dec 9th
as usual, prof kak is scholarly, eye-opening, and scientific in his writing.
axis of the temple: reminds one of the 'axis mundi' and the story of the infinite pillar of flame that brahma and vishnu both attempted to measure.
prof kak once told me that the principles of temple building have been forgotten by hindus, so that we are now forced to simply replicate existing temples. if the first principles are figured out, and i think he takes a cut at it, it will be possible to build new temples in the latest architectural styles and in ways most suited to the climate and location, rather than cookie-cutter copies. most intriguing idea.
vedic fire-altars in the shape of the falcon existed until recently in the old illams or family manors of nambudiris in kerala, who were perhaps the most conservative of the brahmins of india, conservative in the sense of conservation of tradition as well. as a result of land refore in kerala, the nambudiris were totally impoverished in the space of about 10 years, and many of them had to sell their family homes, and the fire altars therein were lost for ever. as was the knowledge of the great yagas they performed. a great loss indeed, but of course nobody is bothered about indigenous knowledge systems.
there is a monumental book published by motilal banarasidass (including audio of the chanting), recording the last performed agnicayana yaga a few years ago in kerala: http://www.biblio.com/isbn/8120816609.html
http://www.ece.lsu.edu/kak/axistemple.pdf
7 comments:
Rajeev, you are right about the general loss of indigenous knowledge. But there are still some people who practice their ancestral professions. For instance, I have personally met this great man, Ganapathi Stapathi from Tamil Nadu, whose caste and profession belong to that of temple builders or 'Stapathi'. He is very famous and I think he is in his 70's. He has travelled a lot all over the world, and contructed many temples in India and abroad, including the US, based on traditional knowledge. He has also been to South America, and he says that the ancient Inca, Maya and other American Indian ruins of their temples exactly confirm to our own system of temple building. He uses a special measurement/metric system for temple construction called 'Deva-Angulam' meaning 'finger of Gods' literally. He says that temple ruins in South America confirm to this 'Deva-Angulam' principle. Amazing. Just thought I will share what little I know of that subject.
I do not know if I placed my comment at the right place. Excuse me if I positioned it wrong.
Here was something related to ignoring indigenous temples / traditions, thought I will place my comment here.
This is about Tirupati.
Recently visited India and made a vist to the famed Tirumal temple in AP. I visited this from Bangalore my home town. There is a tax imposed on all tourist vehicles that enter Andhra (even if the operators have the so called All India Permit.) This is a single entry levy so an operator cannnot use the permit from one trip in another trip. Needles to say the tour operator passes this burden to the traveller. So it is actually a tax on the traveller. The tax of about Rs. 4,000 is affordable by me. But that is besides the point. why do we tax hindu pilgrims? With the state of govt run buses and their considerable cost, it is advantageous for families to go by twelve seater tour vehicles. On the face of it this appears to be a secular economic decision. But honestly why would someone from Bangalore, normally visit Tirupati if not on pilgrimage. Why are we doing this with the most popular hindu pilgrim spots? Knowing well that many devotees consider the cost of the pilgrimage as an offering to the Lord, Is this a quiet secular way to tap into the Lord's offerings? If this can happen to Tirupati one shudders to think about the temples that are in direct control of the Govt.
I only remind the lord, the bhaktavatsala himself, dharma sanstha panarthaaya sambhavaami yuge yuge. Please come soon.
Dear Anon,
Didn't you know Halal Biriyani and subsidies for Hajj belong to muslims alone in India? Hindus should meekly follow 'Ahimsa' and just accept their fate.
I recently read a very interesting book on the architecture of the temples at Hampi. The whole city was very geometrically designed, even though it's not very obvious looking at the structures from the ground. The book is called "New Light on Hampi," written by an American archeologist. He lead a team to Hampi and studied that place for about 10 years, I think. Some of the findings from the survey are quite interesting. This is one of the best books on Hampi architecture. The principles used in Hampi probably apply to a lot of other temples in South India.
I'd like to learn more about Indian architecture before the Brits arrived. Does anybody have suggestions for good books?
AB,
You could ask our Kanchi Shankracharyas, to suggest some books on
'Shilpa Shastram'.Or any learned Vedic
Scholar.
Ganapathi Sthapathi's son is in the same profession.Many of the *Sthapathis* live close to 'Swamimalai'.
Once,when some upstarts had called 'Thanjai Brihadeeswarar' temple tower,an accidental wonder(sic),Kanchi
Paramacharyar,had guided one of those in the panel(an Indian devotee) to an exact replica, which lay buried elsewhere.He also says 'Aztecs' of South America actually stands for 'Aasthics';the presence of same temple
architecture ceases to be a wonder when we realise Sanathana Dharmic way was the *universal* way of worshipping
worldwide,before disintegration set in.
Interestingly,deep inside inaccessible
area, in Peru, is an identical Hill similar to 'Holy Hill Thiruvannamalai', that Bhagavan Himself, has mentioned once!
Egypt too has tell tale ruins of ancient temples.In one of Madhu Kishwar's articles she has wisely pointed out, how Indian engineers and architects, have abandoned indigenous knowledge and slavishly follow the firangis.
Pennathur said,
As for all these connections between Mayan/Aztec temples and Hindu ones, in the ansence of any clear archealogical evidence these conclusions are empty speculation.
What absence of archaelogical evidence are you talking about, Pennathur? South America is full of it. All the American Indian temple ruins that you want to find. Kindly do some search on the internet, if not actually visiting those places.
As I mentioned before, one of the foremost experts(Ganapathi Stapathi) in the field has been to these places, and done all the measurements.
pennathur, kindly prove conclusively that these rituals do *not* in fact cause the gods to come down to the temples. then i'll bow to your superior wisdom.
otherwise, my karma just ran over your dogma :-)
as for the mayans and the aztecs, what you're talking about is what their enemies the spaniards claimed about them. spaniards claimed they were cannibals. well, guess what, the mayans and aztecs claimed the spaniards were cannibals. what does all this prove? not much, really other than routine demonization. (see also godman nikon).
for that matter, the christists were pretty good at inserting red-hot swords into vaginas, cutting off men's genitals and burning them in front of their eyes, dismembering little children in front of their parents, etc. what does that prove, either? read up on the goan inquisition.
why does your interjection remind me so strongly of the terms 'non sequiter' and 'red herring'?
it is a pretty well-accepted fact that there were nature-worshipping, goddess-worshipping faiths all over the world -- druids, mesoamericans, etc. -- before the semitics came 'thundering out of west asia in their chariots' (or whatever) and basically wiped them all out. it is also accepted that ancient civilizations had highly evolved astronomical ideas. it is also accepted that there were surprisingly long sea voyages and trade routes in the ancient world. the thor heyerdal and related research makes this clear. so why on earth are you so insistent that it is impossible that these cultures could have communicated with each other?
you may have certain theories. but when presented with new evidence, it is better if you change your mind rather than be a stubborn flat-earther.
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