Hindu Temples

A Mandir is a Hindu temple. It is usually dedicated to a primary deity, called the presiding deity, and other deities associated with the main deity. (In the US though, most mandirs are dedicated to multiple deities.) Most practising Hindus maintain a mandir in their homes for daily worship and meditation. Mandir - Prana Pratishta. Prana Pratishta is the ceremony to invoke the divine spirit/energy into the statue made in God's form. Once this ceremony has been performed the murti (or 'icon' NOT 'idol ...

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Read more here: » Mandir: Encyclopedia - Mandir

Hindu Temples: Encyclopedia - Sai Baba of Shirdi

Sai Baba of Shirdi or Shirdi Sai Baba (c. September 27, 1838 - October 15, 1918), born under an unknown name, was an Indian guru and fakir, who is regarded by his Hindu and Muslim followers as a saint. A walking example of religious and communal harmony, Sai Baba lived in a mosque, was buried in a mandir (Hindu temple), embraced several Hindu and Muslim practices and spoke in a language that dre ...

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Hindu Temples: Encyclopedia - Alandi

Alandi (18°40′12″N, 73°54′00″E) is a town on the banks of the Indrayani River, 25 km east of Pune, India. Saint Dnyaneshwar (Gyaneshwar), after translating the Bhagavad Gita into Marathi attained Samadhi in a cave at Alandi. Alandi is thus a place of pilgrimage and venerated by Hindu sects. A temple complex has been built near the spot of Sant Dnyaneshwar's samadhi. It is visited by thousands of pilgrims, ...

Read more here: » Alandi: Encyclopedia - Alandi

Hindu Temples: Encyclopedia - Chitrakoot

Chitrakoot is a religious town in the Bundelkhand region of central India, notable for the number of its temples and sites from Hindu mythology. It is now a separate district. It attracts huge crowds throughout the year for occasions including 'Amavasya' and Free Eye Hospital Camps. Noted 'Ayurvedic' and 'Yoga' centres like 'Arogyadham' are located in the district. ...

Hindu Temples: Encyclopedia - Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat (or Angkor Vat) is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built for king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. The largest and best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre—first Hindu, then Buddhist—since its foundation. The temple is the epitome of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and i ...

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Hindu Temples: Encyclopedia - Nathdwara

Nathdwara is a town in Rajasthan state of western India. It is located on the Banas River in Rajsamand District, 48 km north of Udaipur. This holy town is famous for its temple of Krishna which houses the Shrinathji, a 12th century image (murti) of Krishna. The idol was moved in the 17th century from Govardhana Hill, near Mathura, to protect it from the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's campaign against Hindu worship in his empire. The Haveli of Shrinathji (as the temple is called), was once a roy ...

Hindu Temples: Encyclopedia II - Indian architecture - The Hindu Temples

The reference to temples in literature go back early with Panini (520 BC - 460 BC) and Patanjali mentioning temples which were called prasadas. Early beginnings of Hindu temple architecture have been traced to the remains at Aihole and Pattadakal in present day Karnataka, and have Vedic altars and late Vedic temples as described by Panini as models. Later, as more differentiation took place, the Dravidian/ Southern style and or the Indo-Aryan/ Northern/ Nagara style of temple architecture emerged as dominant modes, epitomised in produ ...

Hindu Temples: Hindu - Hinduism Dictionary on Temple

temple: An edice in a consecrated place dedicated to the worship of God or the Gods. From the Latin templum, "temple, sanctuary; marked space."

Hindu temples, over one million worldwide, are revered as sacred, magical places in which the three worlds most consciously commune - structures especially built and consecrated to channel the subtle spiritual energies of inner-world beings.

The temple's psychic atmosphere is maintained through regular worship ceremonies (puja) invoking the Deity, who uses His installed image (murti) as a temporary body to bless those living on the earth plane. In Hinduism, the temple is the hub of virtually all aspects of social and religious life. It may be referred to by the Sanskrit terms mandira, devalaya (or Sivalaya, a Siva temple), as well as by vernacular terms such as koyil (Tamil).

See: garbhagriha, darshana, mandapa, pradakshina, sound, teradi, tirthayatra.

(See also: Temple, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)