When did Hindu temples start getting built? Which is the oldest functional Hindu temple?

Last updated on 2nd Oct. 2022

I add to the above questions: When did Hindu mathas (monasteries) start?

These are sensitive questions with a variety of conflicting answers from different sources. Therefore initially I was hesitant to put up a post on this topic. Eventually I felt that I should put up a limited post raising the questions and sharing responses mainly from wikipedia. I also decided to split it into two posts with second post addressing the Hindu mathas (monasteries) question but with this post having some common introductory info.

I had these questions in my mind for some years now. Reading a section in Romila Thapar's (History of) Early India book revived these questions. In particular, in the section, "Philosophical and Religious Changes" (pages 348 - 362) in the chapter, "The Peninsula: Emerging Regional Kingdoms c. AD 500-900)", Thapar provides her views on the section-title topic which covers some of the ground for the questions raised in this post. Earlier parts of her book also cover some of this ground. I do not want to share Thapar's views in this post as her views are that of an (academic) historian where conclusions are made based on available evidence acceptable to academic historians, and which conclusions change when more evidence (acceptable to academic historians) emerges. I consider divine revelations by great spiritual masters to be a vital source of information in this regard but that alone (without evidence acceptable to academic historians) is not accepted by academic historians.

However, as mentioned earlier, the section triggered my interest in the questions I mentioned above. So I browsed around on the Internet, especially wikipedia, for more info. on this. I am sharing below some of this information.

Given below are extracts from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_temple#Historical_development_and_destruction :

A number of ancient Indian texts suggest the prevalence of murtis, temples and shrines in Indian subcontinent for thousands of years. For example, the temples of the Koshala kingdom are mentioned in the Valmiki Ramayana[115] (various recent scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text range from the 7th to 4th centuries BCE, with later stages extending up to the 3rd century CE)[116] The 5th century BCE text, Astadhyayi, mentions male deity arcas or murtis of Agni, Indra, Varuna, Rudra, Mrda, Pusa, Surya, and Soma being worshipped, as well as the worship of arcas of female goddesses such as Indrani, Varunani, Usa, Bhavani, Prthivi and Vrsakapayi.[117] The 2nd century BCE "Mahabhasya" of Patanjali extensively describes temples of Dhanapati (deity of wealth and finance, Kubera), as well as temples of Rama and Kesava, wherein the worship included dance, music and extensive rituals. The Mahabhasya also describes the rituals for Krsna, Visnu and Siva. An image recovered from Mathura in north India has been dated to the 2nd century BCE.[117] Kautilya's Arthashastra from 4th century BCE describes a city of temples, each enshrining various Vedic and Puranic deities. All three of these sources have common names, describe common rituals, symbolism and significance possibly suggesting that the idea of murtis, temples and shrines passed from one generation to next, in ancient India, at least from the 4th century BCE.[117] The oldest temples, suggest scholars, were built of brick and wood. Stone became the preferred material of construction later.[118][119]

Early Jain and Buddhist literature, along with Kautilya's Arthashastra, describe structures, embellishments and designs of these temples – all with motifs and deities currently prevalent in Hinduism. Bas-reliefs and murtis have been found from 2nd to 3rd century, but none of the temple structures have survived. Scholars[117] theorize that those ancient temples of India, later referred to as Hindu temples, were modeled after domestic structure – a house or a palace. Beyond shrines, nature was revered, in forms such as trees, rivers, and stupas, before the time of Buddha and Vardhamana Mahavira. As Jainism and Buddhism branched off from the religious tradition later to be called Hinduism, the ideas, designs and plans of ancient Vedic and Upanishad era shrines were adopted and evolved, likely from the competitive development of temples and arts in Jainism and Buddhism.

[References:]

115. Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Khand, Canto 50, Verse 8

116. J. L. Brockington (1998). The Sanskrit Epics. BRILL. pp. 379–. ISBN 90-04-10260-4.

117. Michael Meister (1988), Encyclopedia of Indian Temple Architecture, Oxford University Press, 0-691-04053-2, Chapter 1

118. Subhash Kak, Early Indian Architecture and Art, Migration & Diffusion, Vol.6/Nr.23, pages 6-27, 2005.

119. Stella Kramrisch, The Hindu Temple. University of Calcutta, Calcutta, 1946.

--- end wiki extracts ---

Ravi: Quite fascinating to see the above text of wikipedia! If I recall correctly, Romila Thapar does not mention a temple from Ramayana times (perhaps as she views Ramayana as not historical fact). However, in my reading of Kamala Subramanian's English translation of Ramayana, I do not recall reading about references to temples. Perhaps I read it but did not note it. In contrast, I recall many references of Lord Rama and others doing worship of God through Yagna and other rituals conducted in the open (outside any structure like a temple).

The great thing about the wikipedia text is that the reference to the Valmiki Ramayana verse is provided! It is Ayodhya Khand, Canto 50, Verse 8. The text of Canto (or Chapter/Sarga) 50 in Sanskrit and English can be viewed here: https://sanskritdocuments.org/sites/valmikiramayan/ayodhya/sarga50/ayodhyaroman50.htm.

Verse 8 English text from above is as follows:

Then Rama, a tiger among men, in his chariot, crossed Kosala territory, which was rich in grain and treasure, inhabited by men given to charity, benevolent and free from every danger, pleasing, full of temples and sacrificial stakes, adorned with gardens and mango-orchards, intersected by ponds full of water, populated by contented and well nourished people, abounded in herds of cows which deserved to be seen by all kings and which re-echoed to the chanting of religious texts.

--- end verse 8 English text ---

The wikipedia page provides dates of Ramayana corresponding to above verses, based on (academic history) scholars' views as 7th to 4th centuries BCE. But I go by the dates revealed by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba which is 20,000 years ago. [For details see my post: Sathya Sai Baba on historicity of Rama and Krishna, https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2015/01/sathya-sai-on-historicity-of-rama-and.html .]

So I have to say that my view is that earliest Hindu temples in some form (perhaps different from later stone temples), were there, most probably, at least 20,000 years ago. But there is no archeological evidence that has been found for such ancient temples. And so academic historians will not accept such a view.

The next question that pops up is which is the most ancient Hindu temple for which there is archeological evidence acceptable to historians. I could not get a suitable wikipedia page/section answering that. Some other site(s) make statements of archeological evidence of very old Hindu temples (now not functional) 6000 to 8000 years ago. But I don't know how accurate these statements are.

What I could get from wikipedia was its view of the most ancient ***functional*** Hindu temple in India. Given below are relevant extracts from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mundeshwari_Temple :

The Mundeshwari Devi Temple (also spelled Mundesvari) is a Hindu temple, located at ramgarh village, 608 feet (185 m)[2] on the Mundeshwari Hills of Kaimur plateau near Son River, in the Indian state of Bihar. It is an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protected monument since 1915.[3] The ASI has recently dated the structure to 108 CE making it the oldest Hindu temple in the country.[4][5][6] An information plaque at the site indicates the dating of the temple at least to 625 CE and Hindu inscriptions dated 635 CE were found in the temple.[7]

It is an ancient temple dedicated to the worship of the goddess Durga and is considered one of the oldest functional Hindu temples in India.[8][9][10] The findings also established that here was a religious and educational center spread over the hillock and Mandaleshwar (Shiva) temple was the main shrine. The Mandaleshwari (Durga) was on the southern side. The temple was damaged and the idol of Mandaleshwari (degenerated Mundeshwari and later connected with the mythical demon Mund) was kept in the eastern chamber of the main temple.[11]

[References:]

1. The information plaque erected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at the site indicates the dating of the temple to 635 CE but the Bihar State Religious Trust Board fixed its date in 108 AD. Information board at Mundeshwari devi temple.jpg

2. "Alphabetical List of Monuments – Bihar". Serial number 62. Archaeological Survey of India. Archived from the original on 2011-11-03. Retrieved 2011-06-03.

3. "BSBRT to renovate Mundeshwari temple". The Times of India. 1 January 2011. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2011.

4. "Mundeshwari Temple: Department of Tourism, Bihar Government".

5. "Bihar: India's 'oldest serving deity' invoked for quake protection". Hindustan Times. 2015-04-27. Retrieved 2021-09-18.

6. "Bihar govt to develop country's oldest temple". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-09-18.

7. L.S.S. O`malley (2005). Bihar And Orissa Gazetteers Shahabad. Concept Publishing Company. pp. 36, 157. ISBN 978-81-7268-122-7. Retrieved 4 June 2011.

8. bihar-india-bihar-all-regions-of-bihar.html "Ma Mundeshwari Temple in Kaimur, Bihar". Hindu Temples. Archived from the original on 9 November 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2011. {{cite web}}: Check |archive-url= value (help)

9. "Film on 'oldest' surviving temple of Gupta Age". The Times of India. 12 June 2011. Archived from the original on 5 November 2011.

10. "Bihar to develop 'oldest' temple". The Times of India. 18 January 2008. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012.

11. Neuss, Jürgen (2003). "The Temple of Mundesvari: Reconsidering the Evidence". Berliner Indologische Studien: 531–585.

--- end wiki page extracts ---

I have attached the wiki page pic of the temple below [Courtesy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maa_Mundeshwari_Devi.jpg ]

[On PC desktop, to open pic in larger resolution (if available), right-click on pic followed by open link (NOT image) in new tab/window. In new tab/window you may have to click on pic to zoom in.]

The 108 CE recent dating of the above temple seems to make it the most ancient functional Hindu temple in India, and perhaps the world. But I don't know how accurate the above info. is. The references for this 108 CE dates are (I checked that the links work):

*) Mundeshwari Devi Temple, https://tourism.bihar.gov.in/en/destinations/kaimur/mundeshwari-devi-temple . This article states, "The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) dates the temple to 108 AD and has been a protected monument since 1915." But it does not give any reference for the ASI date.

*) Bihar: India's 'oldest serving deity' invoked for quake protection, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/bihar-india-s-oldest-serving-deity-invoked-for-quake-protection/story-ueZArQa2gT8BOf4DiKWuEL.html , Updated on 27th April 2015

*) Bihar govt to develop country's oldest temple, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/bihar-govt-to-develop-countrys-oldest-temple/articleshow/2709831.cms , Last updated on Jan. 18, 2008.

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When did Hindu temples start getting built? Which is the oldest functional Hindu temple?

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