The Temples and Architecture

Few days ago, I travelled with some American friends to the holiest & richest temples in India. This city is visited by millions of devotees…a tourist spot & a religious destination. It is believed that if a Hindu fail to visit this city, there is no moksha (liberation) for him. That illustrious city is the beautiful Tirupati.

I got this good fortune of visiting Tirupati for reasons other than the major one i.e. the religious reasons. In every pilgrim I saw the god and an insatiable desire to be united with the Supreme Self. Thank you Tirupati for bestowing this divine experience. The other reason of visiting Tirupati was – the college of Sculpture where the idols of gods and goddesses are made. Limitless supply of a special kind of stone Krishna Shila (or Krishna stone) specific to this region of India. This stone is very beautiful even in its raw form. The master sculptor patiently explained the methods they adopt to differentiate various stones and demonstrated it from a layman’s point of view.

My American friend, an ardent fan on Hinduism, is constructing a beautiful temple for Hindus in his country, America. He is spending substantial sums on this project and has contracted some work to the college of sculpture, Tirupati. There are only two colleges in India – one in Tirupati and the other near Chennai, Mahabalipuram. Both are in South of India. Many budding sculptors join a 4-year integrated professional diploma course to learn about temple sculpture, architecture, culture and so on and so forth. We visited the college – where the student sculptors are working tirelessly in sun and dust sculpting beautiful images of gods. It was an enthralling experience.

They received us in befitting manner with passion and dedication. Towards the end we went to their small office, sat down for final discussions on the proposed temple project. They laid out ancient literature illustrating measurement of sculptures, the reasons for making Garbha gudi (sanctum sanctorum), sizes of the idols etc. It was a good learning experience. This is where my American friend interrupted by stating that the designs of the temple in north, south, east and west of India are different owing to the climatic conditions. The intricate sculpting designs found on the ‘gopura’ of a temple in south are not found on Vaishno Devi. The designs found on Calcutta’s Kali Maa’s temple are not found on the Ganesh temples of Mumbai.

Similarly, we cannot make every sculpture from Krishna Shila (Krishna stone). For example, the Hanuman’s statue of north India is in orange-red colour. In south it is not so. The beliefs of the local people play prominent role in making of these statues. A person who is not educated in temples and its architecture & with limited understanding of religion explaining the concepts behind temple construction left me speechless. The size of sanctum sanctorum is related to the size of the population at that time. Observe today Lord Balaji’s temple at Tirupati…millions visit every month are literally pushed out by the temple priests. Not that they are insulting, but to make way for others. It’s a small door, through that millions would see the lord! A devotee would not appreciate seeing the lord on the television either. It doesn’t give the feeling of direct experience. What ought to be done? Remove the sanctum sanctorum. The entire temple itself is sanctum sanctorum. Every person from any angle should be in a position to view Lord Balaji. This is the modern-day interpretation of temple. An American educating Hindus!!

Then he discussed about the size of idols. Lord Ayyappa’s idol is around 2 feet in size. But todays devotees certainly wish to see their lord in a very grand manner. Let it be a 7-feet imposing statue of Lord Ayyappa which must generate the feeling of awe, wonder and submission. You cannot look down at 2 feet statue and pray. Modern day temples need different temple design and idols.

When a temple is being built thousands of miles away from India, we cannot call it as Lord Balaji or Lord Ayyappa or Lord Ganesha temple. It is an individual’s choice to believe in a god that is dearer to him. So, when an individual visits temple he visits with the beliefs he is brought up with. For example, if I am from Mumbai, I would go to Lord Ganesha and pray him. Hence, we cannot say it is a Lord Balaji’s or Lord Ganesha’s temple. It is better to have a Hindu Temple Complex (HTC) in which all gods are present…the Darbar of gods. All gods are equal and none is superior. All are equally powerful. God is one. We see in many forms. Hence, it cannot be Ram’s or Kali Maa’s or Ganesha’s temple. It has to be HTC. The devotee can go to any idol he cherishes to worship and can have darshan from any angle.

The temples architecture & idols must change with science, with changing attitudes and aspirations of devotees. Today, I do not read Bhagavad Gita, I listen to Bhagavad Gita using expensive Bose headphones with a button push on Apple computer. Bhagavad Gita is adopted to suit modern technology. When I visit the temple, I prefer to see the 3-D hologram of Lord Balaji welcoming. Unless the temple culture adopts itself to science and changing aspirations it is difficult to make people visit temple.

I am not a student of temple architecture or culture but this was a memorable & great learning experience. A pleasure to understand the gods, goddesses, temples, aspirations, prayers and science. Millennials would love to see god on their 5G mobile phone. He doesn’t have time to visit Balaji at Tirupati. I am sorry. Science will thus take Lord Balaji and Tirupati to every mobile phone, heart and to every viewing eye.

Thank you, my American friend for teaching the nuances of temples & idols. God bless & live long.

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