Vidhyashankara Temple

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59MAHARUDRAM 2012

Introduction: VidyAshankara temple is a monument to

jagadguru VidyA TIrtha, who entered into lambika yoga sa-

jIva samAdhi (consciously entering into meditation to cast

off the body) at the temple site. This fourteenth century

temple is hailed as ‘poetry in stone’. It is famously known

for its twelve zodiac pillars (rAshi stambhas) with a zodiac

month sign carved on each of them. The morning sun-

light rays illumine the zodiac pillars in regular order of the

zodiac months, according to the temple sources1. The me-

chanics of this unique astronomical phenomenon is not

found in any of these sources. An astronomical study 2 was

undertaken “to see whether the twelve rAashi stambhas(zodiacal pillars) of VidyAshankara temple, Sringeri have

any astronomical significance”; the study concluded that

sunlight rays do not illuminate the zodiac pillars of the

VidyAshankara temple at Sringeri, as claimed by the temple

sources, due to precession of equinoxes. After meticulous

observations, the astronomical study shows that there is

no correspondence between the date of illumination of a

pillar and the date of entry of the sun to a corresponding

rAshi or sign with the exception of two incorrectly marked

pillars on solstices. The study concludes “fortuitous align-ment of the two pillars can be used to demonstrate the

effect of precession on the Indian Siddhantic calendar”.

This article examines the conclusions reached by the as-

tronomical study, in the light of religious symbolism.

Late Shrinivasaraghava Aiyangar3 warns it would be im-

prudent to conclude that the ancient astronomical works

are incorrect, without being schooled in them, while dis-

cussing VarAha Mihira’s magnum opus ”bRuhad jAtaka”,

which is a highly acclaimed work on astrology. Aiyangar

illustrates that VarAha Mihira, a master of poetics, codifies

different topics of his work with different poetic meters

and he uses Sanskrit meter (“ pushpitAgra” ) to describe rAja

Yoga details in ”bRuhad jAtaka”, along with astronomy and

astrology information. This method of narrating different

subjects with different poetic meters is not obvious and so

one may conclude that his astronomy or astrology is er-

roneous.

Following Aiyangar’s logic, we can observe that word zo-

diac (rAshi ) connotes astronomy and calendars and so it

may seem obvious that these pillars are related to calen-

dars. Since these pillars are erected in a temple, it may also

seem obvious that they follow the siddhAntic calendar. To

properly interpret the data collected and tabulated by the

astronomical study, we need to supplement the data with

the symbolism associated with the temple construction

We need to study the symbolism of zodiac pillars in a tem-

ple to verify that they indeed relate to siddhAntic calendar

A critical review was undertaken to understand the astro-

nomical study assumptions and its conclusions. This criti-cal review establishes the purpose for erecting the zodiac

pillars in this temple. Once we understand the significance

of the zodiac pillars in the temple, we can then address the

issue of the sunlight rays illumining the zodiac pillars in

their regular order as claimed by the temple sources. A

representative model of the zodiac pillars is constructed

to test the religious symbolism hypothesis and it is shown

to work. First, we offer a critical review of the Astronomica

study.

Critical Review of the Astronomical Study Findings: The

astronomical study shows that the northerly and souther

ly transit of the sun, during a year, is similar to the motion

of a pendulum; they trace the same path, back and forth

Therefore, sun light rays illumine only six of the twelve pil

lars (figure 2). The astronomical study shows that the sun-

light rays from the front three doors cannot reach some of

the pillars and when the sunlight rays do reach the other

pillars, the zodiac symbols carved on them are wrong. It

shows further, that the temple faces true east; and the

south and the north doors are aligned to receive the win-

ter and summer solstice sunlight rays; and, the sunlight

rays do enter the temple through these doors on solstices

and equinoxes. That is to say, the astronomical study es

tablishes that the four seasonal markers at the temple site

are accurate.

Weakness of the Astronomical Study: We learn form the

study that the seasonal markers at the temple are accu-

Sringeri VidyAshankara Templein the Light of Yoga

Viswa N Sharma, San Ramon, California





61

Sringeri VidyAshankara Temple in the Light of Yoga

MAHARUDRAM 2012

ets orbit around in the celestial sphere, they pass trough

the constellation of stars or the zodiac. The zodiac pillars

represent these celestial spheres, of the time bound world.

The macrocosm (universe - brahmAnDa) and microcosm

(individual - pinDAnDa) are allegorically equivalent. In

this sense, human beings have to have an inner celestial

sphere similar to that of the external universe. The inter-nal celestial sphere and the motions in that sphere are de-

tailed in sUta-samhita and jAbAla Upanishad. The zodiac

pillars represent these celestial spheres.

In the Hindu scriptures, the six month northern transit,

and the six month southern transit of the sun, are the

mornings of Gods and night of the manes and night of the

God and morning of the manes, respectively,. These sun’s

transits also represent the inner world contemplation and

external world contemplations of a yogi. Therefore, anallegorical morning represents the morning of Gods, the

night of manes and the object of internal contemplation

of a yogi. Similarly, the night of the allegorical day, rep-

resents the morning of manes, the night of Gods and the

object of external contemplation of a yogi.

Recall that the external sunlight can only illumine six pil-

lars, due to the pendulum like motions of northern and

southern transits. Recall further that the order of these

six pillar illumination conforms to a southern hemisphere

temple. Therefore, the external sunlight rays representonly one part of this allegorical day symbolism. The sym-

bolic representation of other part of this allegorical day

has to be explained and the hemisphere puzzle, as dis-

cussed previously, has to be solved.

Solution to the Hemisphere Puzzle: We can observe

that if there was a light source from the western side, simi-

lar to the sunlight from the eastern side, it completes the

time symbolism to perfection. We can observe that the

door from the sanctum sanctorum facing the zodiac pillars

is symmetrical to the eastern front door (figure 1). If we

study the temple tower, we can locate a very unusual win-

dow in the front side. The sunlight from the tower window

can be reflected from the walls of sanctum sanctorum to

the zodiac pillars. We can observe that the reflected light

illumines the rest of the six pillars in the zodiacal order in-

dicated by the signs carved on them. Thus, we can notice

that the reflected sunlight rays solve the hemisphere puz-

zle. We will examine the symbolism of this reflected light

The Reflected Light Symbolism: The reflected sunlight

from the sanctum sanctorum represents the divine con-

sciousness in the form of light ( parama-jyOti ) and high

lights that “Consciousness is Brahman” (prajnyAnam brah

ma). The external sunlight represents the time boundworld. The reflected sunlight rays in uttarayaña and the

external sunlight rays in dakShiNayana illumine the pillars

in their zodiacal order. The reflected sunlight illumination

has to be verified at the temple. The external sunlight il

lumination can be verified by the data of the astronomica

study.

To observe the sunlight phenomena at the temple, we can

look at the different surfaces of the zodiac pillars, based on

the seasons. Alternatively, one of the two sources of ligh

can be selected by opening and closing the front door and

the tower window, depending on the season, which agree

with the festival aspects of uttarAyaNa and dakShiNAyana

and the yoga practice and brings the symbolism to perfec

tion.

Conclusion: VidyAshankara temple is a picturesque poem

on the essence of lambika yoga and Vedanta, in stone

sculpture. The architects accent the time symbolism o

their allegorical narration with the sunlight rays. Morning

sunlight rays from the eastern front door and the reflect-ed morning sunlight rays from the sanctum sanctorum

illumine the zodiac pillars in regular order of the zodiac

months.

References:

1. Greatness of shringeri, A publication of dakShiNAm

nAya Shri Sharada Peetham, Sringeri (rev edtn, Oct

2001)

2. Zodiacal Pillars of Shringeri, Dr. B.S. Shylaja, Taralaya, Benga

luru, Current Science,Vol. 92, No. 6, 25,

20073. VarAha MihIra hOrashAstrram, A.N. Srinivasaraghava

Aiyangar, The Adyar Library, 1951, ISBN 0-8356-7417-7

4. Amaravani, (v5, v10) aShtAnga Yoga vijnyAna Mandi

ram, 957 Sheshadri Iyer Road, Lakshmi Puram, Mysuru-

4

5. R.C Gupta, Solutions of the Astronomical Triangle as

found in Tantra Samgraha, Birla Institute of Technol-

ogy.

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Vidhyashankara Temple