Temples!
Temples always fascinated me, imagine hundreds of acres of barren land being transformed into another bustling complex housing a heavy ornate mansion made out of stone, supporting thousands of people who are required in maintaining the complex, coming alive with culture and tradition of the lords;Art to the eyes, music to the ears and in the entirety ecstasy to men fascinated with culture. Ever imagined how much goes into its making? It probably takes decades to finish one temple complex. It was believed kings built temples to make up for the sin they committed in their lifetime, to have a better re-incarnation in their next life. And a lot of money went into its making.
To start off with, quarrying of stone itself takes days in today's world with the automaton cutters while back then the workers would first carve little pockets on the outline of the whole stone they would like to quarry, stick in pieces of wood in these pockets and water it everyday so that the wood swells and cracks occur on the stone. After it was quarried it had to be transported to the location where the carving would start. Back then only tools made out of soft iron were available which would take ages to chisel a hard granite into a perfect picturesque. And the centuries old tradition of making bronze statues is an extensive process that goes through various stages, the artist first makes a wax model of the statue, then covers it with clay from the holy river banks, and dries it for a couple of days after which they obtain a hollow model of the statue. Then over this hollow model a mixture of molten metals which are at very high temperatures of almost 1000 degrees is poured over it to complete the bronze statue. These statues are later decorated with precious jewels and stones, which makes them priceless.
These are the workers needed till the temple is built, once it is done we have men and women to maintain the temple. Right from the priests who perform the daily rituals to the sudras who sweep the temples, all of them form an integral part of it. Brahmins are chosen to be priests and garland men. Every temple has its own garden, where flowers are picked by the garland men and tied together using banana's stalk, as string is not allowed. Devadasis or dancing women were also employed in the olden days in temples to provide entertainment. They were a direct measure of the temple's richness apparently.
The scent, music and ambience of a temple bring about peace in one's mind. As per tradition they say we'll have to sit in a temple for at least 5 minutes before we leave, but I would sit to enjoy the atmosphere and relish the wonders the Lord makes his men do!
To start off with, quarrying of stone itself takes days in today's world with the automaton cutters while back then the workers would first carve little pockets on the outline of the whole stone they would like to quarry, stick in pieces of wood in these pockets and water it everyday so that the wood swells and cracks occur on the stone. After it was quarried it had to be transported to the location where the carving would start. Back then only tools made out of soft iron were available which would take ages to chisel a hard granite into a perfect picturesque. And the centuries old tradition of making bronze statues is an extensive process that goes through various stages, the artist first makes a wax model of the statue, then covers it with clay from the holy river banks, and dries it for a couple of days after which they obtain a hollow model of the statue. Then over this hollow model a mixture of molten metals which are at very high temperatures of almost 1000 degrees is poured over it to complete the bronze statue. These statues are later decorated with precious jewels and stones, which makes them priceless.
These are the workers needed till the temple is built, once it is done we have men and women to maintain the temple. Right from the priests who perform the daily rituals to the sudras who sweep the temples, all of them form an integral part of it. Brahmins are chosen to be priests and garland men. Every temple has its own garden, where flowers are picked by the garland men and tied together using banana's stalk, as string is not allowed. Devadasis or dancing women were also employed in the olden days in temples to provide entertainment. They were a direct measure of the temple's richness apparently.
The scent, music and ambience of a temple bring about peace in one's mind. As per tradition they say we'll have to sit in a temple for at least 5 minutes before we leave, but I would sit to enjoy the atmosphere and relish the wonders the Lord makes his men do!
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