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The Introduction will discuss secondary writings on temples as a place for public worship of the deity which is done through several daily, monthly and annual rituals performed in different spaces in the temple complex. Moving away from the ethnographic and textual studies of Hindu rituals which focus on contemporary ritual praxis, this chapter examines temple rituals in a historical context within the different spaces in the temple precinct such as the various tanks, courtyards and mandapas. The chapter also examines the changing context of temple rituals by studying the materiality of temple spaces and argues how the temple complex itself was organized and renovated to accommodate the varied rituals. The chapter will finally explore how through the practice of rituals the temple is embedded in its surrounding cultural landscape.

How and when did the Hindu temple come to be associated with dynasties, rulers and political processes? The chapter traces the beginning of scholarship on the Hindu temple in the late 19th century and its subsequent ‘discovery’, nomenclature and listing by colonial archaeologists. In their attempt to construct a political history of India based on texts and inscriptions, scholars used temples as tangible symbols to mark the extent of empires and the political achievement of rulers. The colonial discourse on temples thus set the tone for subsequent scholarship and defined the parameters to study the Hindu temple, such that, even in the present-day scholars continue to underscore the relationship between temples, political legitimization and state formation. The current art historical scholarship continues to engage with the aesthetics and the architecture of the temple thus emphasizing the origins and construction of temples. Finally, the chapter explores new paradigms to study temple inscriptions and sculptures to establish their relationship with the communities which use the temple space.