A Temple is the central element in all aspects of everyday life for the Hindu community. To a Hindu, the temple is significant, not only for its religious elements, but also for the elements of culture, society and education that it brings to the community. Temples are an integral part in the life of any Hindu, whether he or she lives in Northern India, Southern India or even as far away as the United States. Hindu temples have been being built in India for thousands of years, and as is the case with any structure with such far-reaching boundaries of time and location, structural differences... Show more A Temple is the central element in all aspects of everyday life for the Hindu community. To a Hindu, the temple is significant, not only for its religious elements, but also for the elements of culture, society and education that it brings to the community. Temples are an integral part in the life of any Hindu, whether he or she lives in Northern India, Southern India or even as far away as the United States. Hindu temples have been being built in India for thousands of years, and as is the case with any structure with such far-reaching boundaries of time and location, structural differences will exist between the temples of different areas. The temple is an integral and essential part of the daily life of a Hindu and not merely a pretty building to look at and admire. To a Hindu the temple is the centre of the intellectual, artistic, spiritual, educational and social elements of their being. According to the scholar Anthony Batchelor, the temple 'is a place where God may be approached and where divine knowledge can be discovered'. For this reason, the 'temple is designed to dissolve the boundaries between man and the divine. Not merely his abode, the temple 'is' God. God, and therefore by implication, the whole universe, is identified with the temple's design and actual fabric'. The Hindu temple is a link between man and God, between man and divinity. This link between social and spiritual can be seen in the architecture of the temples which tries to link human beings to the divine. When building a Hindu temple, nothing is done arbitrarily or by chance. Show less
A Temple is the central element in all aspects of everyday life for the Hindu community. To a Hindu, the temple is significant, not only for its religious elements, but also for the elements of culture, society and education that it brings to the community.
Temples are an integral part in the life of any Hindu, whether he or she lives in Northern India, Southern India or even as far away as the United States. Hindu temples have been being built in India for thousands of years, and as is the case with any structure with such far-reaching boundaries of time and location, structural differences will exist between the temples of different areas.
The temple is an integral and essential part of the daily life of a Hindu and not merely a pretty building to look at and admire. To a Hindu the temple is the centre of the intellectual, artistic, spiritual, educational and social elements of their being. According to the scholar Anthony Batchelor, the temple 'is a place where God may be approached and where divine knowledge can be discovered'. For this reason, the 'temple is designed to dissolve the boundaries between man and the divine. Not merely his abode, the temple 'is' God. God, and therefore by implication, the whole universe, is identified with the temple's design and actual fabric'.
The Hindu temple is a link between man and God, between man and divinity. This link between social and spiritual can be seen in the architecture of the temples which tries to link human beings to the divine. When building a Hindu temple, nothing is done arbitrarily or by chance.
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