Temples and the worship of deities provide a common bond of love and devotion, creating among devotees, a great sense of pride and brotherhood, says SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA
Melody carved in stone is sculpture. Sculpture in melody is music. In colours it becomes painting. Sculptured music, painted in words, is the highest in literature. And this medium of word painting has been chosen by the poet seer Vyasa to describe the Indescribable in his Puranas.
There is a definite reason for this choice. The painter in his medium can no doubt, not only express all the details, but can also represent movement. But he can express three dimensions alone in his paintings. On the other hand, a sculptured piece of beauty can express all its rhythm of form overflowing from all its sides. The spectator can move around the sculptured piece and enjoy the beauty of it from all angles. But, at the same time, the expression of a piece of sculpture is an arrested moment in life and there is, therefore, no movement in it.
Vyasa felt that he needed a medium which had all the beauty and strength of both painting and sculpture with none of the weaknesses of either, in order that he might express and describe the play of the Infinite among the finite objects of the world.
In calling our attention to the unseen power that supports and moulds the happenings in life, Vyasa searched for a new art of ‘sculpture painting’ and it is the yielding of this art that we find in all the Puranas — the art of word painting.
In order to help growing children, understand their country, in all education systems, we use maps and the teacher points out the various cities, rivers, mountains and so on. But the map is not the country — it serves only to help the students understand the relative positions of various places, and thereafter, in his own maturity he will realise the glory of his country in all its details. The map is a physical guide for the student’s intellectual growth.
In the same way, in order to help the seeker, comprehend the infinite reality and the philosophical concepts of Vedanta, Vyasa the mighty teacher, felt the need for supplying some conceivable representations and these are provided in the word pictures and the stories of the Puranas.
These representations of deities, we find very often, have normal forms, but it is not unusual for Vyasa to take even impossible anatomical features and structures to describe the all-pervading essence of the Self, the one infinite reality itself has become the world of endless forms and naturally, therefore, every form in the universe is, in a sense, but a representation of the Truth.
This style called mysticism, is the strain in which the entire Vedas are written. Vyasa being a perfect poet, his pen sings its songs of mysticism and produces for us the palpitating sculptures of comprehensible God forms. These become the altars at which a devoted seeker, shattered with his own desires and passions, confused with his despairs and disappointments, crushed between his duties and responsibilities, could easily find a haven of peace and consolation.
In a competitive society, the individual mind gets more and more shattered and under such continuous tensions, it is difficult for the mind to discover the necessary poise for pursuing the methods of concentration and contemplation prescribed in the Upanishads.
Nothing has so directly helped the Hindus feel their common religious bond as the worship of these deities. The most popular among them are Ganesha, Rama, Krishna, Shiva, Vishnu, Narayana and Devi. In the temples of these deities, Hindus of all classes and persuasions visit, mingle together, worship and feel the exhilaration of the spirit.
For centuries, these temples and the common worship of these deities held Hindu society together, providing a common bond of love and devotion, creating among them, a great sense of pride and brotherhood.
The regular study of the Ramayana and the Bhagavatam moulded the emotional and intellectual character of our nation and the millions who were not able to read for themselves the original sacred books, ‘heard’ constant discourse upon them given out by the panditas. Besides, many of these inspiring works have been translated into various local languages both in prose and simple songs, so that these deities have contributed a lot in the formation of the Hindu mind and its thoughts.
To revive a true interest in temples, we must gain a clearer understanding of what these ‘divine representations’ signify and in what way each one of them suggests some of the aspects of the infinite Self within. In Self-exploration, there is a thrill of discovery and a continuous inspiration to search for more and more meaning in each Pauranika story. Art Of God Symbolism, Central Chinmaya Mission Trust
Ancient history says that temples came about when the concept of deity worship began towards the end of the Vedic period. Initially, temples were made up of clay with thatched roofs of straws and leaves. Mundeshwari Devi Temple, located in Kaimpur district of Bihar, and dedicated to the worship of Shiva and Shakti is said to be the oldest temple in India. According to the Archaeological Survey of India, this monument dates back to 108 CE.
A temple is developed from the ideology that all things are one and everything is associated. The mathematically structured spaces and intricate artworks illustrate the four essential principles of artha, kama, dharma and moksha. A hollow space without any embellishments located at the centre of the temple — called the Garbha Griha — symbolises the concept of Purusha, the universal principle. Also, most Indian temples are built near water bodies.
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