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CHAPTER-1
THE INDIAN CONCEPTION OF A TEMPLE
The conception of deities and their worship has a great antiquity in India The archaeological finds of the Indus civilization include a number of figurines indicative of image worship. The Vedic literature, which is the earliest known literary monument of India, contains hymns addressed to several deities, which supply some hints for their anthromorphical forms. But the beginning of the construction of temples cannot be definitely assigned to these protohistoric times.
The earliest known remains of sanctuaries enshrining objects of worship appear in the form of caitya-gļiha dating some centuries after the period of Gautama Buddha and Mahāvira Swami. In the beginning these religious creeds, especially Buddhism, showed a sort of aversion to representing the bodily form of the Buddha for worship, who was, therefore, worshipped through the stūpa, the Bodhi tree, and other symbols.
The tradition of constructing sanctuaries for enshrining the stūpa seems to have commenced after the end of the Mauryan period (c. 322 B. C.-185 B. C.) The Sunga period (c. B. C. 185c. 70 B. C. ) also marks the beginning of temples constructed for enshrining images of deities.
In course of time the Buddhist and Jains adopted the worship of the bodily form of the Buddhas and the Tirthankars and began to construct temples for their worship.
Now the temple generally represents a sacred building enshrining the image of a deity or an emancipated personage designated as a deity.
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