Archaeology and Text: The Temple in South AsiaHimanshu Prabha Ray What is a temple? Who built or patronized such structures and why? Temples have always formed a crucial element of the cultural landscape of South Asia. Combining textual analysis, archaeology, and archival research with contemporary anthropology, Archaeology and Text provides a stimulating appraisal of religious life in the past. Through detailed case studies from regions like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bengal, and Orissa, the book examines both the religious architecture of the temples and the cultural practices surrounding them. The essays underscore the importance of the temple in its interaction with diverse interest groups, such as worshippers, ritual specialists, ascetics, patrons, artisans, and others. They also show how temples were not only expressions of political authority but also formed important centres of learning, popular devotion, and pilgrimage. The volume explores the development of bhakti and ascetic traditions in the subcontinent in relation to temples. It investigates the relationship between sacrificial rituals and devotional practices; emergent religious cultures and older traditions; and temples and renouncers. The collection also questions the notion of boundaries surrounding religious traditions underlining the fact that present categories do not fit neatly in those of a bygone era. The introduction provides a succinct account of sacred spaces as they came to be defined in archaeological records from the first millennium BCE onwards. |
Contents
Archaeology | 15 |
The Ambika Temple at Jagat | 38 |
Textual Tradition and the Temples of Khajuraho | 59 |
Copyright | |
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ācārya Advaita Aihole Ambarnath ancient Archaeological Archaeology architect Arthaśästra AVPar Badami Bengal Bhāgavata bhakti movement Bhubaneswar Brahma Brahmins Brindavan carved caves celestial centre century Chalukya Choță Kailasa closed hall colonial consecration context Cort Courtesy Sandrine Gill cult culture dated deities Delhi depicted Devi devotees Dhaky divine early Ellora Figure friezes Gacch goddess gods Govindadev Guhila Gujarat Haridvar Hindu temples Ibid iconography India Indra inscription installation Islamic Jagat Jain Jain temple Jaina Jainism Jina Kailasa Kailasanatha Kandariya Kāntānagar temple Khajuraho king Krishna Kṛṣṇa located Māhātmya mandala Mathura medieval mendicants monks monuments Mughal Mūrtipūjak narrative Natyaśästra Orissa Pattadakal performed period pillar priest pūjā Rajasthan Rāma Ramatankas record refers region religion religious tokens rites ritual Śaiva samnyasin sanctum Sankarācārya Sanskrit sculptures shrine Shrivatsa Śiva Śrī stone structure Śvetāmbara temple architecture temples and icons texts textual tradition Vedic visual wall worship yajña zamindar