Unseen Temples of India – Legacy and Narrative – Part 1
Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh has an important landmark, as important to get printed on our currency notes. The Buddhist stupa of Sanchi stands on top of a modest hill. This monument is dated to third century BCE and is built by Mauryan king Ashoka and enhanced by Shunga rulers thereafter. The same hill has several other building structures. And one of them is predecessor to the long tradition of temple building!
A tradition that spanned across the subcontinent geographically and chronologically both!
1 Sanchi Temple 17
This earliest temple standing today is Sanchi monument 17, a simple structure with pillars and a flat roof. As per experts, this is the earliest form of Indian Temple in the illustrious star-studded tradition, and one of the first to dot this land! Similar early temples are found in the vicinity, Nachana Kuthara, Bhumra in MP and Deogarh in UP are some examples of early temple building.
The simplistic nature of these early temples stands out when compared to majestic Brihadishwar temple of Tanjore or the ornate Khajuraho group of temples.
The experts have placed these early temples in fifth century CE and assumed, that they are built in Gupta era [ R1 ] . Gupta kings ruled over large territory in ancient India from their Pataliputra capital and were followers of Vaidik religion.
We do see several carved caves in Sahyadri, Vindhya and other mountain ranges in India which are dated as early as Second century BCE e.g Bhaje caves. However structural temples are free standing, constructed, not carved and not monolithic. Architecturally a structural temple construction can be assumed to be next level to monolithic cave carvings.
The Gupta era temples, ‘the first temples’ found primarily in central India are dated between Fifth-Seventh century CE.
Now does this mean that the Indians started idol worship during that time. Does it mean that this was beginning of creating a place called temple, for social and public purpose?
Idols are symbols of divinity. They are depicted in human forms, characterising the deity they represent. Idols can be temporary. They are created for a specific purpose and some of them are dissolved or submerged after the purpose or ritual is over. Such idols could be primitive, perishable.
The Earliest textual references for idols can be found in Rigved, the oldest scripture of India. ‘Will someone buy my Indra’ is what a man is asking in one of the Sukta. Scholars think that ‘Indra’ here refers to either idol or symbol of the deity and indicates a practice where idol can be purchased.
[ R2 ] There could be a tradition by which idols of clay or wood were created, installed, and prayed and later released back to nature, similar to Ganpati festival and its rituals prevalent even today. Mauryan era ( 300-200 BCE) has several excavated artefacts which are labelled as mother figures, earthen idols, probably created for similar purpose.
Idols can be permanent too. They could be installed, they would be more elaborate, more ornate , made from material such as stone or metal for durability. Such idols could find a place permanently in homes or public places.
Archaeological Survey of India has discovered several idols till now which represent last many years of existence of Indian civilization. Sindhu-Saraswati valley cultures (Harappa Civilization) have come up with several figurines and shapes similar to Shivalinga. Excavations of later periods such as at Mathura, have continued discovering idols of Buddha, Mahaveer, Vishnu and Durga. A very recent excavation has uncovered a largest Bhu-Varaha sculpture depicting an avatar of Vishnu, on a face of hill, along with several temples in grassy Ranthambore forest. [R3]
Purpose of such idols cannot be determined by archelogy alone, but it has to be discovered and interpreted through proper reading of scriptures, old texts, folklores and ongoing traditions in practice.
Text references of Deities
Vedic literature right from Rigved and Atharvaved is replete with references of deities and their worship.
Ashtadhyayi is a text by Panini, one of the celebrated Sanskrit grammarians. Ashtadhyayi, mentions worship of ‘arcas’ (अर्च पूजायाम्) implying idols, along with mentions of Rudra and Vasudev. [ R4 ] Sage Panini is dated in 500 BC by mainstream historians.
Such permanent idols must have given rise to concept of temple. A permanent home for idols to be worshipped, a common public place for all devotees to come together. A place that resonates with the nature of idol, a location that can impart sacredness to the premise.
Text references of temples
Just look around for a confluence of rivers, edge of a seashore, a mountain peak, a perfect meditative spot in the middle of jungle and you are bound to find the presence of divine and it is enshrined with a temple.
Temples are abodes of deities and deities are higher beings but still one of us. Hence it is not surprising to find temples on the busy banks of rivers, leading up the steps from the flowing water, or at the end of widest of the road, and almost always a town settles around it. Temples are pre-planned too, sometimes as a mark of new beginnings, in a newly built fort or in a new settlement to bless the people and the surroundings.
Going back in time, we find several references about temples and deities residing in them in ancient texts available to us. Apart from Vedic texts, Mahabharat, Ramayan and Puranas along with several other texts mention a flourishing temple tradition of their time. [ R5 ]
· Patanjali who wrote the ‘Mahabhashya’ , a commentary on Panini’s work, extensively describes temples of Kuber, Rama and Kesava as reverberating with dance, music and rituals. Patanjali is dated in second century BC.
· Arthshastra by Kautilya has reference of temples to be administered implying that building temples and maintaining them has already been a tradition. Kautilya's Arthashastra from 4th Century BC describes a city of temples, each enshrining various Vedic and Puranic deities. Kautilya also suggests punishments for thieves stealing deities or donations given to them.
· Valmiki Ramayan mentions temples in Koshala which are adorned with music playing there during special occasions. Valmiki Ramayan is supposed to have been compiled between 200 BCE and 200 CE
· Gatha Saptashati by king Hal Satwavahan is a collection of poems composed around start of first millennium. These simple and lyrical poems mention temples as ‘Deul’ or ‘Devalay’. The temples in Gatha provide shelter to travellers. They are sometimes outside the village and one gatha mentions a ruined temple too. [ R6 ]
· The trio of ancient architectural mega texts comprising of ‘Mansar’, Maymat’ and ‘Samrangan Sutradhar’ discuss about different types of temples along with other topics. As per these texts a ‘Rajdhani’, should have a Vishnu temple in the west of the city and Shiva temple to northeast ‘Ishanya’ of the city. All these texts are supposed to be created over long period of time ranging from First century to Seventh century CE
· Rajtarangini, the famous historical account of Kashmir mentions that Ashoka’s son Jallok built temple in Srinagar, Kashmir. Ashoka’s reign is dated in the third century BC. [ R7 ]
· The Seventh century Chinese pilgrim Huen Tsang reports visiting several places and mentions temples, sometimes in hundreds at various places from Kashmir to Kanyakumari on his pilgrim path throughout India. [ R8 ]
· Several current temple sites in India have undergone reconstruction and rebuilding on the same site and boast a location history going back to thousands of years. This is primarily to preserve the location sanctity for the deity which is installed at a particular location. Arunachaleshwar temple at Thiruvannamalai representing Fire element is mentioned in ancient Tamil works of scholars such as Nakkirar (1st century BCE to 1st century CE), Kapilar and Paranar (125 to 225 CE). The current structure of the temple is attributed to Chola period.
All these scriptural records strongly back the tradition of temples in Indian subcontinent.
As per mainstream dating of various texts, the earliest references clearly come from 400 BCE to say the least.
References
[R1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nachna_Hindu_temples#:~:text=Their%20dating%20is%20uncertain%2C%20but,style%20of%20Hindu%20temple%20architecture.
[R2] Rigved
[ R3] https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/bhopal-news/asi-explores-100-archeological-remains-in-mp-s-bandhavgarh-tiger-reserve-101664375767491.html
[R4] Ashtadhyayi -Panini https://ashtadhyayi.com/dhatu/01.0232
[ R5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_temple
[ R6 ] Gatha Saptashati
[ R7 ] Rajtarangini by Kalhana - https://archive.org/stream/RajataranginiOfKalhana-English-JogeshChunderDuttVolumes12/Rajatarangini-JogeshChunderDuttVol2_djvu.txt
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