Four Styles of Hindu Temples

Gorakhpur 31 January, 1984

Today Baba visited Magahar, the place where Mahatma Kabir died.

According to local folklore, when Kabir passed away both Hindus and Muslims claimed his body with the intention of performing the last rites according to their respective customs.

But Kabir’s dead body miraculously vanished and was replaced by 2 flowers.

The Hindus and Muslims each took a flower and erected a monument in Kabir’s memory the Muslims constructed a mosque and the Hindus built a temple.

Both buildings are still standing to this day.

Whether one believes the local folklore or not it indicates that Kabir was highly regarded by Muslims and Hindus alike.

Baba examined the buildings erected as Mazara of Kabir and made the following comments

A mausoleum erected in memory of some great person is called a Mazara.

In Christianity, churches are consecrated chapels. But if a chapel is not consecrated it remains a chapel.

Certain rituals, like the burning of benzion, adorning an altar with flowers, and lighting earthen lamps, are observed in Mazars.

Consecrated ones are called Makabara.

The architectural style of the Mazara is semitic and not gothic.

Semitic architecture is indigenous to the Middle East. Outside the Middle East, the Gothic style prevails.

The railway station at Lucknow (U.P.) represents the southern semitic style, and from a distance it looks like a mosque.

Temples have 4 architectural styles:

1. Dravida style, found in the temples of Rameshvaram, Cidambaram, Thiruvanandapuram (Trivandrum), and Madurai, (Minaksi temple).
2. Utkal style found in the temples of Pur and Bhuvaneshvara.
3. Rajva’ra style, found in Rajasthan, and in other places in Northern India.
4. Gauri’ya style, or Bengal style, found in the Ka’li temples of Kalighat, Calcutta, and other places in Bengal.

Europe has 2 prominent styles:

1. North Semitic
2. South Semitic

The Marara represents a unique combination of south semitic and Rajva’ra’ architectures.

A combination of Rajvara and Gauriiya architectural styles is evident on the 2 corners of Marre which is an outstanding example of Kashika culture.

The temple exemplifies the ‘give and take’ theory of Indian cultural development.

Similar blendings of South Semitic and Rajvara’s styles can be seen in certain temples in Kota in Rajasthan.

A combination of Tibetan and Rajvara styles can also be seen in temples in Kumayun, Garhwal, Kulu Valley, Kangara and some places in Jammu.

Kabic was initiated by Ramananda who was a Vaesnava, yet Kabir’s spiritual practices were taken from the Na’th cult.

They were a blending of Hatha yoga and Ra’ja yoga. and were based on prevalent Tantric practices. It is meaningless to describe this style of spiritual practice as Hindu or Muslim. The Na’th cult is an inner stream of spiritual practice which has no relation to Hindu or Muslim terminologies.

Hindu is a Persian word brought to India by the Muslims.

Dharma, as expounded in the Vedas, is Arsa dharma, and was not expounded by one single philosopher or sage but by several ages.

The term Ajjha dharma was derived from A’rs’a dharma and later it was called A’jya as derived from the word Arya and later ‘Ajii came into use.

Still later ‘jii’ evolved meaning ‘O, my great man’.

Islam was brought to India by Turkish people who added a new dimension to the cultural history of India.

Muslim means a person who has embraced morality of Iman as natural dharma.

Because Islam was brought to India by the Turks, people called them Turka.

The impact of Islam can be clearly seen in the Kashiba culture.

Hindus and Muslims are inhabitants of one country. They speak the same language and wear the same dress.

The same human spirit enlivens their hearts and minds. Once they reach the final destination of their lives, they will realise that Vishnu and Allah are the same.

After visiting the Mazara, Baba went to a nearby temple known as Kabircaura Mandir.

Baba asked the priest or purohit, about the Dhyana or meditation mantras and pranam or adoration mantras used at the temple.

Baba explained that Dhyana mantra is only recited by the purohita, while the Pranama mantra is repeated by the whole congregation after the purohit had recited it.

The purohita was unable to recite either the Dhyana mantra or the Pranama mantra.

The purohit said that they utter ‘Om Sadguro Parma’tmane Namah’ which is neither a Dhyana mantra nor a Prana’ma mantra.

Baba observed that the Kabircaura Mandir is not a Hindu temple because the compulsory rituals prescribed by Puranic dharma for Hindu temples are not performed in this temple.

Thus it does not fulfill the conditions of a Hindu temple.

Rather, it is a remnant of the Nath cult and has nothing to do with the cult of Ramananda.

The structure of the temple has a semitic influence. But there is no evidence of Rajvara or Gauriiya architectural styles in the design.

The purohit wore a Kanthi: a small round-shaped cylinder made of tulsi-wood in the sacred thread around his neck. It was the only link with Vaeshnavism.

Nathism has a slight link with Meru tantra-an appendix of Tantra.

When the priest recited a mantra in Hindi, Baba noted that the local dialect around the temple was a mixture of Bhojpuri and Avadhii, and so the mantra should be recited in the same dialect.

The Muslim side of the temple, the Mazara is original. But the temple is not a true Hindu temple.

According to Arsa dharma, certain formalities must be observed, but none of these formalities were followed.