Questions tagged [temple]
A temple is a place and structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer, worship and sacrifice, or analogous rites.
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Are persons from lower castes allowed inside temples according to agama shastras?
In the pre partitioned era some temples placed ban on lower castes entering temples. Is there any basis for this prohibition in the agama shastras?
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What is the scriptural source of the DHYANA SLOKA of Sri Padmanabha Swami?
What is the scriptural source of the dhyana sloka of Padmanabha Swami as shown in the enclosed image?
Why is Shiva shown in Linga Form and not in His original form while all other deities are in ...
user17294
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Why are currency notes kept in the hand of Varanasi Annapurna?
The Golden Annapurna of Varanasi is seen to hold currency notes in the pot in Her left hand.
Mother Annapurna according to the dhyana-sloka is known to hold a pot of rice. Why are then currency notes ...
user17294
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What is the agama/tantra being followed at the Sri Krishna temple at Guruvayur in Kerala?
When were the rituals in Sri Krishna temple at Guruvayur, Kerala standardized to current form? Who was responsible for that? Which agamas/tantras are followed in the temple while performing rituals to ...
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How did Tulukka Nachiyar become Ranganatha's consort at Srirangam temple?
https://navrangindia.blogspot.in/2015/11/sri-ranganathar-and-his-muslim-consort.html
Lord Ranganatha Swamy appeared in the chief priest' dreams and
pronounced that he had now taken Surathani (...
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Did Krishna interact with any foxes in Vrindavana?
The Sarva Siddhanta Sangraha is a work by the Advaita philosopher Adi Shankaracharya describing the views of various schools of Indian philosophy which existed in his time. One of the schools he ...
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Finding a local temple in USA
I live in the NE USA. There are many temples and shrines near where I live. The problem is that all of them were founded by immigrants from India. Therefore, they exist to serve their communities.
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What is the significance of amritaghateshwara temple?
The.famous temple of abirami (goddess)-amrita ghateshwara (shiva) at Tirukkadiyur has an interesting fact that it also contains Lord Vishnu temple alongside. It has many miraculous and special stories ...
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What is the complete shloka on marriage ages written in new Vishvnath temple, Varanasi
In 2013-14, I visited new Vishvnath temple (in BHU), Varanasi. Inside temple, many shlokas are written on its wall. One of them states the suiatable age of marriage, I remember only few words from it:...
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Which of the Divyadesam Sthala are presided by Vishnu's Varaha AvatAram?
Divya Desam are the group of Vishnu sthalam that are revered by Azhwargal in their spontaneous divine poetry - the Naalayira Divya Prabhandam. This collection of poetry was collated by Nathamuni, an ...
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Is the Vamana deity in Thirukoilur considered an incarnation of Krishna?
I'm currently visiting India, and I just went to the Ulagalantha Perumal Vamana temple in Thirukoilur. It's most famous for being the "Naalayira Divya Prabandha Avatara Sthalam", meaning the ...
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What is the importance of Dhwajasthamba in any of the temples that we go?
It is said to be the respect that the King Mayura Dhwaja has earned by donating his complete left half of his body to Lord Sri Krishna in one of his leelas?
Is that the reason why we need to pray to ...
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What scriptures describe night being caused by mount Meru?
Lalla's Shishyavriddhida Tantra is a Hindu astronomical work dating to the 8th century. In this chapter of the Shishyavriddhida Tantra, Lalla attempts to refute various astronomical theories he ...
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Small Carvings and statues in pillars in temples
If we observe in ancient temples there are lot of carvings and statues comprising animals, flowers, hanuman, vinayaga, brahmahathi etc in pillars. Further ancient man and woman in different poses can ...
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Thousand Pillars Mantap in Ranganatha temple, Sri Rangam
In Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple there is a 1000 pillared mantap. It is said that a Chola king built this overnight as per the order of the God. In total how many pillars are there and any ...
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Kaal Bhairav idol vs Hanuman idol in Goddess temples
I have seen that at some temples especially of Mother Paravati, there are statues of Kaal Bhairav whereas in others there are statues of Hanumanji. Why is this difference?
Is it because the shakti ...
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Sculptures on the Hindu temples of the Ajanta and Ellora caves
The Ajanta caves have temples in the range of a 100 kms which have many Hindu temples. (There are Jain and Buddhist temples too).
The Ellora caves also have a lot of Hindu temples, greater in ...
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Why did Thirumazhisai Alwar never sing about the Thirumazhisai Jagannath temple?
I just came back from a trip to India, and one of the temples I visited was the Madhya Jagannatha Vishnu temple in Thirumazhisai. Most people only know about the Jagannatha temple in Puri (which I ...
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Significance of Palliyarai Pooja
I have been to Shiva Temples and attended the Palliyarai Pooja. Recently, in Tiruchendur Murugan Temple also, i attended. What is the significance of Palliyarai Pooja?
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Can a building be constructed over a temple?
My question is whether a building (with rooms and bathrooms), for residential/commercial use can be built over an existing temple.
Such a building is under construction at Jaipur.
Is it permissible?
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Ateshgah of Baku, Azerbaijan - A Shakthi Peetha in Central Asia?
It has been established that Ateshgah temple in Baku, Azerbaijan is indeed a Hindu temple and not a Zoroastrian temple with discovery of Sanskrit inscriptions praising Lord Shiva and Lord Ganesha as ...
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Did the people of Srirangam really fight a war ?
I've heard from my grandmother that there was a war fought by the people of srirangam most of whom are Iyengars to get the idol of the srirangam temple deity from the Delhi sultan. I know that there ...
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Why is Panguni Revati considered the "birthday" of Vishnu's Ranganatha form?
As I discuss in this answer, the oldest Vishnu statue in the world, and probably the oldest Hindu statue in the world period, is the famous Ranganatha statue in Sri Rangam. The story of Ranganatha ...
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How and when are idols cleaned in temples?
I saw many time idols are getting cleaned by priests.
My question are:
What is used to cleanup the idols?
Just water or something else?
Is there any timing for cleaning?
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What is the reason for whispering a wish in God's ear?
We often see people whispering in a deity's ear like in the image below:
Normally, when we visit the temple we simply close our eyes and pray or tell our wish to God. But some people do the above ...
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Purapedda shanthi
In Kerala temples like ananthapadmanabha, guruvayoor etc, there was a parapadda shanthi systems - where the priests we're forbidden to go outside the temple complex during the term. Even if it was ...
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Tulu temple priests in kerala
Though Kerala was sankaracharyas bhoomi, many priests in temples earlier we're selected from madhwa tulu lands. These were directly done by rajas of cochin and travancore including many temples in ...
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Status of different deities in temples
The Wiki article on Ganesa says.
In Hindu temples, Ganesha is depicted in various ways: as a subordinate deity (pãrśva-devatã); as a deity related to the principal deity (parivāra-devatã); or as the ...
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Leaving keel shanthi post
There are many posts in temple - melshanthi, keelshanthi, brahmavahaka, tantri etc. It is said temple wud have given them umbuli land sealing a karanmai relationship that is serving the God till there ...
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Is this true that Radha created the Mayapur Dham?
If you go by the ISKCON, Sridham Mayapur was created by Sri Radha. Here are the references (1, 2) from ISKCON. In favour of their claim, they have cited a text known as Ananta Samhita. However, the ...
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What is the difference for a Mandir to be erected on the left bank vs right bank of a river?
What is the difference for a Mandir to be erected on the left bank vs right bank of a river?
Is it related to the Deity, or perhaps to the place?
Do the Vedas, Upanishads or various Agamas prescribe ...
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mathura Krushna janmbhumi mandir references
mathura Krushna janmbhumi mandir references plz provident me
the krushna mandir in mathura was half destroyed by outsiders.
Can i get some reference from shastras about the ancients temple and place ...
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Does the Puranas and Agamas give any remarks on what type of bodies should oversee temples?
In India, to my understanding, temples are mostly overseen by Government agencies, and due to this, the culture surrounding the temple has changed a lot. See for example the Sabrimala case of the ...
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Questions relating to shakti peetha--matabajreshwari temple in Kangra
There are some legends that there is a mysterious rock which would radiate lights during nights in old Kangra town, I wonder if this shakti pitha was located on a huge rock?
According to some legends,...
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Why are only temples of Lord Shiva open,even during eclipse?
The following sentence was seen in Quora(If the reader wants,I can give the link)
“Only Lord Shiva temples kept open During Solar , moon Eclipse, beacause nothing can effect lord Shiva , beacause lord ...
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Why is lord hanuman worshipped in the form of stone, side faced & not in form of photo?
In many temples, we see lord hanuman carved on a big stone covered with sindoor and Hanuman facing sided. Why there won't be his vigraha just like other gods? Is there any story behind his side ...
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Are pornographic sculptures part of sanatan dharma?
I stay in a small town in west bengal, india, I found a temple ruin/old temple of very low archeological importance which had orgy position. if you need will upload photos.
My question is since many ...
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Why does Lord Vishnu also wear Yajnopaveeta in temples?
Yajnopaveeta should be worn for doing vedic rituals. Why is it that Lord Vishnu is also adorned with yajnopaveeta in temples?
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How to worship in temples? Please explain in context of human body as temple
We know temples are a representation of human body. Please explain how one must approach each part of temple and worship it for ones progress.
For eg one prostrates at the flagpost of temple because ...
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Visiting other temples after visiting Sri Kalahasti Temple
Is it true that you are not supposed to visit other temples after visiting Sri Kalahasti Temple in India?
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Do shastras sanction displaying idols of Hindu Gods as landscaping?
This Tripadvisor link shows idols of Lord Shiva & Goddess Parvati used as landscaping at a Swaminarayan Temple.
(This photo of Shree Swaminarayan Temple Bhuj is courtesy of TripAdvisor)
A ...
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Is there any mention in the scriptures that every God has to have a temple of his/her own?
Is there any mention in the scriptures that every God has to have a temple of his/her own? I'm asking this because the number of temples have increased by a very large number in the past few years.
user13497
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Was one of Uyyakondar's shishyas a relative of Nathamuni?
The Alwars (also spelled Azhwars) are a group of 12 ancient Vaishnava saints who lived in Tamil Nadu and are famous for their poetry in praise of Vishnu. The 4000 verses of the Alwars were compiled by ...
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What does monkey and eagle/pigeon signify here?
I recently went for a Kerala trip and saw this lamp:
So does these sculptures on the lamp mean something? Do they signify something?
Also this is my first question, so apologies if question is not ...
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Can we offer prayer at a different location than the original place where we intended to?
I have prayed to offer pooja at Kukke Subrayamaniya temple (Karnataka) but due to some reason I could not go there and offer my prayers. I want to know if I can offer the same prayer at Katte ...
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Where do the scriptures mention Ashtvinayak temples?
Ashtvinayak are eight holy self made (Swayambhu) idols of Lord Ganesh. All of them are in Maharashtra, namely Chintamani, Siddhivinayak, Vigneshwar, Ballaleshwar, Varad vinayaq, Mahaganpati, ...
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Do any temple deities wear unusual attires and is there a sthalapurana behind that?
For example, I recall the religious/political speaker Rangaraj Pande say that the Vishnu
idol at Srivilliputtur wears pants.
Are there other idols which are dressed unusually either seasonally or ...
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What is the source of Eleven promises of Sai Baba
11 promises of Sai baba are famous as Sai ke 11 vachan. But where is it mentioned in Sai Sachharitra? Which Chapter includes it? If it is not present in Sai Sachharitra, then where did it come from?
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Is there a tradition that one shouldn't prostrate to humans within the premises of a temple?
I have heard this from temple priests. Is that considered disrespect to the deities consecrated at the temple?
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How is the main deity at an ISKCON temple chosen?
For example, at the ISKCON London temple, the principal dieties are Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa according to their website.
About the Deities
On the right-hand side of the shrine, you will see Radha-...
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