Since ancient times, the fundamental preoccupation of Hindu thought has been with human beings’ goals for living a full harmonious, holistic, and joyful life leading finally to their release (Moksha) from the miseries and limitations of the world to experience the Divine bliss. In this quest for crossing the boundaries, the Hindu temple stands as the meeting ground between nescient human being and Godhead. We normally go to temple to have a darshan of a Deity and/or perform pooja, but in order to have a knowledge-laden participatory experience in the temple we need to ask: What is the meaning, significance and purpose of a Hindu Temple, especially in modern times-the times when under the guise of so-called Postmodernism many of our cherished meanings associated with life, living and world are being called into question? Here is a brief essay intended to answer the above question.
The primary meanings of the Hindu temple revolve around its two fundamental features. They are: the sacred center, the heart of the temple called Garbha-Griha or womb-chamber; and the outer structure called the Sharira or body. The Garbha-Griha is the most sacred chamber of the temple where the Divine Being resides within the moorti as His or Her form, and who as the Paramatman , Purushottama or Cosmic Purusha(Virata Purusha) is situated in all beings as the Universal Atman(Self), and is the embryonic essence or sacred seed of all the manifested cosmos with its manifold forms. The outer structure is the Body of the Cosmic Purusha, which is the entire cosmos with its variegated nature consisting of inexhaustible bodies of different shapes, sizes, colors, and textures.
Therefore, the temple is the sacred place where the Bhagavan or Purushottama (God) makes Himself most visible and accessible to the human being; the place where whole visible universe along with its source is mirrored in a measurable, finite form; and a place where the human personality (Atman+sharira) gets reunited with its source-the Divine Purusha. This is in a sense a micro-cosmic representation of the macrocosm. Various terms are used to designate a Hindu Temple, and these are: Devagriha (house of God), Devalaya (residence of God). Prasada (seat of God), and Mandira (place of God).
Thus we see that a temple is a citadel of Bhagavan (God) and His various manifestations and Avatars. He is worshipped in His various Deity forms (Divine Male as well as Female) as He comes down and manifests in this world at different times to perform His Lila (Divine Play). This supreme phenomenon of the divine manifestation of the One in many forms is very vividly exhibited by the Purushottama or Bhagavan Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita. This most basic idea theologically is neither Monotheism nor Polytheism. This can be called- Monotheistic Polymorphism-a new linguistic term that I care to coin. These various Deity forms are worshipped in various ways according to the scriptural injunctions, and depending upon one’s inclination and devotional attitude, one is free to choose and to fix one’s own mind on any of these manifestations. This great diversity in the approach, while keeping in mind the underlying unity, helps a devotee to rediscover the purpose and meaning of his or her own life; to re-experience the Divine bliss through the inner-Self or Atman; and to reestablish the lost unity or relationship with Paramatman, Para-Brahman, Purushottama or Bhagavan.
Temple as the center of life
The human body is also a temple- the home of the inner Self (Atman), which is the part and parcel of the Supreme Self (Paramatman); and the Sharira (material body) is the material manifestation of Prakriti (the original ground of manifestation of the cosmos). Both of these entities join to form a unified whole, and thus both are sacred as is the consecrated temple. One gets into a sacred space as soon as one enters into a Hindu temple compound, and as one moves further toward the Garbha-Griha to have a darshan(to see in full) of the Deity, one comes in direct communion with the Divine residing within the Moorti. A moorti after the pran-pratistha becomes the Deity with His or Her transcendental body hidden within the material form. It is totally incorrect to refer to a deity as Idol- the term Idol is understood in many world traditions as the false god. The temple is to be seen and comprehended as our sweet home-so sweet, so beautiful, so wonderful, and the sacred center of the world- that may enable us to experience the sacredness and unity-in-difference of the whole nature- where the trees, the rivers, the mountains, the birds, the animals, the human beings or in essence all the living and non-living entities manifest as the parts and parcels of the same Divine, the same Cosmic Purusha, the same Narayana, or the same Brahman; and all within the same harmonious whole. The circumambulation of the Deity in the temple relates to an act of cyclic rebirth and renewal where although one comes back during this movement to the starting point again and again, but can aspire to gain ever enhancing purity, deeper vision, and greater integration of personality to finally lead one to the ultimate peace, Divine bliss and face-to-face darshan of the Deity.
By looking at the temple the way described above, one can immediately recognize that all the worldly activities- through manas(mind), speech, and real actions- of the human beings, beautifully grouped under the branches- Dharma(duties), Artha(materials possessions), Kama( all desires), and Moksha(emancipation) of the Sanatana Dharma- must be controlled and guided by the sacredness of the temple.
Contemporary relevance of the Hindu Temple
- The temple can, and must act as an educational and guiding center for all our social, historical, moral, ethical, health related and adhyatmic activities. In times, when an uplifting and purifying environment is becoming a hard-to-find entity in places such as homes, schools, colleges and universities, social and political institutions, it becomes the pious and urgent duty of a concerned and vigilant community to provide a sacred place such as a temple where all can come together to learn and grow for achieving fullness of healthy and joyful living.
- The temple can, and must also serve as the focal point for educating ourselves, our children, teenagers and adults, and others about the entire spectrum of our Sanskriti( Sanskriti is not ‘culture’) and its foundation. The education must entail subjects like anthropology, history, visual and performing arts, recitation and understanding of scriptures and pooja methodologies. The educational components such as lectures, discourses, kathas, meditation and yoga classes, and our dharmic awareness classes, should be of utmost importance.
- The temple can, and must act as a source for fostering voluntary and social service attitude and activities in all of us, and especially in the younger generations These activities may include a ‘food-for-hungry program’, collecting and distributing clothes and other items to the needy people, family counseling and reaching out other communities.
Some often asked questions
Question: When Brahman (God) is present everywhere, why do I have to go to temple?
Answer: It is true that Brahman is present everywhere, and can be seen everywhere, but do we have attained that vision? If not, visiting temple, seeing, meditating and doing devotional service to a Deity can certainly help to achieve that vision because the divine presence pulsates more concretely, with sacred radiance within the confines of the temple.
Question: I am giving charity to so many organizations, then why do I have to support Hindu temple?
Answer: Giving charity (daana) is certainly a pious activity provided it is given with a sattvic attitude (mode of goodness), and it is going to a person or organization engaged in sattvic activities. Unfortunately, such organizations are not many, and some of them may use only a small portion of your donation for the real cause. By supporting also your own temple and actively participating in the governing activities you can focus on issues that deal directly with root causes of social ills.
Question: In my home, office, and other places I am doing my duties well, so why do I have care about the temple?
Answer: The field of duties or dharma is very hard and complex to understand. The temple as a place for learning about what my duties, responsibilities and obligations are under various situations can be of a great asset. Moreover, a simply doing-my-duties attitude may not fully unfold your own hidden but peaceful and blissful nature, because potential for unfolding demands more efforts or appropriate yogic and meditation practices, and in the absence of which you may be deprived of the blissful experience that you have a birth right to achieve. Your commitment to your routine type of activities is not good enough to keep purifying your continuously polluting intellect, manas, and body, as well as the surrounding physical and social environment: therefore, you need a sacred or purifying space-a temple.
Question: I love cultural activities, so why do I have to care about the religious activities in the temple?
Answer: These types of questions stem from the facts that we are in a deep ignorance about our own Vedic traditions. The term, ‘culture’ is not the appropriate for ‘sanskriti’, and the term, ‘religion’ is inadequate, very limiting, misleading, and wrong for Vedic ‘dharma’. All the sanskritic activities within the Vedic traditions are grounded in adhyatmic folds that direct us toward reconnecting us to the hidden dimensions of the pervading Divinity and the Sanatana Dharma. These activities not only aimed to unlock our sense of aesthetic (rasa) joy but also to reorient ourselves toward achieving positive creative lifestyles, with the final goal of human life in perspective. By alienating any such activity from its adhyatmic roots one can loose its essence, meaning and purpose, and at the same time it may lead one to the state of despair, frustration, fragmentation, and finally to suffering and bondage.
AUM SHANTI, SHANTI, SHANTIH!
NOTE: This article is a part of a book under preparation by the author. This needs further polishing and fine tuning to adequately express the Vedic ideas. Some English linguistic terms do not directly correlate to Sanskrit terms.