Lakshmi Narayana Temple Pratishta

[Jagannath Chatterjee]

Dear Malolan,

In Orissa (India) at least there are many instances of
Buddhist temples being converted to Hindu temples.

The reverse is also possible. The Jagannath Temple at
Puri was, for a period, converted into a Buddhist
temple till Sri Shankaracharya reverted it back to the
Hindu Vaidic fold. The image of Lord Buddha which was
then worshipped is hidden in the temple precincts and
today goes by the name of Adi Surya. You have to bribe
the survitors to see it.

There are also hardcore kapalika temples in Orissa
where the powers of the deities have been minimised by
a tantric process and today the worship is confined to
offering of flowers (hibiscus) and fruits. One such
temple at Bhubaneswar (Vaital Temple) was once famous
for regular human sacrifices. This temple is said to
be of Buddhist origin.

Actually the structure and scope of temples has always
been defined by the ruling patronage. So I don't think
it surprising that Hindu temples (vaidic or not) may
owe their origins to other religious structures.

Perhaps all this is most evident in Jagannatha Temple
in Puri where the rituals combine
Hindu/Buddhist/kapalika/adivasi/tantric/vaishnava
rites.

Regards
Jagannath
--- Malolan Cadambi <cadambi at HOTPOP.COM> wrote:
> >Tracing the origins of many temples like
> kanchi/shringeri would definitely lead us to
> Bauddha/Jaina / Kapalika/kalamukha roots!! Hence my
> query is >limited to current practice [ ie in the
> last few centuries]
>
> ????? Boudha/Jaina origins? Please substanstiate on
> this matter. Boudha, Jaina and other nastika
> philosophies hijacked the aasthika temples. None of
> the vaidika temples can be of nasthika origin.
>
> -Malolan
>
>
>
>
>


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