The Tantric Temple

Abstract This chapter explores the characteristics of tantric temples. It will work from the account of the temple built for tantric practice given in the Piṅgalāmata, a Śaiva pratiṣṭhā tantra from the north of India, attested in the tenth century. Pratiṣṭhā tantra materials are specifically concerned with the construction, installation, and consecration of the tantric temple and the image within it. In order to place this singular account within Śaiva tantra as a whole, the study will look across from this early and northern Śaiva text to later ones, and also to those that come from the south and from the Vaiṣṇava stream. The Piṅgalāmata will be followed to learn the temple’s purpose, its design and construction, and the ensuing ritual practices and management that concern the temple structure. In particular, a close watch will be placed on what it is that is given in pratiṣṭhā tantra material of this kind that is not treated in building manuals outside the tantric traditions: what it is about the tantric temple that makes it more than just a building.