Indian Temples

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The Indian Temple is a unique institution and its development from almost the fifth century A.D. onwards is a fascinating tale. It furnishes material for reconstructing the religious history of India and also casts a spell on the student of art and architecture. It is in the temple abode of the God that the beauty and sublimity of divine experience meet so as to create a feeling of ananda (unalloyed joy). The function of the temple is to facilitate the union between the living being (Jiva) and the universal spiritual ground (Brahman) personified in the anthropomorphic God whose dwelling is in the temple. The temple was the spiritual centre from which religious and social life was regulated.

Styles of temples throughout India have been discussed. Nagara, Vesara and Dravida temples have explained. Temples from Jammu and Kashmir to Kerala have been described. But to appreciate Indian art to the full, one must study the temples that Indian ideas and local genius built in Greater India which was renamed as South-east Asia after the II World War in 1945. Angkor Wat in Cambodia the great Hindu complex of Brambanan in Java (Indonesia,) Ayutthya in Thailand, three groups of temples in Vietnam, Hindu-Buddhist temples in Bali (Indonesia) where Siva and Buddha are considered brothers!, Myanmar having more than 2000 red brick temples and monuments in the city of Pagan, etc. are the examples of Indian art in Greater India which students of art and architecture should study to understand Indian art to the full. This book will be useful to foreign and Indian tourists, general readers, professional and students.

Amar Nath Khanna is a senior archaeologist who was trained in the School (now Institute) of Archaeology, Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi. Shri Khanna has had the rare opportunity of visiting and studying temples and monuments scattered all over the Indian sub-continent as well as in South-East Asia, China and Japan during the last six decades. He retired as Senior Technical Officer, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in 1996 while earlier he had been working as a Senior Officer with the President of India. In 1998, he was invited again by Shri R. Venkataraman, former President of India, to work with him even after retirement. He had been the Registering Officer for Antiquities in Himachal Pradesh and headed Registration work in all the 12 districts of the State. He was associated with Shri Rajeev Sethi, Padma Bhushan, in the Aditi Exhibition curated by him in the Festival of India, USA, the Basic Human Needs Pavilion set up in Expo 2000, Hanover, Germany, and Celebration of 150 years of the First War of Independence, 1857, in 2007. He was associated with Smt. Pupul Jayakar, Adviser to Prime Minister on Heritage and Cultural Resources, in the Festivals of India held in the USA and Japan and the Year of India in France. He was a Member of the Presidential Delegations to Japan in 1990 and China in 1992.

Shri Khanna's book Archaeology of India from its beginnings to 2013 was published in 2014 and its earlier editions were highly appreciated among others by the President of India, Dr. Karl Khandalavala, Prof. A. Ghosh Prof. M.N. Deshpande, Shri B.K. Thapar, Dr. Debala Mitra, Shri M.C. Joshi and Dr. B.R. Mani. His book Pilgrim Shrines of India, published in 2003, has won appreciation of H.H. the Jagadguru Shri Shankaracharya, Dakshin Aamnaya, Sringeri. Shri Khanna has also edited six books, the latest being The Diverse World of Indian Painting, New Delhi, 2008, Shri Khanna's research papers have been published in leading journals in India. Currently, Shri Khanna is Secretary, Indo-Tibetan Art & Culture Study Group, New Delhi, and Founder Member, Rasaja Foundation, New Delhi. He is Life Member of Indian Archaeological Society, New Delhi.

The Indian temple is a unique institution and its development from almost the fifth century A.D. onwards is a fascinating tale. It furnishes material for reconstructing the religious history of India and also casts a spell on the student of art and architecture. It is in the temple, abode of the Lord that beauty and sublimity of divine experience meet so as to create a feeling of ananda (unmixed joy). The function of the temple is to facilitate the union between the living being (jiva) and the universal spiritual ground (Brahman) personified in the anthropomorphic god whose dwelling is in the temple. The temple was the spiritual centre from which religious and social life was regulated.

Styles of temples throughout India have been discussed. Indians had built astonishing monuments in India and Greater India (now called South-East Asia) and to appreciate Indian art to the full, one must study Hindu and Buddhist Monuments and Remains in South-East Asia, New Delhi, 2008, by this author. Some topics and references in this book have been taken from my earlier book Pilgrims Shrines of India, New Delhi-2003. I am grateful to Shri Narayan Vyas for going through the manuscript and making some additions. I am also thankful to Shri Gopal Singh for typing the manuscript accurately.

All drawings and photographs in the book are published by courtesy of the Archaeological Survey of India for which I am grateful to the Survey. Some photographs of Chamba's heritage have been made available by my dear friend Shri Vijay Sharma, Padma Shri awardee artist-researcher, Bhuri Singh Museum, Chamba, for which I am thankful to him.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages