page_title: Garbhagriha
section_title: Hinduism
hierarchical_section_title: Garbhagriha / Hinduism
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Garbhagriha(Pattadakal)
context_page_description: Garbhagriha is the sanctum sanctorum, the innermost sanctuary of a Hindu and Jain temples where resides the murti of the primary deity of the temple. In Jainism, the main deity is known as the Mulnayaka. Literally the word means "womb chamber", from the Sanskrit words garbha for womb and griha for house. Generally in Hinduism only 'priests' are allowed to enter this chamber. Although the term is often associated with Hindu temples, it is also found in Jain and Buddhist temples.
context_section_description: In the Dravida style, the garbhagriha took the form of a miniature vimana with other features exclusive to southern Indian temple architecture such as the inner wall together with the outer wall creating a pradakshina around the garbhagriha. The entrance is highly decorated. The inner garbhagriha or shrine became a separate structure, more elaborately adorned over time.
  The garbhagriha is normally square and sits on a plinth, its location calculated to be a point of total equilibrium and harmony as it is representative of a microcosm of the Universe. In the centre is placed the image of the deity.
  In some early temples it is not quite square, and in some later ones may be rectangular where more than one deity is worshipped and has an image there.  There are a very few examples of larger variance; the chamber at Gudimallam is both semi-circular at the rear, and set below the main floor level of the temple.  The famous 7th-century Durga temple, Aihole has a rounded apse at the garbagriha end, which is echoed in the shape of the chamber.
  Girbhagriha in Tamil: In Tamil language Girbha griha is called karuvarai meaning the interior of the sanctumnsanctorum. It is the iner- most of the sanctum and focus of the temple, where the image of the primary deity resides. The word karuarai means "womb chamber". The word' karu' means foetus and arai means a room. Only the priests are allowed to enter this innermost chamber. 
  But sometimes, for the temples of feminine deities, the garbagriha is rectangular. For example, in the temple of Varahi Deula in Chaurasi.
  The present structure of most of these temples is a two-storeyed vimana with a square garbhagriha and a surrounding circumambulatory path, an ardha-mandapa and a narrower maha-mandapa.
caption: Garbhagriha at Pattadakal with the Lingam icon of the god Shiva.
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