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Home > Temples of Kerala > Concepts Associated with the Temple Concepts Associated with the TempleThe various constituent parts of the temple have been described above and from it emerges the fact that the Hindu temple is the home of deity and not a congregational structure. The interior darkness of the garbha-grha (sanctum sanctorum), illuminated by a dim burning of lights inside the parcel of space, suggests beautifully the idea of mystery that envelopes the universe and the spirit that moves behind the veil of mystery. Here the parcel of space symbolizes the universe, darkness the mystery that envelops it, gloom the veil of appearances and God, the spirit immanent in the universe69. There are two concepts associated with the temple, the gross body and subtle body concepts. The praasaada and the idol are closely interlinked and they are considered as gross and subtle bodies respectively of the temple. Any impurity that affects one will necessarily affect the other and it is essential to conduct purificatory rites for both70 Viswakarmmeeyam71, a famous treatise on architecture, states that the sthhoola or gross body comprises the following seven parts. Garbhagrham siraproktham antharaalam mukham thathha Accordingly the garbha-grha corresponds to the head of the deity, the anthar-mandala (the inner square where bali-peethas of Devathas are located) His face, the namaskaara-madapa (where vedic chanting is done) His throat or neck, the inner pradakshina-vazhi and naalambalam together (inclusive of yaagasaala, Thitappalli etc which is known as antha-haara) His hands, the vilakkumaatam and area within the outer balikkallu (also known as madhya-haara) His belly, the maryaada or outerwall as knees and ankles and the gopura His feet. In short, every space within the maryaada (outer-wall) of the temple forms part of the sthhoola (gross body) of the principal deity. The sookshma or subtle body concept, which is related to the idol, is based on aadhaara chakras mentioned in yogic literature. To quote Sir John Woodroffe72 the life force or praana-sakthi operates in the gross human body through the nervous' system whose central axis is the spinal column beginning from the base of the brain to the bottom of the body situated midway between the perinaeum, between the root of the genitals and the anus'. In this spinal column our yogic ancestors discovered six centres almost corresponding to the nervous plexuses from where all the conscious and unconscious activities originate and proceed. The base or the first plexus situated at the bottom of the body is called moolaadhara or root support'. Sir John Woodroffe continues' Above it in the origin of genitals, abdomen, heart, chest or throat and in the fore-head between two eyes (bhroo-madhya) are the adhishtaana,manipooraka, anaahatha, visuddhi and aajna chakras or lotuses (padmas) respectively The chakras are centres of sakthi as vital force. In other words they are centres of praana-sakthi manifested by praana-vaayu in the living body, the presiding Devathas of which are names for the universal consciousness as it manifests in the form of those centres73. (also refer foot-note 107). The positions of these chakras 74 are depicted in Diagram 19.
At the time of consecrating an idol this is put in practice in the form shadaadhaara-prathishta. This type of prathishta has six main component units ie, one above the other known as aadhara-sila (foundation stone), nidhi-kurhbas (treasure vessels), padma (lotus), koorma (tortoise), yoga-naala (an empty copper tube) and napumsaka-sila (stone of neutral quality). The idol of the deity is installed above the napumsaka-sila. The measurements of shadaadhaara are related to the height of the praasaada ie. the height from the basement to vaarotthara. Brief descriptions and salient features on the six units of shadaadhaara-prathishta are as follows:
For Gods the sila of the peetha is of female principle and for Goddesses the sila is of male principle (also see paragraph 4.10). Generally there is only a single padma with koorma made up of granite. In exceptional cases instead of one set of padma and koorma made up of granite stone there may be two similar sets, one over the other, made up of silver and gold. Diagram 20 gives details on shadaadhaara-prathishta. Above the shadhaadhaara mentioned above there are peethas of the idol and the idol itself. However the structure of the temple has significance only when there is an idol, either swayambhoo (self-revealed) or installed and this aspect is covered in the next chapter.
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