Namaste friends, I am Akanksha and today I
am going to discuss the significance of HIndu
Temples in Sanatan Dharm.
A Hindu temple is
also known as mandir, devaalay or Devastan
which means place where God resides. The key
purpose of a Mandir is to bring God and Humans
together, whether it’s through education,
art and culture or as powerful energy centers.
Temples are supposed to be a universe in itself,
a mini replica of God’s creation, reminding
us of God’s presence on Earth and our responsibilities
towards Dharm.
This is the reason why Mandirs are constructed
by following detailed guidelines from shastras
such as vastu and shilpa shashtras. They are
strategically built at a place where the positive
energy is abundantly available from the magnetic
and electric wave distributions of north/south
Murti sthapana and Pran pratiksha are done with
careful considerations to ensure purity and
power of the temple.
The main idol is placed in the core centre
of the temple which is known as the Garbhagriha
or Moolsthanam. The Garbhgriha is the place
where the earth's magnetic waves are found
to be at the maximum. A pot made of 5 metals
used to be placed beneath the idol which helps
absorbs the Earth's magnetic waves and radiate
it to the surroundings. The main deity is
then charged with life breath which is called
pran pratishtha or consecration. After this,
the murthi becomes a living incarnation of
the bhagwan itself.
After offering prayers, it is customary to
go around the idol at least thrice. This practice
is known as parikrama or pradakshina. When
you perform a parikrama around the murti,
you get charged up with all the positive energies
radiating from it.
There is a science behind temple bells as
well. Temple bells are made up of several
metals. When the bell is rung, each metal
produces a distinct sound that creates unity
of your left and right brain. The echo of
the sound from the bell touches your seven
healing centres or chakras of the body. So,
the moment the bell is rung, your brain becomes
extremely receptive and aware.
As we all know, energy can neither be created
nor destroyed. It can only be transferred
from one body to another. Temples do the same
for us. They transfer the positive energies
from the Devta to the devotee. That is why
it is encouraged to not only start your day
at the temple, but to sit there for a while
in order to absorb the positivity, increase
concentration, calm the mind and improve your
connection with Bhagwan
As everything else in Sanatan Dharm, Temples
also have a deeper spiritual meaning behind
them. The temple building represents the body
of the deity or the materiality or Nature
(Prakriti), while the devta in the garbhgriha
of the temple represents its soul or the Supreme
Self. The outer walls of the temples and the
gateway towers contain numerous images and
statues, representing the diversity, color
and noise of the external world. However,
as one progresses from the temple gates into
the Garbh Griha, one can see increasing evidence
of simplicity and calmness. The same is true
with our lives. We experience restlessness
when we engage our minds with the diversity
of the external world, but when we start looking
inwards we experience peace.
