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| Hindu temple plan. pinterest.com |
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| Basic temple parts. godsownweb.blogspot.com |
Though the Indian temples are built in a pattern native to a particular region, the structure of Hindu temples is based on 4 collective principles of human life : they are Artha (wealth, prosperity), Kama (pleasure, sex), Dharma (ethics, values), Moksha (self-realization, freedom from life or reaching heaven!). In this transient world, we must do our duty correctly as we progress in age. Self-contentment promotes happiness and peace of mind.
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| Sketch of gopura. en.wikipedia.org |
Big temples normally have four towers - entrance gates at coordinal direction; ordinal directions are not allowed; small ones have a single gopura above the entrance gate. In the medieval temples the gopurams/towers appeared to be small. but in the later period they became prominent feature of Hindu Dravidian style. During the rule Pandya, Nayaka and Vijayanagara, temples became centers of activities for the people and the gateway towers with fine decorations and sculptures became taller and prominent part of the sky line of the towns and villages. The massive towers and inner courtyards obstructed the view of the inner sanctuary of the temples. When the upwardly tapering tower is divided into many stores (talas), it decreases in size successively as the gopuram tower narrows at top.. Usually the tower is topped with a barrel vaulted roof with a finial. This type of style appeared in the 10th and 11th centuries CE. Example: the shore temple of Mahabalipuram and Thanjavur big temple. temples with multi towers (gopurams) started evolving in the 11th century on ward. The 4 tower Chidambaram Nataraja temple appeared in the 13th century and completed in the later period.
Among the parts of a Hindu temple, regardless of style or architecture, be it Dravidian or Nagara, Vimana forms an important part. This structure over the inner sanctum/garbhagriha is common among the Hindu temples of North India and Odisha in East India. The main garbhagriha is the place (in Tamil Karuvarai) where the presiding deity is enshrined. Temple Gopuram through which we get into the temple enclosure, it is believed. represents the feet of the divinity and the sanctum / garbhagriha represents the sirasu -head of divinity. A devotee bows at the feet of the Lord at the gate as he steps into the temple with humility and proceeds toward the chamber or inner sanctuary to surrender to him, leaving behind the mundane world of confusion, commotion and contradiction. He is there to be at peace with himself in the sanctified place of worship right before the deity where the positive energy flows. There is a well known saying in Tamil: "Gopura Darshanam Koti Paapa Nashanam" meaning the darshan of a temple gopuram will get rid of 10 million sins. Hence, temple towers/ gopurams are sacred to the Hindus.........
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| Hindu temple, northern and southern styles. templepurohit.com |
North Indian temple design: They have a square garbhagriha - sanctum with adjacent pillared mandapas (halls or porches) that are connected to the sanctum by a vestibule (antaralas). Unlike south Indian temples, the ones in the north have embellished entrance to the sanctum with figures of deities and geometric ornamentation. The temples usually contain a shrine and a meditation hall to engage in silent prayer and meditation. They are basically squares with several gradual projections in the center of each side. This gives a cruciform shape with a number of re-entrant angles on each sides .
Normally, a gopura is built with an enormous stone base in a rectangular plan and a superstructure of brick above it with support. It is topped by a barrel-vault roof crowned with a row of finials. Height, size, etc differ from temples to temples. But the main plan of the temple is the same. It is quite interesting to note that the height of Vimana over the inner sanctum is not uniform across India. Among the temples of East India where Kalinga style of architecture is predominant, the Vimana is the tallest structure. This is also true of north and West India where the tower with Vimana rises to a great height above the sanctum. On the contrary, in most of the south Indian temples, the Vimana over the inner sanctum is very much shorter than the entrance gate tower or towers (gopuras) on all four sides - East, west, north and south. With exceptions, this is a typical Dravidian style of temple architecture.
The terminology also differs as in the case of the superstructure over the garbhagriha, it is referred to as a 'shikhara'. But, as far as south Indian temple architecture is concerned, the term shikhara means a dome-shaped crowning cap above the Vimana. Among the entrance gate towers -gopura at four directions on the outer most walls, the East one is the main entrance to the temple. Rest of the gateways under the gopura are opened on certain auspicious days. The belief has been that if you choose one of these gate ways, you are assured of salvation, a place in heaven (Swargham) - meaning no rebirth will haunt you.
The tower/ vimana over the inner sanctum does not get as much importance as the entrance gate towers on the outer walls. In a few temples the roof of the sanctum assumes much importance regardless of its size, shape and height.
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| tower above the sanctum, Thanjavur big temple.trekearth.com |
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| Tallest Main Tower in India, Srirangam Ranganathar temple,TN anubhavtyagi.com |
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| Srirangam temple. small gold-plated tower above the sanctum shtadevata.com |
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| The gold plated above sanctum. note the tall tentrance tower hdnicewallpapers.com |
At Tirupati Venkateswara temple the Ananda Nilayam, the gopuram of the main shrine occupies a very special place in the temple's history and identity. So is the gold plated small vimana above the sanctum.
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| Golden roof above sanctum, Chidambaram Nataraja temple.tripadvisor.com |
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| Madurai Meenakshi temple. tall entrance towers above sanctum small tower. flickr.com |
At Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple there are two sanctums one for lord Sundareswarar (Shiva) and another for Parvati (Meenakshi). Both vimanas over the sanctum are small and gold plated. Whereas the entrance towers facing all the four coordinal directions are tall ones and can be seen from considerable distance...................................
At the famous Jagannath Temple, Puri, there is a huge Neelachakra on the Amalala atop sikhara, i.e., the top of the Vimana. It is symbolic of God Vishnu's most powerful weapon, the sudarshana chakra. The tower is above the sanctum.
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| Puri Jagannath temple, odisha tower above sanctum commons.wikimedia.org |
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