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This article concerns a representation of a temple festival in Tiruniḻalmāla , a major literary work in early Malayalam. The work in question focuses on a high-order Brahmanic temple of Āṟanmuḷa in the moment of a grave ritual and operational crisis. It emphasizes the restorative role of rather lowly rites of exorcism and purification including elements of dance, song, and drama. The article pays close attention to the structure of its textual matter and the literary strategies deployed by its author in meeting the performative exigencies of the genre. The festival itself seems today to have been long forgotten in the place of its origin. The article attempts to understand the socioreligious functions of the festival by exploring the inner logic of its literary representation, drawing parallels to other cultural institutions of medieval Kerala and showing how its afterlife in folk possession dance rituals contributed to the transmission of a text that gave the festival its literary form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To resituate early Mughal architecture within a Persianate context, this paper considers the three axes of geography, scale, and meaning. After introducing this conceptual framework, we turn to historian Marshall Hodgson's essay, 'In the Center of the Map: Nations See Themselves as the Hub of History', as a starting point for geographical analysis. We survey historiographic perspectives on Mughal architecture as Indian, Islamic, Timurid, and Persianate. These cultural geographic perspectives involve a broad range of architectural scales from buildings to gardens, cities, regions, and empire. To address questions of meaning, the paper examines Hodgson's concept of Persianate culture in relation to his ideas about conscience and history in his three-volume work titled The Venture of Islam. Hodgson's ideas about conscience raise interesting questions about the moral dimension of early Mughal architectural experience. The final section of the paper rereads early Mughal sources leading up to the exile of Humayun in Persia and his return to Delhi. These events begin with Babur's visit to Herat in 1506 and culminate with the construction of Humayun's monumental tomb-garden, which can be read as expressions of moral as well as religio-political meaning in a dynasty that came to see itself as a 'hub of history'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Статья посвящена описанию и краткому анализу истории, архитектурных особенностей и содержательной составляющей храма, посвященного богине Бимакали, в г. Сарахан штата Химачал Прадеш (Индия). Это один из крупнейших культурно-религиозных центров Западных Гималаев, а кроме того – яркий образец традиционной индуистской архитектуры данного региона. Авторы поставили цель ввода нового материала в российский научный оборот, так как данный храм не был описан в русскоязычной историографии и искусствоведении. В статье дается архитектурное описание храма, его значение в контексте развития Бушарского княжества, рассматриваются его религиозные функции в связи с образом богини, которой он посвящен. Отдельно авторы обращают внимание на эстетико-семантические аспекты деревянной резьбы, украшающей храм. В ходе исследования подтверждается высочайшее значение храма в качестве объединяющего центра гималайского индуизма.

The Maragheh observatory site was excavated in 1970. Prior to the excavation, there was very little known about this architectural masterpiece. The observatory was constructed on the top of a hill called "Rasad Dāghi". In fact, Samarkand and Jaipur observatories had derived the idea and astronomical units from the Maragheh construction. So, we can use those as comparisons while aiming to better understand and interpret the existing works in order to properly reconstruct the Maragheh observatory. Compared to similar monuments in India, the Maragheh observatory can be renovated only using the Maragheh architectural units. Comparing existing evidence of observation, including archaeological, historical and scientific evidence, will lead us to better understand the realities of the original design. With the reference to the architecture of the existing ancient observatories, the hypothesis was that through a comparative study, an architectural algorithm/pattern could be found and used to determine the shape and arrangement of the Maragheh observatory. The main objective here is to compare the historical and archaeological evidence of Iran's observation instruments with other countries in order to develop the knowledge of Archaeoastronomy. The sky and astronomical phenomenon provided the tools for time reckoning, calendar organization and celestial navigation that supported those human voyages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heritage architectural and sculptural expressions are self-explanatory documents, which carries its legacy along with the wheel of time. The Chitrakarini temple of Bhubaneswar is one among such precious monuments, where the then socio-culture knowledge and ideological hemispheres had taken its materialistic identity, through precisely crafted sculptural panoramic expressions. Material wise this temple-structure could be categorized as an example of stone architecture; and is located in the Old Town area of Bhubaneswar, which is the state capital city of Odisha state, India. Goddess Chitrakarini is being worshipped in this temple- as major deity. As the name "Chitrakarini" reflects, this is a temple of "Female Painter" or "Paintress of Life"- and is world's only known temple, which is dedicated to the goddess "Chitrakarini"- who is the divine sub-form of Goddess Saraswati- the deity of Knowledge in Hinduism. Therefore goddess Chitrakarini, establishes her identity as the goddess of Creative Intellectual Activities. This temple was built during CE 1238 to CE 1264 by one of the Vaishnav king of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty, Narasingh Dev-1. According to local religious and socio-cultural beliefs this monument is dedicated to worship and honor women's contribution towards the creation, management and maintenance of human life-cycles over this planet. But as observed, now a day this heritage monument is detreating due to multifold issues. This temple is declared as 'Monument Of National Importance', under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites & Remains Act' 1958. This paper critically investigates the present overall scenario of this temple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on inspirations of traditional Hindu temple architecture in the Birla Mandir in Renukoot, Uttar Pradesh, India. Topics discussed include dedicated to Śiva in the aspect of Reṇukeśvara Mahādeva, was founded in 1972 by the Birla family; pilgrimage for inhabitants of the region; and temples constructed in eclectic styles.

The Dīptāgama Project aims to produce the critical edition of the Dīptāgama an unpublished Sanskrit treatise belonging to the Southindian Śaivasiddhānta tradition. The project is a joint venture of several French academic and research institutions, mainly University of Paris III and French Institute of Pondicherry who owns palm-leaf manuscripts and paper transcripts used for the edition. The work started in 2000-01 and the edition comprises three volumes (2004, 2006, and 2008). Each volume provides beside Sanskrit text and critical apparatus printed in Nāgarī script, an introduction presenting synthetically the main topics dealt with; a chapter wise summary intended as a reading aid, and lastly a full half verse index. The Dīptāgama makes up around 6000 ślokas and deals with three main topics-architecture and iconography, installation ceremonies and, in the third place, temple festivals-as well as with several subjects regarding liturgy and is a fine example of those āgamic canonical works which codify temple ritual since the building of the Śiva temple up to the ceremonies and festivals to be carried out there. Installation ceremonies are a good example of the main topics treated of in the Dīptāgama: as a matter of fact that work is deemed as a 'pratiṣṭhātantra' (treatise on installation ceremonies) in every colophon of all its 98 chapters. Those ceremonies concern the unmovable Liṅga placed in the main sanctum of the temple as well as movable bronze statues used in several rituals (the so-called utsavamūrti); to that we must add images placed on the walls of temples to which our text makes clear reference. However, Dīptāgama does not comprise any chapter dealing with installation ceremonies on a general point of view. As a matter of fact the installation of the Liṅga as well as that of 16 mūrtis of Śiva are dealt with in as much separate chapters, each giving a fairly complete view of the ceremony; there are also chapters devoted to some attendants of Śiva and built on the same line. Thus being the case, the rules given in these separate presentations appear to be very homogeneous and show that the ceremony follows the same structure whichever is the specific identity of the involved deity. From the study of the several stages of the ceremony, it appears that the main one is that where the mantra of the god is transferred upon the statue from a vase where it has been placed by the ācārya: as a matter of fact, this stage is deemed in several chapters as 'pratiṣṭhā', a hint of its central importance. Such characteristics allow us to be more precise about the meaning of the installation ceremony, even when it follows a slightly different pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Shree Kshetra Mahuli temple complex located in the city of Satara in India. The author notes that this complex, which is situated at confluence of the Krishna and Venna rivers, is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The author presents detailed descriptions of some of the temples that make up the complex, paying particular focus to their architectural features.

In this paper, based on our collective project Mapping Faith and Place in Leicester, we offer some discussion of ways in which archaeologists can engage with ideas of the sacred, through an exploration of a contemporary landscape of belief in an urban context. Moving beyond traditional archaeological and architectural descriptions of buildings, the relationship between faith and place is investigated using the concept of translation as a way of engaging with changes and developments in the realization of belief. We argue that this new approach is a very helpful way of understanding the material outcomes of religious faith. The study has considerable implications for the ways in which religious beliefs are now approached by many archaeologists. It is argued that we need to engage more carefully with classificatory architectural paradigms and recognize the importance of religious faith in the construction of the everyday. The inadequacies of ‘classic’ archaeological approaches to religion via monuments are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The cave-temples at Ellora, dating back to the sixth century, are well known to scholars and visitors, in contrast to the nearby Hindu memorials (samadhis), temple, and tank associated with the Marathas. These later monuments were sponsored by figures belonging to the Bhonsle and Holkar Maratha families, who at different times held the estate of what was then known as Verul. The samadhis of the early-seventeenth century Bhonsles, ancestors of the great warrior king Shivaji, are built in the prevailing Nizam Shahi architectural style, giving visual expression to the close link between these figures and their Deccan sultanate overlords. Indeed, the samadhis appear at first to be Muslim tombs, but, being merely commemorative in function, they contain no corporeal remains. The samadhis are clustered around the Ghrishneshvara, a temple that enshrines a sacred jyotirlinga erected by the Holkar queen Ahilyabai at some date in the second half of the eighteenth century. Significantly, this is a replacement edifice built in an archaic style that recalls the sacred architecture of the Yadava rulers of this part of the Deccan in the eleventh to twelfth centuries. Nothing can now be seen of this earlier monument, other than the odd worn sculpted panel. Presumably the temple was severely damaged as a result of the depredations of the Delhi sultanate invasions of the Deccan in the late thirteenth and the fourteenth centuries, prompting Ahilyabai to finance its reconstruction. The tank a short distance away, known as the Shivalayatirtha, has an inscription that records Ahilyabai as its sponsor, and 1769 as the date of completion. The sacred function of this water monument is confirmed by eight small linga shrines arranged symmetrically around a central square pool. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

On the edge of the old city of Vidiśā are the ruins of a large temple known as the Bijamaṇḍal. Only the plinth of the temple survives (Fig. 1). On top of the plinth, on the western side, is a small mosque which was constructed in the fifteenth century to judge from the design of the miḥrāb. The pillars used in the prayer-hall are of various sizes and dates and have not been studied comprehensively. One pillar is notable as it carries an inscription of Naravarman, the Paramāra king who ruled from circace 1094 to 1134. A study of the inscription and the pillar on which it is carved provides a point of departure for considering several important questions about the dedication and history of the Bijamaṇḍal. The inscription also draws our attention to the tutelary goddesses of the Paramāra kings, a subject unstudied hitherto. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Samarāṅganasūtradhāra is an encyclopedic work, attributed by tradition to King Bhoja of the Paramāra dynasty. It collects a vast number of subjects under the general heading of vāstu, a term that refers to a dwelling or dwelling place and, by inclusion, comes to treat the many activities connected with dwellings and construction sites. Although probably incomplete in the available manuscripts, the size of the Samarāṅganasūtradhāra remains impressive: including the ‘interpolated section’ it runs for almost 7,500 Sanskrit verses. The various portions resemble, in turn, a Purāṇa, a treatise on architecture, a disquisition into dramaturgic detail and much more. Bhoja's work can be classified as belonging to the ‘northern’ Vāstu tradition; the text presents itself as such, by tracing its own origin to the divine architect Viśvakarman rather than Maya, as a southern text would do. Nevertheless, the Samarāṅganasūtradhāra contains an extensive treatment of southern temple types. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Cities manifest the collective intellectual values of their civilizations through their nature of symbolism and creation of order. Geometry had been strongly instrumental in imparting this inherent symbolism and the particular nature of order in the past. It is recognized as an integrating tool to harmonize the individual buildings to the design of the collective built form resulting in a meaningful urbanism, holistic in nature, without creating monotony and placelessness so evident in the current scenario. In some cases the geometry of individual buildings was determined through the design decisions taken at urban scale. This paper analyzes the relationship between architecture and urban form created by the application of geometry in varied manner as an organizational tool. The choice of examples is limited to the application of geometry in Hindu architecture and design in the Indian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper strives to pluralize notions of taste in relation to the canonized category of the Hindu or Indian temple. I put 'Hindu' in italics because I include Jain temples in my discussion and I put 'Indian' in italics because the architecture I discuss predates India as a nation-state and in the twenty-first century includes buildings in South and Southeast Asia as well as the Diaspora. Through a discussion of the Archaeological Preservation Aesthetic (APA) and multiple variants of the Ritual Renovation Aesthetics (RRA), new ways of looking emerge. This paper seeks to reconcile the hegemonic assumptions about art historical taste and the temple within an increasingly global environment. The main argument is predicated on temple users' practice as a form of curatorial practice in the field and provides a deep description of the multiplication of aesthetics due to increasing privatization of temple administration in India. The tenth-century cluster of temples from the Medapata region (Southern Rajasthan) serves as case study for a widespread phenomenon of putting ancient temples 'back' into worship during the second half of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the relationship to actual practice of the vastusastras and silpasdstras, the canonical Indian texts on architecture and sculpture. It discusses the study of vastu of Samardnganasutradhdra. It states that relationships between the architectural elements denoted that a coherent picture of the intended temple can be imagined. It states that the Samarangana traces its authority to the divine architect Visvakarman, while proclaiming at the end of every chapter that its author is the King of Great Kings, Supreme Lord, Glorious Bhojadeva.

The article discusses the growing evidence of the ability of Indian culture to assimilate diverse influences even in modern India where cultural strands from Hindu, Islamic and British cycles continue to emerge in harmony. The influence of Maratha temple architecture by the disparate traditions of Hindu and Islamic architectures is highlighted. The significant contribution of brick and plaster temples of Marathas to the mainstream of temple architecture in the country is also tackled.

This paper is an attempt to reconsider our current understanding of the role accorded to the mandala within traditional Indian architecture. It is generally held that the mandala--in particular the VāstupuruşamaṇḌala, the mandala associated with vāstu (inhabited or built site)--has played a determining role in the genesis of architectural form in India. Within more popular, and less circumspect, writings, this influence is held to be directly formal; the VāstupuruşamaṇḌala is traditionally drawn within a square grid, and any sign of an orthogonal planning or a grid-like layout is taken to be a sign that the form in question was based upon the mandala. In investigating the foundations of such a belief, this paper reviews two bodies of literature. The first is modern art-historical scholarship, an examination of which shows that the idea of a morphogenetic mandala emerged only recently, and that it was not so much culled from the traditional writing as constructed afresh by art historians such as Kramrisch. The other body of literature examined is that of the traditional writings on architecture, many of which are cited as key sources of evidence for this idea. Here it is argued that there is almost no direct evidence for the use of mandalas in laying out complexes or designing buildings, and that such ideas of the use of mandalas rest on several assumptions that must themselves be questioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the nature of architectural invention in Indian sacred structures by analyzing a group of eleventh-century sandstone temples in the Karnataka region of southern India. Identifying a variety of experiments in a closely related group, it refutes a commonly held scholarly assumption that Indian temples follow architectural norms ordained by India's religious traditions--an assumption fed by Western definitions of individuality and originality. These Karnataka temples demonstrate that their architects--- while mostly unknown--fundamentally changed the formal as well as the conceptual basis of southern architecture they had inherited. Their formal choices, manipulating regional conventions as well as opening up their structures to include references from other regions, led to a new, consciously modern form of architecture whose, modernity has been overlooked by scholars. Scholars have tended to call this new regional invention Vesara (Sanskrit "mule" or "hybrid"), defining it as a derivative style of temple created by mixing typical features of North Indian and South Indian architecture. The article traces the emergence of Vesara's conceptual logic in the eleventh century through architectural anomalies and daringly unprecedented play with the formal means of regional architecture, arguing that the makers of these temples exercised a level of inventiveness we have not been willing to credit them with so far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the book "Temples of the Indus: Studies in the Hindu Architecture of Ancient Pakistan," by Michael W. Meister.