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.
