Kshetram - The Hindu temple of Kerala

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Kshetram - The Hindu temple of Kerala

Kerala is a land of temples. And Temples here, in a sense, were the pivot of religious, social, economic and cultural life of the Malayalam people." (Sarkar 1978:1)

Apart from the economic aspects this statement of the archaeologist H Sarkar is still valid in present-day Kerala. In comparison to the mighty dravidian stone temples of the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, the view of the horizontal structured Kerala temple surprises with its modest proportions, the flat wooden and stone buildings, pillars, its enclosure by a low stone wall, the temple pond (kolam) attached to this small place of worship. Each part of the temple seems to be shaped according to the beautifully green surrounding, the coconut trees and paddy fields, serving the spiritual and social needs of the people living in villages nearby. They call the temples kshetram, ambalam, or (in the north) tali. One could think of an ancient naturally grown socio-ecological concept. Sarkar (1978) shows how geographical factors ("high precipitation, the availability of laterite formation and dense jungles"), politics, culture and economy "influenced greatly the evolution of Kerala's temple-architecture". Sanskrit treatises, especially the Tantrasamuccya, codified the rules for temple architecture, thus the Kerala temple presents "a uniform level of achievement, and reflects more or less a common doctrinal approach and rituals". The present-day kshetram were built from the ninth century onwards, amalgamating the dravidian goddess shrine (kavu) with aryan temple construction practices (Sarkar 1978:2-3). The centre of each temple is the srikovil, the tiny shrine where the main deity (murti) is seated. The sopana (steps) lead to the srikovil, which can be square, apsidal, rectangular, or circular. Nalambalam (the inner wall) surrounds the srikovil, the namaskara mandapan (pillared community space) , various bali (minor gods symbolised by stone plinths) and the sapta madriga (the seven mother goddesses). An outer wall (prakaram) encloses a courtyard where the dhvaja-stambha (the temple flagstaff), balipitha (the main bali plinth, also called velia balikal), the astha digbali (minor vedic gods positioned at the eight wind directions), and possibly other smaller shrines of major gods, are placed. The temple is posed in an east-west direction, the east nada (side) being the main entrance. Traditionally temple entry was strictly regulated for each community in Kerala. Only members of the higher castes were allowed into the nalambalam, and the access to the temple precinct was completely denied to the lower castes. However, from 1936 onwards (the Travancore Temple Proclamation) the restrictions were lessened and finally abandoned. Then and now the entry to the srikovil and physical contact with the deity image is reserved to the Namputiri ritual experts, the pujari and tantri.

From: Killius, Rolf. 2006 ’Ritual Music and Hindu Rituals of Kerala.’ New Delhi: BR Rhythms. ISBN: 81-88827-07-X; with author permission