What's a Hindu temple like?

Question

can anyone describe to me what a hindu temple is like? A girl that I have recently been dating is Hindu and is very religous. She always talks about the local Hindu temple that she attends and I'm completely clueless what hindu temple is like. If someone could please give me some details on the average hindu temple is like it would be greatly appreciated. I feel like a jack@$$ asking her, I'll feel extremely stupid and rude by not knowing what the temple is like that she attends so any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

I have given a small account of Hindu Temple below for your information. You can ask your Girl Friend for more details or as further questions in this forum so that we can apprise you with the details -

HINDU TEMPLE, is a house of worship for followers of Hinduism. They are usually specifically reserved for religious and spiritual activities.

A HINDU TEMPLE can be a separate structure or a part of a building. A feature of most temples is the presence of murtis of the Hindu deity to whom the temple is dedicated. They are usually dedicated to one primary deity, called the presiding deity, and other subordinate deities associated with the main deity. However, some temples are dedicated to several deities, and some have symbols instead of a murti.

Hindu temples are known by different names in different parts of the world, depending upon the language. The word mandir or mandira is used in many languages, including Hindi, and is derived from a Sanskrit word, mandira, for the house (of God by implication). Temples are known as Alayam or Kovil in Tamil, as Devasthana or Gudi in Kannada, as Gudi, Devalayam or Kovela in Telugu and Puja pandal in Bengali, as Kshetram or Ambalam in Malayalam.

The main focus of temple architecture in Vedic India was to blend the temple with its natural surroundings. A major consequence of this style of temple design, was the construction of several cave temples across the Indian subcontinent. The 5th century caves of Ellora are one of the most magnificent K example of Indian rock cut architecture in the world. Most of the early Hindu cave temples were carved out of a single large rock. A prominent feature of these cave temples was the elaborate sculptures of various Hindu deities.

Frontal-right view of the Brihadeshwara temple of Dravidian styleBy the 10th century, stylized mountains became a crucial component of Hindu temples. It was during this period, that two major styles of temple architecture, the Dravidian and the Naagara, developed. While Dravdian stile temples featured stepped pyramids, the Naagara style temples featured slightly curved spires. The Naagara style is mostly used in northern India while most of the temples in southern India follow the Dravidian style of temple architecture. Most of the major Hindu temples are constructed as per the aagama shastras.

The gopuram is a distinctive temple tower and is an integral part of all Dravidian-style temples, and may also be used in gateways and entrances to temple compounds.


Elements of worship



Most priests take elaborate measures to maintain mental and physical purity of the temple. While most devotees cannot maintain such regimens, there are some basic rules that must be followed in all Hindu temples; this include being barefoot within the temple, and being dressed and behaving with decorum. The innermost sanctums may be accessible only to priests, or only to worshippers.-

Answer 2

I visited one recently for the first time. It was one of the biggest in the UK, so it might not be totally normal.
You had to check your shoes in at the door.

It had marble floors and a large main room, with ornate carved pillars. Around the whole room were little alcoves, each one had a different statue to represent different gods. Some monks (? possibly not the right word?) were at the front performing the ceremony. There was chanting throughout the service. Women and men were seated separately (on two sides of the room). People came round carrying trays with candles on, people put money on the tray and wafted their hands over it.
After this the men gradually got up and were ushered round the room to pay respects to all the shrines. Once they were done, the women went round. People stopped in front of each one, although people spent longer at some than others. Some people put money into boxes in front of certain shrines, maybe depending on the kind of blessing they wanted?

I am not religious and I was welcomed, my friends and I were the only white people there and were totally clueless, people showed us where to go and what to do and genuinely didn't mind even though we were only observing.

Maybe if you show interest your girl would be pleased to take you?

Answer 3

Go to the temple yourself. A temple can have different Deities or many Deities in one temple. The most important fact is the priest of the temple. What type of a person he is. How knowledgable he is about his religion.

Answer 4

You shouldn't feel bad for asking. In fact people come to the temple all the time and inquire about it (my local temple). Hindus are actually very used to it and do not mind explaining. In fact, we consider it very respectful that you ask us. And in general most Hindus are more than eager to explain things to you (simply because it is rare that people actually ask, but instead just make wrong assumptions).

A typical Hindu temple will usually house an image/symbol of God. We call these murtis. It may be a picture or a statue or some other symbol as well. The area where it sits is the altar. It is usually a raised area (a few steps) and there is usually a canopy over it. Just so you know you are not supposed to ever go up the steps to the murti...only the priests go there. When visiting the temple the murti is the outlet from which God can be viewed. Think of it as the electrical outlet in your house from which electricity is able to be received. In the Hindu temple God is treated as an honored guest. If the temple is located in the west (USA, Canada, etc) the temple may have more than one murti. My local temple is a Saivite-Vaishnava temple so it has Ganesh and Shiva as well as Vishnu (in the form of Balaji) Krishna, and Rama. There are also pictures of Lakshmi and Hanuman on the altar as well.

If you decide to visit the temple but do not wish to participate in the activities the other Hindus will not think less of you. So if you do not wish to go up to the murti and say a prayer no one will think less of you. Hindu temples usually have lots of things going on at once. So when you enter (after taking off your shoes and washing your hands, face, and feet....temple usually have sinks for this...if you leave your socks on you do not have to wash your feet and no the HIndus there will not think badly of you...the local temple here has marble floors that are very cold and it is not odd to see Hindus wearing their socks) you will enter into the main room and there you will see the altar with the murti (or murtis). If you look around there will probably be people sitting in meditation, people reading, people at the altar praying, and even perhaps priests performing pooja (ritual worship). You may even enter while a group of people sings bhajans (devotional songs). You will have people coming and going on their own and you will have people standing around talking to one another as well. It'd be like walking into a church before service has started...each person is there doing whatever it is they have come there to do.

Not all Hindus attend the temple. Some go to the temple weekly, some monthly, and some only on major holidays (whatever major holidays are for their denomination/sect/branch of Hinduism). All Hindus keep a home altar and some have an entire room (often called the "temple room") where they pray, perform pooja, meditate, sing bhajans, read sacred texts, etc. In essence there is a mini-temple in every Hindus home.

Some advice on visiting a temple (from a westerner who adopted HInduism and has learned this stuff the hard way)
1) never point at the murtis. If you go with your girlfriend to the temple and want to know about the symbolism of the murti, etc, just say what it is you want to know. If there are multiple murtis and you want to know about one, nod your head in front of the one you want know about (rather than point)
2) do not point your feet at the murtis when you sit. When you sit down the bottom of your feet should be tucked under your legs. If that is uncomfortable then just make that if you must sit with your feet showing that the bottoms of your feet are turned away from the murti (s)
3) try not to sit with your back to the murtis (sometimes in some temples in the US this can be difficult with how many murtis they have...but in most temples this should be easy)
4) if you are handed a book or a pamphlet or any kind of "knowledge" or "information" do not sit it down on the floor (it's considered disrespectful to sit the knowledge on the floor)
5) If pooja is being done and at the parts where the viewers are included (passing of the sacred flame or handing out of prasad, etc) if you do not wish to participate just say so. If you are unsure what it is you are supposed to do but do what to participate just ask, the priest will be delighted to tell you.....and probably explain the meaning and symbolism as well (and don't think it's just you as a nonHindu....they do this to Hindus, too...they figure if you have a question they should answer it thoroughly)

Some of this may not even be necessary since it depends greatly on the temple. Some temples are more conservative (traditional) than others. For example at my local temple if you sit a book on the floor while you are sitting in meditation, no one will say a thing....so long as you remember to put it back where it goes of course. In general, though, if you are not a Hindu they will be very relaxed since they know that you do not necessarily know the rules. Even if you do something that bothers them they are not going to scold you, but instead use the opportunity to inform and teach you about the tradition.

Just as God is the honored guest in the temple, so too do Hindus treat other guests there accordingly. If anything I've always found that Hindus are the most respectful, polite, and friendly people (atleast when I compare it to when I have visited my friends churches, synagogues, mosques, covens, etc).

If you want to know more specifics about the temple do not hesitate to ask your girlfriend. Chances are she'd be delighted to tell you. If you go to visit the temple and have questions I can assure you will have no lack of people there willing to answer your questions (trust me on this....the first few times I went to the temple I could ask one question to one of the priests or one of the people in the room and before long I had several people around me providing me with answers to my question...each going more indepth than the last person who spoke).

Hope my answer was somewhat helpful.

Peace be with you.

Answer 5

there are real priests inside, some to serve you even if you bring no money or rice

you can smell curry, they do daily washings of idols and they offer community services and you feel a sense of energy and respect the second you come in

Answer 6

u should ask a hindu friend, or go to google images to find out

Answer 7

I've only been to one (in New Delhi), but it was the most beautiful building I've ever seen in my life:

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=akshardham&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2