century.^26 In the meanwhile, Ellora ̄, near Ajanta ̄ in Maharashtra, where
Buddhist monks had lived in caves and had overseen an explosion of
Buddhist art, became a center, not so much for the construction of temples,
but where Hindu sculpting and paintings appeared between the seventh and
ninth centuries.
Traditional patterns informed the architecture and ritual life of these
temples. Aesthetically, the temple embodied rasa– the “flavor” of brahman
- and was intended to invite the devotee to experience the flavor of the
divine. Many temples, especially those at Khajura ̄ho and Bhubanes ́wara,
presented a multiplicity of symmetry and sacral spaces. The temple was a
microcosm both horizontally and vertically: the tower in the north was called
as ́ikharaand was often curvilinear, though like those of the south, was
congruent to the human torso, and its parts were even assigned names
usually associated with the body. The temples also reflected the socio-
political reciprocities of the domains of the patron-king. There were
reciprocities and exchange of gifts and honors between royalty, sectarian
leaders, and landowners and various concessions or additions made to
alternate groups or patrons. The temple, that is, was also a socio-cultural
space which mirrored the identities of its users. A full ritual life was possible
within the temple environs. There was dramatization of a ̄gamic rules, for
example, the notions of circumambulation and concentricity. That is, space
was increasingly sacralized the more one approached the center. The
devotee moved inward and upward by virtue of the architecture; the energy
and grace of the deity flow outward and “downward.”
The architecture of such temples as that of Kona ̄rak and Khajura ̄ho is
replete with erotic sculpting on the outer face. These external sculptures
were intended to demonstrate the wide variety of practices being incor-
porated into the ambiance of the temple. On some temple exteriors (for
example, the Ra ̄mappa Temple in northern Andhra Pradesh), one finds
ascetics, probably Jain, side by side with copulating couples. The erotic
imagery was probably the result of incorporating tantric motifs into the
architecture of the temple. Tantrism was being “domesticated” and made
part of the classical tradition throughout India but especially by the ninth
to tenth centuries in the north. Tantrism was a significant variation of
religious expression and is worth some consideration.
Tantrism
The origins of tantrism are probably beyond reconstruction. Suffice it to
say that it appeared to combine “folk” and vaidikafeatures and that it
was undoubtedly practiced for centuries by groups who were outside the
The Post-classical Period 109