Images and Temples

During the first millennium CE, Hindus in India developed a complex and conspicuous set of religious practices and institutions centered on the worship of physical images or icons. These images were treated as theophanies, that is, as material embodiments or supports for the tangible presence of the Hindu gods. Considering the importance of these religious practices in classical and medieval India, it is surprising that discussion of them in the Dharmaśāstra literature is quite sparse. This chapter traces the discourse pertaining to Hindu images and temples within the Dharmaśāstra and related genres. It examines both the iconophobic orientation, as found in texts such as the Dharmaśāstra of Manu, and those orthodox iconodules within the Dharmaśāstra ambit who did engage with and articulate programs of image-related ritual practice.