is covered with the habitations of the God-their temples. Despite the incursions of other religions, India is still a country of temples & shrines, and wherever you travel, the Gods of Hinduism is present. As the temple, in its architecture, decoration & ritual, has been the primary location where Hindu art has flourished, some general information about Hindu temples is necessary.

Generally speaking, temple architects used post & beam architecture without true vaulting; dry-stone construction technique was the norm with mortar rarely used. Corbelled vaulting was much more common than true vaulting, in which technique Indian temple architects excelled. Ceiling are usually constructed of flat slabs of stone laid between pillars.

The Theory of Hindu Temples
The design & construction of Hindu temples is theoretically determined by text called Shastras. The Shastras dealing with sculpture are the Shilpashastras, those concerned with architecture are the VastuShastras. A common idea found the VastuShastras is the concept that the temple should be a representation of the cosmos, symbolically and in miniature. Thus, just as cosmic diagrams (mandalas) were painted as 2-D representations of the cosmos with the deity and the palace at the center, so the temple was regarded as a 3-D mandala, illustrating the same universe. In both the mandala and the temple the deity occupies the centre. This central sanctuary chamber is the Garbhgriha, literally the 'womb-chamber'. Like a king surrounded by his court, the God in the temple is surrounded by his retinue. These are arranged in decreasing order of precedence as one moves away from the image of the divinity: his consort nearest, then his mount (usually a real or mythological animal), the other, usually subsidiary, deities in his group, the deities who stand guard over the eight direction (ashtdikpalas), the Gods of the planets (navagrahas), the saints who have lovingly laboured in the service of the God, the various local folk deities and lastly and thus farthest from the sanctury the sacred plants associated with the cult.

n Hindu cosmology, the centre of the universe is conceived of as a mountain, Meru. From the base of the Mount Meru, the continents spread out in all directions, with India to the south. Meru is considered to be the home of Gods, ruled over by Indra. Thus, the sanctuary of an Indian Temple invariably has a tower superstructure placed above the sanctuary; the Sanskrit terms for this tower-element is 'shikara'. The God in the innermost part of the temple is thus placed within a cave like or womb like chamber. The emphasis on water is important and if a river is not available, a tank should be provided. Rites of conservation carried out by Brahmins are listed in the shastra literature. They include the placing of a foundation deposit prior to commencement of building, right thru to rites for the placement of the final anchoring stone elements which crown the shikara - these are the ribbed and fruit-like 'amalakas', above which is the final pot shaped finial, 'Kalasha'. These, traditionally, are all necessary elements in the correct constructions of a Temple.

Parts of an Indian temple
The temple is the most significant monument of ancient Indian art and architecture. In order to appreciate the artistic value of the temples, it is necessary to study the principal parts of an Indian temple.