in the East; Vidyādvāra, the Door “Knowledge” in the South, Nivṛttidvāra, the Door “Turning away from the world” in the West and Pratiṣṭhādvāra, the Door “Firm basis” in the North. These four names are those of the four Kalās, the ontological part-aspects of manifestation, according to Śaiva terminology. Their hierarchical sequence is, beginning from the lowest Kalā: Nivṛtti, Pratiṣṭhā, Vidyā and Śānti. All these doors however lead to the fifth and highest Kalā, and to the Supreme Essence of the Pure Principles.

v2.c11.s2.31

Facing the entrance, outside the Prāsāda, in the open (Pls. LVIII, XXXVI), or in the Maṇḍapa (Pl. LII), is the image of the Vāhana, the vehicle of the divinity which is enshrined in the temple. Carved in the round, self-contained as form and symbol, the Vāhana ‘conveys’ the deity. The theriomorphic image, the Vāhana, is, it appears, as ancient as any temple;⁴⁸ while its position is outside the entrance, it confronts the temple or the image in the Garbhagṛha with which it is coaxial. No other sculpture or part of the building is so placed. The Vāhana is a counterpart of the image enshrined in the Prāsāda and framed by the door-way. It leads to the entrance.

v2.c11.s2.32

⁴⁸ Cf. The animals carved in the round on the top of Mauryan pillars (3rd century B.C.) and the representations on seals from Mohenjo-Daro (Sir John Marshall, ‘Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilisation’, Pl. CXVI. 3 and 5), of an animal figure placed on a platform on top of a pole, and carried in procession. The Garuḍa-Stambha in front of a Viṣṇu temple appears as a lineal descendant of these most ancient Vāhanas. Nandin, the Vāhana in the Maṇḍapa, directs the approach (abhigamana) to the Garbhagṛha (Pl. LII); placed outside the temple it regulates the circumambulation (note 1, Pt. VIII).

Linked texts (16)