orthodox Hindu culture. In approximately 350
short verses, Umasvami surveys basic Jain doc-
trine. He discusses salvation; states of the soul; the
human, celestial, and infernal realms; insentient
reality; the nature of KARMA, karmic bondage, and
the acquisition and removal of karma. The Tat-
tvartha Sutra is the only Jain text that is accepted
by both of the two main sects, the SHVETAMBARA
and the DIGAMBARA.
Further reading: P. S. Jaini, Jaina Path of Purification
(Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1990); Nathmal Tatia,
trans., That Which Is: Tattvartha Sutra by Umasvami:
With the Combined Commentaries of Umasvami, Pujya-
pada and Siddhasenagani (San Francisco: HarperCollins,
1994).
Tegh Bahadur See SIKHISM.
tejas (Agni) See ELEMENTS, FIVE.
temple
The temple is the center of Hindu worship. It
can vary in size from a small shrine with a simple
thatched roof to vast complexes of stone and
masonry.
During most times of the year the temple is
devoted to individual or family worship or to
greeting of the divinity. Since many houses in
India have their own shrines set up for worship,
the temple is reserved for special worship or for
requests to the divinity, often by people who have
made PILGRIMAGES. At festival times temples are
given over to group worship, as devotees sing
BHAJANS or KIRTANS, or to various rituals that com-
memorate special events in the life of the divin-
ity, for example, the marriage of MINAKSHI at the
Meenakshi Temple in Madurai.
The early worship of the VEDAS took the form
of a ceremony around a fire or fires, without any
permanent structures or icons. Location was
unimportant. As Hinduism developed, it bor-
rowed from other modes of worship, and both
location and iconography became central features.
Often geography determined temple location: high
places that jut out from the countryside would
usually have at least small temples at their sum-
mits, as would river junctions. In addition, places
traditionally associated with events in the lives of
a deity would often be marked with temples. The
temple at RAMESHVARAM, for example, marks the
place where RAMA had his monkey armies build
a bridge to cross over and fight the demon king
Ravana, according to the RAMAYANA.
Today, ICON worship is central to Indian tem-
ple worship. The stone itself is not worshipped.
The icon is merely the place the divinity inhabits.
A complex ritual must first be performed to install
the divinity in the image. Thereafter, the image is
treated as the divinity itself would be: it is bathed,
dressed, sung to, fed, and feted each day. For
SHAIVITES, most often the icon is the SHIVA LINGAM,A typical Hindu temple tower. Shown here is the
Krishna temple in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu.
(Constance A. Jones)K 440 Tegh Bahadur