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Brijendra echoed the words of Sudesh when he said that the circumambulation around the exterior of the inner sanctum is a conscious effort, achieved through the vastu guidelines, that prepares the mind for the representation of the deity inside the garbhagriha, the most hallowed part of the shrine. The vastu architect wanted the worshipper to discard all feelings of conflict so that the mind can receive the positive vibrations emanating from all the sculpted gods. All tangible boundaries, such as the temple walls, and all intangible boundaries, such as mental and emotional thoughts held within an individual, were to be discarded, melted away from the mind. |
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The vastu guidelines had also led to the creation of a religious structure that drew upon the spiritual symbols attached to the cave. The architect made worshippers consciously aware of their movement from an area within the temple, marked by intermittent light and abundant carvings, to a small areathe garbhagrihawhere darkness and simple purity prevailed. |
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As worshippers circumambulate the interior, they are expected to stop periodically and meditate before carvings of important deities that are stationed on the interior walls. Studying the deities and the profound meanings connected to them puts visitors into a position of grace and awe, which prepares them for the most powerful vibrations, projecting off the representation of the sacred deity that awaits inside the inner sanctum. |
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As I looked at these temple deities, the mood in the eyes of each carving always drew me forward to examine it more closely. Sometimes the eyes were closed in deep meditation; sometimes they were open and serene, or they were commanding, or they were completely preoccupied with an accompanying deity. I saw how vastu used the placement and proportion of a deity to create visual power: So many times the eyes of the deities intentionally meet the eyes of the viewer. In one arrangement of carvings, their size reflected their importance in the temple: Shiva was placed in the center niche. Above this manifestation of Shiva was another niche containing a carving of Vishnu smaller than the carving of Shiva. Brahma was in a niche directly below Shiva, and was the smallest of the three deities. |
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