You’ve visited a temple at least once, right? Why do you feel peaceful? Do you know the logic behind how it was built? Here’s the tea.

The real goal of temples is not to please or have selfish transactions with God but as a center to grow spiritually, which is why they initially housed hospitals for the needy, performing art theatres for musicians & dancers, and auditoriums to learn the vedas from rishis.

There’s a detailed science behind where it should be built, what directions should each room or entrances be in & which materials should be used - captured in our literature called Agama, Vastu & Shilpa Shastras, and detailed in books like Vishkarma Prakasha, with origins in the Atharva Veda.

At the center of this is the Vastu-Purusha Mandala, a diagram (mandala) connecting our body (Purusha) with the structure of the universe. This basic floor plan is useful for all vastus, not just big & small temples but also your home, office & factory.

You have squares called as padas arranged in a grid of 64, 81, etc. And each square has one of 45 deities or energies guarding it, with Brahma at the center, where the inner main room (garbhagriha) exists along with the idol (murthi).

So one of the many reasons you feel peaceful is that everything, including the entrance, the mandapas for seating & praying, the water bodies, and the sewage systems are planned as per this model to be in sync with higher energies, creating a connection between you, the Earth’s geomagnetic fields, the Sun’s solar rays, and energies in the infinite space around us.

Going deeper, because of the different natural materials, weather conditions & artists, we have 2 main types Nagara (famous in the North) & Dravida (in the South) with fusions like Vesara & countless sub-types.

The base on which everything is built is Adhishthana & above it the flat platform, which is Jagati. You enter through the Gopurams which are big doors seen in Dravida style & its Northern equivalent is called Torana.

Once you pass the guarding statues called Dvarapalas, you’ll enter through the Ardhamandapa & then finally reach the pillar-filled or empty gathering hall called as Mandapas where you can sit & meditate or watch the gorgeous carvings called Prastara.

You’ll find the priest or bhadji/guruji sitting in the Antarala at the end, which separates the Mandapa from the inner window-less room at the center, called the Garbagriha, where the murthi is placed facing the East as per the rising Sun.

You can move around this womb room using the pradakshima marg or parikrama in clockwise direction only & in sets of odd numbers like 1, 3, 5 to mimic the revolution of planets around the Sun & absorb the positive energies from the copper/metal plates placed underneath.

Above, you’ll notice the tower - it’s curved in the South, hence called “Shikara,” & its Souther equivalent is Vimana which is like a pyramid of many steps. Mini shikaras around the main one are called Urushringa.

Above the Shikara, we have the lotus-shaped Amlak & a Kalash acting as an antenna to catch & spread divine signals.

Our temples are proof of India’s power in architecture, crafting & science. But they’re being destroyed today so even if you don’t believe in God, do visit your local one & support its maintenance.