Hindu Temples

Hindu Temples India - Despite worshipping the Gods being not limited to a particular place, the temples in Hindu religion still hold utmost importance. Considered to be an earthly abode of the Gods and Goddesses, the temples are the most sacred places for the Hindus. Although some of the branches of the religion strictly oppose this form of worship, temple worship still remains one of the main forms in Hinduism.

Commonly referred to as Archana, this form of worship incorporates offerings to be placed in front of the deity, lighted lamps to be shown and sacred hymns to be chanted in praise of the deity. Much similar to the way of worshipping the deities at home, temple worship is different in terms of the grandeur that accompanies it.

The idols of the deities are relatively larger in the temples and the offerings are in abundance. One more major difference between the temple and home worship is that at the temple, the offerings of the gods are distributed amongst the devotees as Prasadam.

Most of the Hindu temples share the same architectural styles consisting of an inner sanctum or the womb-chamber. Also known as the Garbhagriha, it is this chamber that houses the image of the God. There is a separate place for the circumambulation of the deity which has a congregation hall in front of it accompanied by an antechamber and porch. The Garbhagriha of these temples are crowned by a tower-like shikhara.

It is this shikhara that used to signal the proximity of a temple to the tourists in the past. Based on their architectural style, the Hindu temples are classified into two major types, namely, the Nagara style and Dravidian style of architecture. The former type of temples with a beehive shaped tower is mainly found in the Northern part of India. The latter is found in Southern temples with a tower in the shape of progressively smaller storey of pavilions.