Axis and perimeter of temple refering to a common form

Śāstric texts describing the plan of the Hindu temple allude to its astronomical basis, and in this Indian sacred geometry is not different from the sacred geometry of other ancient cultures.1 If astronomical alignments characterize ancient temples of megalithic Europe, Egyptians, Maya, Aztecs, Javanese and Cambodians, they also characterize Indian temples. For example, the garbhagÅha of certain temples is illuminated by the setting sun only on a specific day of the year, or the temple may deviate from the canonical east-west axis and be aligned with a nak¬atra that has astrological significance for the patron or for the chosen deity of the temple.
The Agnicayana altar, the centre of the great ritual of the Vedic times that forms a major portion of the narrative of the Yajurveda, is generally seen as the prototype of the Hindu temple and of Vāstu. The altar is first built of 1,000 bricks in five layers (that symbolically represent the five divisions of the year, the five physical elements, as well as five senses) to specific designs. The Agnicayana ritual is based upon the Vedic division of the universe into three parts, earth, atmosphere, and sky (Figure 1), that are assigned numbers 21, 78, and 261, respectively; these numbers add up to 360, which is symbolic representation of the year. These triples are seen in all reality, and they enlarge to five elements and five senses in a further emanation.
The householder had three altars of circular (earth), half-moon (atmosphere), and square (sky) at his home (Figure 2), which are like the head, the heart, and the body of the cosmic puru¬a. In the Agnicayana ritual, the atmosphere and the sky altars are built afresh in a great ceremony to the east. The numerical mapping is maintained by placement of 21 pebbles around the earth altar, sets of 13 pebbles around each of the 6 dhi¬ªya (atmosphere for 13×6=78) altars, and 261 pebbles around the great new sky altar called the Uttara-vedi.
The Uttara-vedi is equivalent to the actual temple structure. Vāstu is the remainder that belongs to Rudra, and Vāstupuru¬a, the temple platform, is where the gods reside, facing the central square, the Brahmasthāna. Given the recursive nature of Vedic cosmology, we know that the Uttara-vedi also symbolized the patron in whose name the ritual is being performed, as well as puru¬a and the cosmos.
The Altar as a Representation of the Cosmos
The Śatapatha Br. informs us that the altar is to represent the mystery of time. Its dimensions are to represent earth. “As large as the altar is, so large is the earth” (ŚB 3.7.2.1) indicates that it symbolically represents objective knowledge. In the Śatapatha Śāª©ilya says:
􀂃 Prajāpati is the year, and the bricks are the joints, the days and nights. The altar is the earth, the Agnicayana the air, and the mahad uktham the sky. The altar is the mind, the Agnicayana the air, and the mahad uktham the speech (ŚB 10.1.2.2-3).
􀂃 The Year, doubtless, is the same as Death. Prajapati said: “You do not lay down all my forms, making me either too small or too large. That is why you are not immortal... Lay down 360 enclosing stones, 360+36 yaju¬mat» (special) bricks, and 10,800 lokampÅnā (ordinary) bricks and you will be laying down all my forms, and you will become immortal.” (ŚB 10.4.3.8) The 10,800 count represents the number of muhØrtas (48-minute interval) in a year.
The special yaju¬mat» bricks are placed 98 in the first layer, 41 in the second, 71 in the third, 47 in the fourth, and 138 in the fifth layer. These add up to 395; the earth filling between the bricks is taken to be the 396th brick. The sum of the bricks in the fourth and fifth layers together with one space filling is 186 (half the tithes in the solar year), the number of bricks in the third and the fourth layers equals one third the number of days in the lunar year, and so on.
Clearly, the objective is to represent the fact of the 360 divisions of the year (the additional 36 days represent the intercalary month) as well as other astronomical facts. The bandhu- relationship of the outer with the inner cosmos of the individual required an accurate representation of the outer so that a correspondingly accurate measure of the inner would become possible.
A calculative index shows that 108 is the ideal number for this calculations and have been placed in high regard in almost all cultures.... for rituals and similar allignments.We will discuss in the next article why this has occured