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Symbolism in Hindu temples

In Hinduism, symbolism is a pervasive theme that permeates all aspects of a Hindu's everyday life. And one place where the average Hindu can find an abundance of religious symbolism is at their local temple. At first glance, a temple looks like any other ornate religious construction. But a deeper examination reveals that the way in which a Hindu temple is constructed is in itself rife with meaning. The prakarams (pathways), the gopurams, and even how the light is focused are indicative of philosophical ideas that extend far beyond the superficial. Gopuram: The majestic temple gopuram symbolises an individuals attempt at reaching spiritual heights. When a person walks in the direction of a temple, the persons eyes are automatically drawn towards the towering gopurams and the vast beyond. The vertical and pyramidal gopuram elicits the image of the idealised heavenly abode of God. The majestic sculptures remind us of the efforts and sacrifices needed to reach a life of perfection, i.e., a spiritual apex. Ground plan: When constructing a place of worship, most religions use a circular ground plan instead of a square or rectangular one. Churches, mosques, and even Jewish temples use circular structures to represent continuity and the infinite. Hindu temple architects similarly used the circle in their design most often around the sanctum sanctorum. This area around the idol of God is surrounded by a circular path where a devotee walks in a clockwise direction. This is meant to symbolise the circling of the universe (represented by the Supreme Being inside the sanctum-sanctorum). The circular path also signifies that the Atman has no beginning or end one that is eternal. Unlike their western counterparts, however, Hindu architects also believed that a holy shrine must go beyond depicting God as eternal, but rather as transformative. A square, while not an organic shape, is a transformative shape; a shape that evolves only when one reorders the lines and spaces within a circle. Perhaps this is why so many temples use squares and rectangles in their design. A square/rectangle symbolises the idea of an evolved individual. An individual, like a square, must reorder his life into an ideal of himself. He can do this only when he reorders his natural life through learning and contemplation and when he reaches a spiritual dimension that goes far beyond the mundane. Prakaram: The first visible structures in most temples are the prakarams through which a devotee walks into the temple. These entryways consist of complex patterns of squares and rectangles. Depending on the size of a temple, there may be several prakarams with each smaller prakaram enclosed within a larger prakaram (e.g. Meenakshi Temple in Madurai). A devotee must walk through several of these prakarams before reaching the sanctum-sanctorum. The prakarams may appear as simple entryways; but their design is actually a metaphor for the gunas (attributes) or stages of spiritual evolution that an individual goes through in life. Hindus believe that an individual consists of several gunas (such as tamasa,

in life. Hindus believe that an individual consists of several gunas (such as tamasa, sativika, or rajasa); however, none of these gunas defines the individual entirely. To find ones true self, an individual must discard each guna as a worldly affectation (Neti, Neti I am not this; I am not this) until there are no more gunas to discard. When the individual reaches this stage, the individual will realise that the true self, i.e. God, is within oneself (Atman). A square or a rectangular temple prakaram symbolises this concept of 'Neti' - the act of discarding and evolving as a physical form. After entering a temple, an individual goes through several prakarams before reaching the sanctum-sanctorum, the abode of God. The process of going through the prakarams to reach God symbolises the long path a human being takes before becoming one with the cosmic order. In a sense, a walk through the prakarams is not just a ritual, but rather a symbolic reflection of the process of learning; the act of discarding bondage and attachment and eventually discovering the true self. Lighting: In most temples, the light gets dimmer as a devotee moves through each prakaram and towards the sanctorum. At the sanctorum, the only bright light is the one surrounding the deity and coming from the deity. The use of light arrangements in a temple symbolises that for a truly liberated individual, the only guiding light is the light that comes from within true knowledge. Everything else is just temporary and only intended as a guide towards the ultimate objective liberating oneself. Sanctum sanctorum: Once a devotee enters a temple, the devotee does not come into the presence of the Gods idol right away. This is true in both small and large temples. For example, a visitor to the Madurai Meenakshi Temple or Srirangam Ranganathar Temple must go through a network of squares, long corridors, and smaller sannidhis before reaching the sanctum sanctorum of the principle deity - Goddess Meenakshi or Sri Ranganathar. This arrangement is intentional. The journey through the temple and through the labyrinth of corridors symbolises that a devotee must specifically seek God. A devotee needs devotion and must be willing to make sacrifices to reach the presence of God. The walk through each inner layer of a temple gives one the feeling that one must penetrate through layers and layers of oneself before discovering the inner self. Once a devotee reaches the sanctum sanctorum, s/he has reached the ultimate destination. That is, the individual has nothing further to seek; everything has been revealed. Ancient Hindu scholars recognised that symbols and symbolism are more effective in communicating rich messages than speeches or discourses. For example, telling a simple individual that "God is within you" or "Aham Brahmasmi", is unlikely to convey the great concept to the individual. Scholars understood that most individuals think in simple terms and need to transpose abstract ideas on to a physical form. Perhaps this is why religious scholars illustrated formless concepts through stories, art, and physical manifestations of God so that the average individual could relate to them. This way, with learning and maturity, the individual could eventually make the connection between the physical and the formless concepts such as atman, nirvana, or moksha. Symbolism simply connects the physical with the spiritual. Ram S. Sriram sriramgsu@gmail.com
More on Variety Published on Nov 27th, 2006