Hindu temple A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hin ...

s are built in the ''Panchayatana'' layout: the main shrine is surrounded by four subsidiary shrines. The origin of the name are the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

words ''Pancha'' (five) et ''ayatana'' (containing). Generally, Hindu temples are built along a west-east axis. So the four subsidiary shrines are at the north-east, south-east, south-west, north-west.

Examples of Panchayatana temples

Kandariya Mahadeva Temple The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple (Devanagari: कंदारिया महादेव मंदिर, Mandir), meaning "the Great God of the Cave", is the largest and most ornate Hindu temple in the medieval temple group found at Khajuraho in ...

in Khajuraho * Brahmeswara Temple in

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...

* Jagdish Temple in

Udaipur Udaipur () ( ISO 15919: ''Udayapura''), historically named as Udayapura, is a city and municipal corporation in Udaipur district of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is the administrative headquarter of Udaipur district. It is the historic cap ...

* Lakshmana Temple in Khajuraho * Lingaraja Temple in

* Arasavalli Temple near Srikakulam District of Andhra Pradesh near Visakhapatnam. Main shrine dedicated to Aditya. Subsidiary shrines dedicated to Ganesh, Shiva, Parvati and Vishnu. * Dashavatara Temple in

Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh Deogarh is a village in Lalitpur district, Uttar Pradesh, Lalitpur district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located on the right bank of Betwa River and to the west of Lalitpur hills. It is known for Gupta Empire, Gupta monuments an ...

. It should be the oldest panchayatana temple in India. * Nabaratna Temple in Pantchupi * Shiva Panchayatana Temple in Tumbadi,

Tumkur Tumkur, officially renamed as Tumakuru, is a city located in the southern part of Indian state of Karnataka. Tumkur is situated at a distance of northwest of Bangalore, the state capital along NH 48 and NH 73. It is the headquarters of the ...

district. Subsidiary shrines dedicated to Lakshmi Narasimha, Vinayaka, Parvati and Surya. * Gondeshvara temple, in

Sinnar Sinnar (Pronunciation: inːəɾ is a city and a municipal council in Sinnar taluka of Nashik district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Sinnar is the fourth largest city in Nashik district after Nashik, Malegaon and Manmad. History Tradi ...

, Maharashtra *Panchayatan temple at Dronasagar, Kashipur, Uttarakhand is an archeological site, from 6th century AD.

Notes

External links

* http://templenet.com/Andhra/arasavalli.html Architectural elements Hindu temple architecture {{hinduism-stub