Many Meaning of the Hindu Temple Part 2

The Temple as the Divine Tree

The symbolism of the seed is taken further. This seed is believed to have sprouted upwards in the form of the temple vimana and branching out in various shoots, leaves and branches, it again coalesces at the top in one kalash, bearing fruit which again contains the seed from which it came, and thus directly above this, outside the temple, over the vimana, another kalash is installed which has the same ‘seed’, which is deposited in the kalash underground.

Here the temple vimana is imagined as a tree. From the seed underground, it sprouts as an upright tree and it merges with the branches of another tree, which is upside down. The branches of both the trees meet in the middle of the vimana. At the top of the vimana is the ‘seed’ of the inverted tree. As S. K. Ramachandra Rao puts it:

“The spot where the ‘womb’ is hidden would be the seat of the icon. The icon represents the sap of the temple-tree, the four walls would indicate the spreading branches all around. The roof resting over the wall is technically called ‘row of doves’ (kapota-pali or simply kapota), after the birds that perch on tree-tops. The sanctum is thus a neat model of the growing tree.” [8]

The seed in the underground holds the seed of supreme consciousness. When this consciousness sprouts, it takes the form of the deity in the garbha-griha. On the other hand, the consciousness from above also descends and meets the consciousness that is rising from below. The ascent of individual consciousness is complemented by the descent of the universal consciousness.

It is a symbolic way of showing the individual consciousness rising up to meet the universal or supreme consciousness. It symbolizes the essence of all Hindu knowledge, that of self-realization, the state of oneness of the devotee with the supreme consciousness. S. K. Ramachandra Rao, commenting upon the ascent and descent of consciousness, says:

“Under the ground it is in a dormant, nebulous condition, and in the sanctum it gets transformed into a world of materiality and activity. In the tower it rises above this world, before it is absorbed in the universal consciousness at the summit of the finial… Man’s approach is one of ascent of matter towards the spirit. But it becomes meaningful only if there is a complementary process of descent; the divine spirit must flow down into the material. The finial of the tower symbolizes the dual act of gathering the divine essence from the formless cosmos and communicating it to the main mass of the tower. The essence here acquires a concrete form and then descends into the sanctum, to be focused in the icon.” [9]

This ascent and descent are taking on the vertical axis of the temple, in the garbha-griha and in the vimana that tops it. The devotee that stands in the mandapam, in front of the deity lies on the horizontal axis of the temple. It is his active desire, his deep faith, which lets him partake in the divine ascent and divine descent that is taking place in the garbha-griha.

Through the authority of the shastras; the agency of the temple as a Yantra to bring about desired goals; through the worship offered by the priest on the behalf of the devotee; and through divine grace, the devotee partakes in the ascent of consciousness. Deeply meditated upon, the ascent of the consciousness in the garbha-griha becomes his own ascent.

“The shrine thus demonstrates the constellation of the human and the divine currents; matter moves up and the spirit flows down. The devotee that stands in front of the icon is expected to partake of this transaction. The emanations that proceed from the icon must be picked up by the faith in his heart. Devotion is the transformer. The rituals conducted within the shrine involve these ideas, and attempt to facilitate transformation along the horizontal axis of icon-devotee. The devotee represents active matter and the icon passive spirit. The two are brought together in the creative act of worship.” [10]

This is why darshan holds such importance for a Hindu devotee visiting a temple. More than prayers, more than signing devotional hymns, it is the act of darshan, which is central to a temple visit and which transforms the individual consciousness of the devotee having darshan to higher levels.

The symbolism of the temple vimana as tree is also understood by its etymology. The very Sanskrit word ‘vimana’ has two connotations: “that which is without comparison” and “that which brings about fruit”.

The Temple as the Sacrificial Fire

The temple vimana is also imagined as the fire of a fire altar, of a Yajna vedi. The shape of the vimana, which tapers, recedes and coalesces into one point at the top with many of half-vimanas, or half-shikharas or miniature aedicular vimanas decorating the ascent of the vimana resembles the sacrificial fire of a fire altar. [11]

The Hindu temple is, in fact, an evolution of the Vedic fire altar, the Yajna Vedi, in which the Yajnas were performed. Stella Kramrisch says:

“The Sulva-sutras contained in the Kalpa-sutras, represent the rules and give proportionate measurement for laying out and piling up the Vedic altar. On them basically rests the building of the Hindu temple.” [12]

The priests who performed the Yajnas, invoked the deity through mantras and imagined his personified form in the Yajna fire. However, as the Vedic Yajna could only be performed by priests trained in the art of Vedic chanting of mantras, not everyone was able to take part in the process.

The temple was the solution to this problem. The deity who was invoked and imagined in the Vedic fire took a permanent form in the temple in the form the temple deity and the entire temple structure was imagined as the Yajna Vedi. A temple priest was appointed who maintained the ritual cleanliness, necessary to maintain the divine presence. And he would offer worship on behalf of the devotee and thus anyone who wished, could participate in the divine process.

As the Hindu Shastras see it, the temple, as a concrete structure took form when spirituality in general population decreased; people stopped seeing the divine and the sacred in everything and need was felt to create a permanent structure in which a temple priest could officiate the sacred process. Thus, the Hindu temple took its present concrete form. But it should not be forgotten, that both the essence and the form of the Hindu temple is derived from the Vedas and the Vedic fire altar, one way or the other.

To a Hindu, sankalpa (resolution) is of primary importance. It is believed that this universe is the result of the sankalpa of Brahma, or Shiva or the Supreme Consciousness. The symbolism of the temple, through its rituals, strengthens this resolve of the devotee, the resolve of seeking self-knowledge. All symbolism of the Hindu temple is geared towards this objective, the ultimate and final goal of anything Hindu or Sanatana, if you prefer.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. Kramrisch, Stella. The Hindu Temple. Vol. I. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, 1946. (2015 ed.). p. 161-162.
2. Fergusson, James. A History of Indian and Eastern Architecture. London: John Murray, 1876, p. 285.
3. Hardy, Adam. The Temple Architecture of India. Chicester: John Wiley & Sons, 2007. p. 10.
4. Kramrisch, Stella. The Hindu Temple. Vol. I. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, 1946. (2015 ed.). p. 162.
5. Ibid. p. 163.
6. Ramachandra Rao, S. K. The Vastu-Silpa-Kosha: Encyclopaedia of Hindu Temple Architecture and Vastu. New Delhi: Divine Books, 2012. Vol. I. p. 78.
7. Kramrisch, Stella. The Hindu Temple. Vol. I. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, 1946. (2015 ed.). p. 165.
8. Ramachandra Rao, S. K. The Vastu-Silpa-Kosha: Encyclopaedia of Hindu Temple Architecture and Vastu. New Delhi: Divine Books, 2012. Vol. I. p. 74.
9. Ibid. p. 79.
10. Ibid. p. 80.
11. Ibid. p. 74.
12. Kramrisch, Stella. The Hindu Temple. Vol. I. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, 1946. (2015 ed.). p. 11.

Authored by Pankaj Saxena. Published by IndicaToday.