Hindu temple architecture as the main form of Hindu architecture has many varieties of style, though the basic nature of the Hindu temple remains the same, with the essential feature an inner sanctum, the garbha griha or womb-chamber, where the primary Murti or the image of a deity is housed in a simple bare cell. Around this chamber there are often other structures and buildings, in the largest cases covering several acres. On the exterior, the garbhagriha is crowned by a tower-like shikhara, also called the vimana in the south and Meru tower in Balinese temple. The shrine building often includes an ambulatory for parikrama (circumambulation), a mandapa congregation hall, and sometimes an antarala antechamber and porch between garbhagriha and mandapa. There may further mandapas or other buildings, connected or detached, in large temples, together with other small temples in the compound.

Aditya Dubey born on 29th August, 1967 in Faizabad, UP. He is a renowned Sociologist and feminist scholar. He has been Distinguished Scholar-Teacher. He completed his bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, and obtained his Ph.D. degree from CCS University, Meerut, UP. He is Professor of Sociology. His major areas of interest are sociological theory and the sociology of consumption. He has written many more on sociology, anthropology, political science, women studies, geography, environment, literature, economics etc.