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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 individual’s attempt at reaching spiritual heights. When a person walks
in the direction of a temple, the person’s 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, sativika, or rajasa);
however, none of these gunas defines the
individual entirely. To find one’s 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 God’s 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
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