Hindu temple architectureΒ as the main form ofΒ Hindu architectureΒ has many varieties of style, though the basic nature of theΒ Hindu templeΒ remains the same, with the essential feature an inner sanctum, theΒ garbha grihaΒ or womb-chamber, where the primaryΒ MurtiΒ or the image of a deity is housed in a simple bare cell. Around this chamber there are often other structures and buildings, in the largest cases covering several acres. On the exterior, the garbhagriha is crowned by a tower-likeΒ shikhara, also called theΒ vimanaΒ in the south andΒ Meru towerΒ inΒ Balinese temple. The shrine building often includes an ambulatory forΒ parikramaΒ (circumambulation), aΒ mandapaΒ congregation hall, and sometimes anΒ antaralaΒ antechamber and porch between garbhagriha and mandapa. There may further mandapas or other buildings, connected or detached, in large temples, together with other small temples in the compound.[1]
Hindu temple architecture reflects a synthesis of arts, the ideals ofΒ dharma, beliefs, values and the way of life cherished under Hinduism. The temple is a place forΒ Tirthaβpilgrimage.[2]Β All the cosmic elements that create and celebrate life in Hindu pantheon, are present in a Hindu templeβfrom fire to water, from images of nature to deities, from the feminine to the masculine, fromΒ kamaΒ toΒ artha, from the fleeting sounds and incense smells to Purushaβthe eternal nothingness yet universalityβis part of a Hindu temple architecture.[2]Β The form and meanings of architectural elements in a Hindu temple are designed to function as the place where it is the link between man and the divine, to help his progress to spiritual knowledge and truth, his liberation it callsΒ moksha.[3]
The architectural principles of Hindu temples in India are described inΒ Shilpa ShastrasΒ and Vastu Sastras.[4][5]Β The Hindu culture has encouraged aesthetic independence to its temple builders, and its architects have sometimes exercised considerable flexibility in creative expression by adopting other perfect geometries and mathematical principles inΒ MandirΒ construction to express the Hindu way of life.
The wordΒ mukhaΒ inΒ SanskritΒ refers to the face whileΒ kΔ«rtiΒ means "fame, glory". The story of Kirtimukha begins when a great kingΒ Jalandhara, who "by virtue of extraordinary austerities ... accumulated to himself irresistible powers."[2]Β In a burst of pride, he sent forth his messenger, the monsterΒ Rahu, whose main task is eclipsing the moon, to challenge Shiva. "The challenge ... was that Shiva should give up his shining jewel of a bride [Parvati]."[3]Β Shiva's immediate answer was to explode a tremendous burst of power from his third eye, which created a horrendous, emaciated, ravenous lion. A terrified Rahu sought Shiva's mercy, which Shiva agreed to. But how then were they to feed the ravenous demon lion? "Shiva suggested that the monster should feed on the flesh of its own feet and hands."[4]Β So Kirtimukha willingly ate his body starting with its tail as per Lord Shiva's order, stopping only when his face remained. Shiva, who was pleased with the result gave it the nameΒ Face of GloryΒ and declared that it should always be at the door of his temples. Thus Kirtimukha is a symbol of Shiva himself.
The Kirtimukha is often used as aΒ motifΒ surmounting the pinnacle of a temple or the image of a deity, especially inΒ South IndianΒ architecture. As Zimmer writes, "Kirtimukha serves primarily as an apotropaic demon-mask, a gruesome, awe-inspiring guardian of the threshold."[5]
This face is sometimes confused with another sculptural element, the lion faceΒ (Simhamukha).[6]Β However, in order to be a Kirtimukha it has to be engaged in swallowing, for the Kirtimukha is the figure of the "all consuming"[7]
This monstrous face with bulging eyes sits also as an embellishment over theΒ lintelΒ of the gate to the inner sanctum in many Hindu temples signifying the reabsorption that marks the entry into the temple.[8]Β InΒ Dravidian architectureΒ and elsewhere it topsΒ gavakshaΒ (kudu, nasi) motifs. Mostly it is only a face, indeed very often only the upper jaw and top of the face is visible, although in some places its arms are portrayed as well. The motif can also sometimes be found in Shiva's matted hair.[9]
Some authors have compared the Kirtimukha with theΒ Greek mythΒ ofΒ Ouroboros.[10]