Editing Hindu temple architecture (section)

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| image1 = Khajuraho - Kandariya Mahadeo Temple.jpg
| image2 = 01AnnamalaiyarTemple&Thiruvannamalai&TamilNadu&AerialViewfromVirupakshaCave.jpg
| image3 = 009202022 Peruvanam Mahadeva temple, Cherpu Kerala 045.jpg
| image4 = Chandika Devi temple at Kothi near Rekong Peo Himachal Pradesh India.jpg
| footer = Types of Hindu temple architecture in India from left to right: [[Nagara Style|Nagara]] style of northern India, [[Dravidian architecture|Dravida]] style of southern India, [[Kerala architecture|Kerala]] style with Dravida influences and [[Kath kuni architecture|Kathkuni]] style of northern Indian hills with Nagara influences. }}
{{Hinduism}}

[[File:Architecture of a Vishnu temple, Nagara style with Ardhamandapa, Mandapa, Garbha Griya, Sikhara, Amalaka, Kalasa marked.jpg|thumb|upright=1.33|Architecture of a Hindu temple (Nagara style). These core elements are evidenced in the oldest surviving 5th–6th century CE temples.]]

'''Hindu temple architecture''' as the main form of [[Hindu architecture]] has many different styles, though the basic nature of the [[Hindu temple]] remains the same, with the essential feature an inner sanctum, the ''[[Garbhagriha|garbha griha]]'' or womb-chamber, where the primary ''[[Murti]]'' or the image of a deity is housed in a simple bare cell. For rituals and prayers, this chamber frequently has an open space that can be moved in a clockwise direction. There are frequently additional buildings and structures in the vicinity of this chamber, with the largest ones covering several acres. On the exterior, the garbhagriha is crowned by a tower-like ''[[shikhara]]'', also called the ''[[Vimana (architectural feature)|vimana]]'' in the south. ''[[Gopuram]]'' gateways are elaborate in the south. The shrine building often includes an circumambulatory passage for [[circumambulation|parikrama]], a [[mandapa]] congregation hall, and sometimes an [[antarala]] antechamber and porch between garbhagriha and mandapa. In addition to other small temples in the compound, there may be additional mandapas or buildings that are either connected or separate from the larger temples.<ref>These are the usual terms, but there are many variants or different ones in the many Indian languages, ancient and modern.</ref>

Hindu temple architecture reflects a synthesis of arts, the ideals of [[dharma]], values,  and the way of life cherished under Hinduism. The temple is a place for ''[[Tirtha and Kshetra|Tirtha]]''—pilgrimage.<ref name=stellakvolume1/> All the cosmic elements that create and celebrate life in Hindu pantheon, are present in a Hindu temple—from fire to water, from images of nature to deities, from the feminine to the masculine, from [[kama]] to [[artha]], from the fleeting sounds and incense smells to Purusha—the eternal nothingness yet universality—is part of a Hindu temple architecture.<ref name=stellakvolume1>[[Stella Kramrisch]], The Hindu Temple, Vol 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-81-208-0222-3}}</ref> The form and meanings of architectural elements in a Hindu temple are designed to function as a place in which to create a link between man and the divine, to help his progress to spiritual knowledge and truth, his liberation it calls [[moksha]].{{sfn|George Michell|1988|pp=60-61}}

The architectural principles of Hindu temples in India are described in the [[Shilpa Shastras]] and [[Vastu shastra|Vastu Sastras]].<ref>Jack Hebner (2010), Architecture of the Vastu Sastra - According to Sacred Science, in Science of the Sacred (Editor: David Osborn), {{ISBN|978-0557277247}}, pp 85-92; N Lahiri (1996), Archaeological landscapes and textual images: a study of the sacred geography of late medieval Ballabgarh, World Archaeology, 28(2), pp 244-264</ref><ref name=bbdutt>BB Dutt (1925), {{Google books|J3jEJFNxdy4C|Town planning in Ancient India}}, {{ISBN|978-81-8205-487-5}}</ref> The Hindu culture has encouraged aesthetic independence to its temple builders, and its architects have sometimes exercised considerable flexibility in creative expression by adopting other perfect geometries and mathematical principles in ''Mandir'' construction to express the [[Sanātana Dharma|Hindu Way of life]].<ref name=mmgeometry/>

Hindu temple architecture and its various styles has had a profound influence on the stylistic origins of [[Buddhist architecture]]. Aspects seen on Buddhist architecture like the [[stupa]] may have been influenced by the [[shikhara]], a stylistic element which in some regions evolved to the [[pagoda]] which are seen throughout [[Thailand]], [[Cambodia]], [[Nepal]], [[China]], [[Taiwan]], [[Japan]], [[Korea]], [[Myanmar]], and [[Vietnam]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harle |first=James Coffin |title=The art and architecture of the Indian subcontinent |date=1994 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-06217-5 |edition=2nd |location=New Haven London |pages=201 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Michell |first=George |title=The Penguin guide to the monument of India |date=1990 |publisher=Penguin book |isbn=978-0-14-008144-2 |location=London |pages=228–229}}</ref>