Relationship Between Temple Architecture and Cosmology

[M. Tandy]

On Sat, 24 Oct 1998, Vidyasankar Sundaresan wrote:
> >Is this a common theme that temples of a particular Deity represent the
> >abode of the particular Deity, or different parts of the cosmology
>
> Yes. The Srirangam Ranganatha temple is said to represent Vishnu's abode
> in Vaikuntha, and the Puri Jagannatha temple is Krishna's palace. Devi
> temples are also built in the form of the SrIyantra, sometimes also
> called SrIpura.
> on Tamil Nadu temples. However, I can't help wonder if a larger
> perspective is lost, by not studying temples from other parts of south
> and north India.
        The Shrinathji temple in north India is also seen as the mansion
(haveli) of Nanda, Krishna's foster father in Braj. This may or not be
considered cosmology, but almost everything in and around that temple has
spiritual significance assigned to it. Even the nearby river Banas is
regarded as the YamunA, the temple cows as those of Nanda, etc.

        MT