Hill and Mountain top Temples

Architect Srishti Dokras

Dr Uday Dokras PhD SWEDEN

The great Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore revealed in his book Sadhana – The
Realization of Life: “India chose her places of pilgrimage wherever there was in nature
some special grandeur or beauty, so that her mind could come out of its world of
narrow necessities and realize its place in the infinite (God).”

The reason for most of the temples being built amongst mountains is because
it is assumed that in olden days, Hindu Gods and Goddesses went to the
mountains to meditate, to introspect, to attain ascetic powers and to engage in
rigorous disciplined self-mortification. Mountainous areas were usually
peaceful and conducive for such noble activities without any worldly
disturbances. For more understanding on this topic, we should go into the
concept of Temple Building. A Temple is built in such a way that it absorbs and
propagates energy to the living beings around it.

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Similarly, Temples are built in places which propagate most Electromagnetic
Energy. Naturally our ancients found such places near Hills and Mountains.
Many Temples in India are found on mountains hills confluences of rivers
,mouth of the rivers, sea shores, origins of the rivers alongside lakes. In faith
you must have a story. A story must have a striking background and setup.
What would be more striking than a extra-ordinary geographical feature. Like a
mountain

That's why you have all the temples set up at these exquisite locations having
some story connected to them from the mythology.

It is like being part of the story as well.. people believing in ancient tale or
folklore and go on pilgrimages while living those stories during their travel.
They themselves become characters in the play when they tell the stories to
other people

All these places are extreme places when pilgrims march together..The oneness
is created and people get organised in someway. So it is also part of tactics to
bind the adherents of one religion. When people return they have story of
struggle to share, society also recognizes these as a feet achieved and it
actually is as these places are far flung and not easy to reach.

These Gods, Goddesses and saints acquired spiritual powers in the process
and many of them even attained 'Moksha' (Liberation) from there. This makes
the land over there pure, sacred and worthy of visiting. Therefore as a mark of
respect to these deities, temples are built there for people to visit, pray and get
inspired to be like them. Apart from mythological reasons, the construction of
temples on top of hills served many other practical functions.

In olden days, people used to move on foot from place to place. The Temples on
the hill-top gave them easy visibility to the travelers so that they can rest there,
have water and food etc. Also, in the olden days, the temples were an important
place for social activities. The temples on hill-tops will easy visibility to
celebrations, poojas etc. being held there.

The hill-top provides peace which is also a must for meditation and worship.
It is interesting to note that Mother Nature forms the backdrop of major
pilgrimage sites in India, many of which are located deep in the Himalayan
mountains, inside the caves, carved out of sheer cliff faces, near beautiful
rivers and lakes or by the ocean-side.

And while Tagore offers an answer in the Indian context, it is just as applicable
to Christian and Buddhist monasteries throughout the world, many of which
are built in places of immense natural beauty and solitude. Such a setting is
highly conducive to prayer, contemplation and meditation.

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So the next time you visit to a Indian temple on a hill, remember the effort is
not in vain. There is a purpose hidden behind the journey – to turn your mind
away from the distractions of the outer world, and focus it on discovering the
profound truths of the inner world.
Not all temples are located on hilltops. There are plenty more that are located
in valleys, beside seashore and along a river.

Hilltops and moutain tops have historically been quite difficult to reach, and
making spiritual trips to such places were painstakingly long and arduous.
And such hardships only make the whole endeavor of seeking spiritual
awareness make all the more meaningful.

However, apart from having a psychological and historical significance, they

also boast of having a strategic location. These temples are mostly several
decades old if not several centuries. And their position was chosen to effectively
provide a refugee in case floods ravage the plains. There are several reasons for
that archaeological scientifical spiritual etc……. But if you observe these kind
of Temples…. It pretty tough to visit them. Menaing so much of physical energy
is needed. I hope you agree with this

Sadyojat is responsible for Creation, owns West direction, is incarnated in form

of Earth or Pṛthvī. For this he(absolute) at Shikhar without any attribution
called Nirgun Brahman. If any living human reached at atop of mountain.
He/she is blessed by Shiv

In Karma theory whatever sin or good we do it will stick to our body…. That is
why we sometimes suffer and sometimes happy.The energy we give in serving
God through climbing his steps, holding his chariot, cleaning his Temple
premises etc…these are compensated with our sins by God.

There are many examples of temples designed with sound scientific principles
and much more.

1. They are pyramidal in shape.

2. They absorb negative energies carried by people and entities and shoot it
out into space through their tips.
3. They capture positive energy from the universe and fill up the inside
space .
4. This energy is readily available for visitors.
5. Many of the ancient temples are built on mountains.
6. Mountains are pyramidal in shape.
7. Just as temples are pyramidal in shape.
8. The pyramid shape has the ability to concentrate energy. It has ability to
focus the energy at it's tip.
9. Energy can move in and out through the top.

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 10. The ancient temples were built with sound scientific and
geometrical properties. The earth's magnetic directions were very much
considered in it's design. Often temple entries face east. Except some
hanuman temples that faces south.
11. When a temple is built on top of a mountain . the entire temple
structure along with the mountain acts as a single giant pyramid.
12. The energy then generated is immense.
13. The flow of energies is of exponential proportions.
14. Hence so many temples were built on mountains.

Imagine a mobile phone with network. If you are near a network tower you will
get good signal, and if you are far off, you will get less signal.

The story and background behind a particular place attracts a hell lot of
people for the piligrimage or tour. It is tour in true sense but it becomes “yatra”
because of the people’s beleif. Off course people generate a lot of positivity
within themselves after yatras as they feel closer and connected to the
mythological stories they have known.

Every religious centre has some story and striking great stories like Amarnath
has story of the Parrot which gets into the stomach of a Saint’s wife. Kedarnath
has story of Lord Shiva diving into the earth and then coming out of five
different places making panch kedaranath, recent tragedy of kedarnath only
added to the stories.

Area: Many of Tamil Nadu’s temple complexes are humongous in area, but this
is a practice more or less unique to the state (atleast as a regular practice) —
the temple complexes of Tamil Nadu are gigantic due to the practice of
expansion of the complex around a main historically important temple. This
practice started mainly during the reign of Medieval Cōḻas.Such temples cannot
be palced on Mountain tops.

Andhra Pradesh, like most other places in Indian subcontinent, as well as Pre-
Medieval Cōḻa Tamil Nadu, has sites with multiple temples/temple complexes
built but with no clear order of importance. This results in numerous sites but
overall less area covered by temple complexes. Nonetheless, Andhra Pradesh
has a lot to offer. Andhra temple complexes exhibit the regular Drāviḍa
architecture, Karnāṭa architecture and Kaliṅga architecture styles, along with
their own innovations.

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 Be
autiful View of Mumbra Creek, Diva, Kalyan, Haji Malang from Mumbra Devi Temple

Mumbra Devi Temple is situated in Parsik Hill. It is a temple situated at a

height of 210 meters appx above sea level. One has to climb numerous
steps in order to reach temple. An average person can reach the temple
under 20 mins. The Mumbra Devi temple can be seen from the local train
as the the train approaches Mumbra. Mumbra place gets its name after
this goddess. It looks as if its near but is at a great height. One can see
whole plains from the temple. The temple is made in rocks and now
concrete structures are built. The BELOW photo is from the base of the
mountain and one can see the temple at the top. Actually the climb starts from
the station its self. This is after crossing the Mumbra highway (Asian Highway
47). After coming out of Mumbra station there is a gully on opposite side which
is quite steep to climb and from here itself climb starts. After certain climb steps
will start and then it passes under the Mumbra highway, a small subway like.
Coming out of it will bring you to the steps again as shown in the above pictu

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 Mumbra Devi H ill
Temple/ Steps of Mumbra Devi Hill Temple

There are 700 steps to climb. Young can climb easily but for the oldies its a
challenge. Mumbra Devi Temple on the edge of sheer rock cliff. One can climb
that rock above the temple with ropes but it is not permissible. People throw
garbage from the hill which spoils the beauty. All thanks to for the mumbra pics
and edited factshttps://gautamkhetwal.wordpress.com/2013/05/30/mumbra-
devi-hill-temple/

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 Mumbra Devi Hill Templ e

This is the crevice between the two hills. The total height till the top is around
290 meters appx. Mumbra devi is the main local deity of the Agri and Koli
community as Mumbra was flourished by these people with farming and fishing
activities in early 17th century. On the very base you can see the start of the
steps which goes on till the top and the road there is Mumbra highway. The
temple is crowded during Navratri season which is a festive season. One can buy
offerings to the temple at the base or at the top itself. Some people while
climbing paint each steps as a devotion where as some light kapoors (camphors)
one by one on every step while climbing till top .