The god is omnipresent and this god lives in the Temple ( Mandir). Mandir is a worship place for all Hindus. It is the house of God. Hindus believe in his god but through these murtis, devotees experience the divine presence of God. Murtis of God are ceremoniously installed according to Vedic traditions. A temple, or Mandir, is the name given to the house of God. The word Mandir is originally comes from a Sanskrut word, which means where the mind becomes still.
A Hindu temple, Devalayam , Devasthanam or Mandir is a place of worship for followers of Hinduism. A characteristic of most temples is the presence of murtis (images) of the Hindu deity to whom the temple is dedicated. They are usually dedicated to one primary deity, the presiding deity, and other subordinate deities associated with the main deity. However, some temples are dedicated to several deities, and others are dedicated to murtis in an aniconic form. Many temples are located in key geographical points, such as a hill top, near waterfalls, caves and rivers, because some believe the Puranas mention that ""the gods always play where groves are near rivers, mountains,and springs""
Nomenclature
Many Hindu temples are known by different names in different parts of the world, depending upon the language. The word mandible or mandible is used in many languages, including Hindi, and is derived from a Sanskrit word, mandible, for 'house' (of a deity by implication). Temples are known as Audi, Devasthanamu, Kshatriya, Mandible, Kshetralayamu, Himalaya, Devastation, Hypothalamus, Punyakshetram, Punyakshetralayamu or Novella in Telugu, as Devastating or Gui in Kannada and Mondrian in Bengali, as Kshatriya or Jambalaya in Malayalam. Temples are known as kō-ail in Tamil.
Hindu temples are generally divided into three main architectural styles: the Dravida style of South India, the Nagara style of North India, and the mixed Vesara style.
History Of A Temple.
The oldest temples that were built of brick and wood no longer exist. Stone later became the preferred material. Temples marked the transition of Hinduism from the Vedic religion of ritual sacrifices to a religion of Bhakti or love and devotion to a personal deity.
Temple construction and mode of worship is governed by ancient Sanskrit scriptures called agamas, of which there are several, which deal with individual deities. There are substantial differences in architecture, customs, rituals and traditions in temples in different parts of India.
During the ritual consecration of a temple, the presence of the universal all-encompassing Brahman is invoked into the main stone deity of the temple, through ritual, thereby making the deity and the temple sacred and divine.
