Publisher's Desk: Three Kinds of Temples (Part 2/2)
960 views · Published 23 May 2009 · 3:45 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: HinduismTodayVideos · 2009 · Nonprofits & Activism
Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, publisher of Hinduism Today magazine, reads his Publisher's Desk article from the Jul/Aug/Sep 2009 issue on camera. He speaks of the community temple, the home shrine and the soul, the temple within you. (Part 2/2) It would be hard to overestimate the power and importance of the temple in Hindu culture and spiritual practice--the home of God to which we go for solace and connection with the divine. When we think of temples, we naturally think of community temples, those always welcoming, often ornate, magical spaces which I like to call pura mandiras. Worshiping in these temples is a central practice in Hinduism. But there is a broader, seldom discussed understanding of the temple in Sanatana Dharma which embraces two other sacred places of communion as equally important. One is the home shrine, or griha mandira, and the other is the soul temple or atma mandira.
