Where Temples Should Be Located /Constructed According to Vedic Way( Ancient Indian Scientific Principles/Reasons)
There are Millions of temples all over India (and also across the world considering Hindu Temples in Bangladesh and other parts too) in Various Locations, Shapes, Sizes and of Different Gods with different customs and worships. But All those Temples are Not constructed in Vedic Way Following Our Ancient Indian Hindu Temple Principles ( Following scientific reasons).
Where a Temple Should Be Constructed/Located?
A Temple should be Constructed/Located in a Place Where the Earth’s Magnetic Wave Path Passes Through Densely. These Places can be anywhere. Like in the Outskirts of a City/Town/Village Or in The middle of most populated/Residential locations or on a hill top/in a cave or on a small island in the middle of a river. There is Science involved in Every Part of Our Life even in selecting the location for the construction of temple which now a days we’re neglecting for various reasons though.
This shows how much science is involved in our everyday life in Hindu Culture. There’s a lot of science and technology involved in ancient temples construction which not only effects on our life style but also proves how superior our ancestors are in terms of knowledge.
Hindu temple architecture
Steps in Temple Construction
The procedure for building a temple is extensively discussed, and it could be expressed in short as “Karshanadi Pratisthantam”, meaning beginning with “Karshana” and ending with “Pratistha”. The details of steps involved vary from one Agama to another, but broadly these are the steps in temple construction:
- Bhu pariksha: Examining and choosing location and soil for temple and town. The land should be fertile and soil suitable.
- Sila pariksha: Examining and choosing material for image
- Karshana: Corn or some other crop is grown in the place first and is fed to cows. Then the location is fit for town/temple construction.
- Vastu puja: Ritual to propitiate vastu devata.
- Salyodhara: Undesired things like bones are dug out.
- Adyestaka: Laying down the first stone
- Nirmana: Then foundation is laid and land is purified by sprinkling water. A pit is dug, water mixed with navaratnas, navadhanyas, navakhanijas is then put in and pit is filled. Then the temple is constructed.
- Murdhestaka sthapana: Placing the top stone over the prakara, gopura etc. This again involves creating cavities filled with gems minerals seeds etc. and then the pinnacles are placed.
- Garbhanyasa: A pot made of five metals (pancaloha kalasa sthapana) is installed at the place of main deity.
- Sthapana: Then the main deity is installed.
- Pratistha: The main deity is then charged with life/god-ness.
Before the temple is opened for daily worship, there are some preparatory rituals to be done, like:
- Anujna: the priest takes permission from devotees and lord Ganesha to begin rituals
- Mrit samgrahana: Collecting mud
- Ankurarpana: Sowing seeds in pots of mud collected and waiting till they germinate
- Rakshabandhana: The priest binds a holy thread on his hand to take up the assignment.
- Punyahavacana: Purifying ritual for the place and invoking good omens
- Grama santi: Worship for the good of village and to remove subtle undesired elements
- Pravesa bali: Propitiation of various gods at different places in the temple, rakshoghna puja (to destroy asuric elements) and of specific gods like Kshetra palaka (devata ruling the town)
- Vastu Santi: Pacifying puja for vastu (this happens twice and this is the second time)
- Yagasala: Building the stage for homas, along with vedika.
- Kalasasthapana: Installing kalasam
- Samskara: Purifying the yaga sala
- Kalasa puja, yagarambha: Woshipping the kalasa as god and propitiating deities through fire
- Nayanonmeelana, Pratimadhivasa: Opening eyes of the god-image, installing it and giving it life.
Then specific worship is done to deity, as prescribed. For instance in the case of Siva, this is followed by astabandhana and kumbhabhisheka.
Temple Design
From the proportions of the inner sanctum to the motifs carved into the pillars, the traditional temple takes its first form on the master sthapati’s drawing board. The architect initially determines the fundamental unit of measurement using a formula called ayadhi. This formula, which comes from Jyotisha, or Vedic astrology, uses the nakshatra (birth star) of the founder, the nakshatra of the village in which the temple is being erected matching the first syllable of the name of the village with the seed sounds mystically associated with each nakshatra and the nakshatra of the main Deity of the temple. This measurement, called danda, is the dimension of the inside of the sanctum and the distance between the pillars. The whole space of the temple is defined in multiples and fractions of this basic unit.
The Shastras are strict about the use of metals, such as iron in the temple structure because iron is mystically the crudest, most impure of metals. The presence of iron, sthapatis explain, could attract lower, impure forces. Only gold, silver, and copper are used in the structure, so that only the most sublime forces are invoked during the pujas. At especially significant stages in the temple construction (such as ground-breaking and placement of the sanctum door frame), pieces of gold, silver and copper, as well as precious gems, are ceremoniously embedded in small interstices between the stones, adding to the temple’s inner-world magnetism. These elements are said to glow in the inner worlds and, like holy ash, are prominently visible to the Gods and Devas.
The ground plan is described as a symbolic, miniature representation of the cosmos. It is based on a strict grid made up of squares and equilateral triangles which are imbued with deep religious significance. To the priest-architect the square was an absolute and mystical form. The grid, usually of 64 or 81 squares, is in fact a mandala, a model of the cosmos, with each square belonging to a deity. The position of the squares is in accordance with the importance attached to each of the deities, with the square in the center representing the temple deity; the outer squares cover the gods of lower rank. Agamas say that the temple architecture is similar to a man sitting – and the idol in garbagriha is exactly the heart-plexus, gopuram as the crown etc.
The construction of the temple follows in three dimensional form exactly the pattern laid out by the mandala. The relationship between the underlying symbolic order and the actual physical appearance of the temple can best be understood by seeing it from above which was of course impossible for humans until quite recently.
Another important aspect of the design of the ground plan is that it is intended to lead from the temporal world to the eternal. The principal shrine should face the rising sun and so should have its entrance to the east. Movement towards the sanctuary, along the east-west axis and through a series of increasingly sacred spaces is of great importance and is reflected in the architecture. A typical temple consists of the following major elements
- an entrance, often with a porch
- one or more attached or detached mandapas or halls
- the inner sanctum called the garbagriha, literally ‘womb chamber’
- the tower build directly above the garbagriha.