Want To Find A Rich Person In Russia? Look For The Lemons - Forbes

Fresh fruit has been a status symbol since time immemorial.

The Greek god of excess, Dionysus, is often depicted swathed in grapes. Southern mansions are graced by pineapples, a symbol of hospitality. Pomegranates, figs, apples, pears, peaches: You name it, it probably represents fertility, beauty, abundance or even immortality.

And now, some new data is showing that nothing has changed in the 21st century.

What do you associate with lemons? Freshness? Summer days? Coastal climes? Well, it seems that in Russia and Southeast Asia, they’re using them to show off.

See, back in January, I attended the ICR Conference, a huge venture capital event where I was able to sit down with Harold Edwards from Limoneira, a gigantic, fascinating company that has been growing lemons and other citrus fruits in California since 1893. Limoneira started buying land and water rights from the very beginning, and today it owns a staggering 14,500 acres of California land where it grows everything from avocados to cherries. As such, it sells internationally.

Harold Edwards, President and CEO of LimoneiraLIMONEIRA

Harold and I talked about a bunch of things, from how Limoneira's investing in its employees to the sustainable solutions (Insects! Solar! Smart water management!) it uses to keep its trees and the planet healthy. But what really sparked my interest was the story Harold told about how tracking global buying patterns have led him to discover an unexpected trend.

Harold noticed that "Russians consume a lot more lemons per capita than many other parts of the world. I was wondering, is that because they drink a lot of vodka? Is it because they're big tea drinkers? Why are they using so many lemons?" He started to investigate. He discovered that the answer wasn't quite that universal.

Unsurprisingly, lemons don't grow in Russia. It's too cold to produce them, so you have to buy them from far, far away. That makes the sour yellow citrus expensive. So expensive, in fact, that, "wealthy Russians really like to incorporate lemons into their lifestyle. It communicates to people that they have the means to be able to afford them. They call it the bling of produce."

A lemon tree, definitely not located in RussiaGETTY

As Limoneira started to dig into this, the team found that lemons that were perceived to be higher quality - California has a certain caché - were being purchased far more than lemons in general: "We then started to see similar things in parts of Southeast Asia. I thought it was just because there were a lot more restaurants that were cropping up, a lot more retail shopping opportunities, more disposable income. I thought that was driving all this demand, and certainly, that is part of it. But it's also become an aspirational item... as more people are starting to have money in these burgeoning middle-class economies, you're starting to see a lot more consumption from them because they can."

I asked Harold if he thinks this aspirational citrus boom had anything to do with a fetishized idea of Westernness, and his answer was careful, "I don't want to be culturally insensitive or say that our culture is superior because it's not. But I was in Hong Kong yesterday, and as you go around you see a lot of Western brands all throughout China now. Obviously, there's the Kentucky Fried Chicken story, there's the Starbucks story, these Western brands that become iconic and coveted as aspirational." That said, he thinks that ideas of how great California may or may not be only go so far in explaining this, "I went to a couple of grocery stores while I was there, and it's interesting. You go into these retailers, and the biggest section by far is the produce section. It's packed. That's where every consumer is spending their time."

By tracking the buying patterns of lemon-eating consumers around the world, Limoneira has found that lemons are a remarkable indicator of upward mobility. Americans say that the "world is your oyster,” but to these buyers, the world is more like a lemon, easily in reach, even across oceans.

Four Things You Probably Didn't Know About High Potential Employees

Although psychologists have evaluated human potential for over a century, it is only recently that HR practitioners became obsessed with the identification of high potential employees, also known as HiPos. While definitions of potential vary, they generally concern probability, in particular the likelihood of making a substantial contribution to organizational output in the future. Thus a HiPo is someone who will probably become a key player in the future, meaning they are worthy of special care, development, and retention. To identify someone as a HiPo is to make a strong bet on their future, or expect them to have a bright future.

Importantly, no matter how effective today’s key players may be, they will not be around for ever, so having strong HiPos in place will ensure a long-lasting talent pipeline and healthy succession plan for the organization. The alternative would be to replace top employees with external candidates, which tends to be more expensive and have lower chances of success: even when you hire people with the right skills, they often fail to adapt to the new culture because of incompatible values or style. And it can cost a small fortune to replace them.

So, how well are companies executing their HiPo programs? Not so well. A recent industry report by the Corporate Research Forum indicated that 53% of organizations are not satisfied with their HiPo programs. Given that self-evaluations are usually more optimistic than they should be, and that the companies surveyed – top global corporations – may be expected to have some of the most sophisticated and cutting-edge talent management practices, it is fair to interpret this estimate as a rather lenient reflection of the real efficacy of typical HiPo interventions. In fact, the same industry report found that for a whopping 73% of these top global businesses the most common method for identifying HiPos was a single rating or nomination by the candidate’s direct line manager. If the leading organizations in the world are relying on subjective and politically contaminated ratings for identifying tomorrow’s bright stars, there is surely a great deal of room for improvement.

In addition, there are four common mistakes organizations tend to make in their HiPo programs, namely mistaking performance for potential, and emergence for effectiveness; undermining the importance of development, and ignoring the dark side of personality. The following section expands on these points.

‌• Performance is not potential: One of the main reasons why HiPo programs fail is that they focus too much – sometimes exclusively – on performance. This is problematic for two reasons. First, organizations are not very good at measuring performance (once you eliminate subjective ratings, there are very few reliable metrics left). Second, even when they measure performance well, many top performers will fail to perform well at the next level. Most notably, when you transition employees from individual contributors to managers, or from managers to leaders, the pivotal qualities or competencies that drive high performance change. Furthermore, many strong individual contributors are not even interested in managing or leading others, preferring instead to focus on independent problem-solving or being a team-player. The result is a paradoxical system that removes people from a job they are rather good at, and re-positions them in a role they are neither able nor willing to do. In short, performance is what you do, and potential is what you could do. When the context changes, the overlap between the two diminishes. Being great at X does not imply the potential to be great at Y, when X and Y are very different. Thus if I wanted to predict your likelihood of doing Y well then the key task is to evaluate the determinants of Y rather than your historical performance on X. Of course, there are people who perform well at all levels but they come in such small doses that you wouldn’t be able to fill your entire talent pipeline with them.

• Emergence is not effectiveness: Over 90% of HiPo programs focus on potential for leadership. This makes sense, as leaders control a disproportionate amount of resources, set key strategy decisions, and create culture and engagement in their firms. However, it is one thing to emerge as a leader, and another to be effective. In fact, the key attributes that contribute to emergence are not just irrelevant when it comes to effectiveness, but often detrimental. For example, self-promotion, political skills, and networking skills will play a major role in getting people into leadership positions – this is why many leaders are confident and charismatic, if not narcissistic. However, in order to lead effectively people need good judgment, empathy, and self-awareness, and these qualities are rarely found in individuals who are self-focused and obsessed with getting ahead as opposed to getting along. The result is that many designated HiPos end up being fake HiPos or faux-Pos, while many individuals who possess the critical characteristics that are needed for exceptional leadership end up flying under the radar and remaining hidden gems.

‌• Development is universal: Organizations spend more money on development than on selection, mostly because they don’t do selection well. Indeed, when selection fails, there is always training and development. That said, even when you identify the right people and effectively measure potential, there is always room for development. In fact, to possess potential means to have an advantage for displaying high levels of future performance, IF that potential is nurtured or harnessed. Consider the fact that the key predictors of leadership effectiveness – IQ, EQ, ambition, and altruism – are already observable at a very young age. In fact, early manifestations of temperament during childhood will predict those competencies with a fairly high degree of accuracy. And yet, that does not mean that we can lock people in a basement or forget about developing them. On the contrary, it is because they possess those qualities that they will benefit the most from training and development. In addition, it is also important to acknowledge that no matter how talented and promising your HiPos seem, they will always have some less desirable and potential disruptive characteristics (see next point).

• Every HiPo has a dark side: As the famous Pareto principle predicts, 20% of individuals in an organization will account for 80% of the collective output (e.g., performance, revenues, and profits). It is also true that 20% of individuals in an organization tend to cause 80% of the problems. And they are often the same people! Thus the vital few are often the painful few: high maintenance people with diva-like complex, who are arguably aware of their value and therefore quite difficult to manage. In fact, many brilliant leaders have clear problems with authority so they are often indomitable and insubordinate, particularly when they have an entrepreneurial profile. And regardless of how brilliant a person’s bright side is, it will always co-exist with some maladaptive or undesirable tendencies – the dark side of personality. When HR interventions focus only on strengths, attempting to augment the positive qualities individuals already display, they will likely leave their derailing tendencies unchecked, creating problems for them and for others. In fact, overused strengths tend to become weaknesses, not just in Donald Trump.

Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic drtomas.com @drtcp is a Professor of Psychology at UCL and Columbia University, and the Chief Talent Scientist at ManpowerGroup:

A brief biography of Niccolo Machiavelli and his ideas - Patrick Daniel

Niccolò Machiavelli was born in May 1469 as a Florentine and was a philosopher of modern political philosophy. His ideas though are quite old. He was far from ordinary, and was raised under the rule of Medici of Florence. Savonarola attempted a theocracy for a short time, which did not work out, and as a result the republic was reestablished. His famous work is his political treatise, The Prince, which was published at the beginning of the 16th century. Other works include The Discourse on Livy, and The Art of War.

Machiavelli lived in Florence, a republic and a city state at that time, and spent a good deal of his adult life there. In fact, he held a diplomatic post for 14 years. What Leonardo Da Vince did for art, he wanted to do for politics. After the republic fell, he had to go into exile. Even though Machiavelli drew his ideas from the ancient philosophers, his philosophy was also based on his own experiences. In the dedication part of The Prince, Machiavelli says that this book is a product of long experiences of modern things, and a continuous reading of the ancient ones.

Machiavelli was very fond of politics and would seek knowledge about politics from his friends over letter correspondence. The Prince was very carefully written, because Machiavelli approached his studies very seriously. However this book is also written in a very deceptive way. In fact, the word

Machiavelli has almost become synonymous with deception and cunning. Today, if a politician uses cunning and deceitful tactics, they were most probably influenced by Machiavelli in one way or another. Any serious philosophers will have heard about Machiavelli, in the same way as everybody knows something about Plato or Aristotle. In the 21st century executives from corporations use his tactics to become more competitive in the business world.

Machiavelli also was a revolutionary. In The Discourse on Livy, he actually compares himself to Christopher Columbus. “Machiavelli implicitly compares his new direction in republican political theory to the courageous explorations of Italian navigators such as Columbus, Vespucci, and Verazzanao” (Machiavelli, The Discourse on Livy)

He probably thought what Columbus did for geography, he can do for politics. Machiavelli was in favor of a state that had a more realistic approach compared to the autonomous state from the ancient world. The essence of Machiavelli’s realism becomes apparent in Chapter 15.

He writes “I shall depart from the methods of other people. But, it being my intention to write a thing which shall be useful to him who apprehends it, it appears to me more appropriate to follow up the real truth of a matter than the imagination of it; for many have pictured republics and principalities which in fact have never been known or seen, because how one lives is so far distant from how one ought to live, that he who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation; for a man who wishes to act entirely up to his professions of virtue soon meets with what destroys him among so much that is evil.” (Machiavelli, The Prince, Chapter 15)

Rather than looking for imagination, the truth of the matter should be sought. Machiavelli is more interested in the evil characteristics that human beings have than the good ones that they aspire to have. According to him human beings always have good intentions, but in real life they do not live up to those good intentions.

With The Prince Machiavelli created a new form of political organization. In fact, he is the founder of the “modern state”. Without his contribution, Thomas Hobbes would not have followed up on his work, or Rousseau’s Social Contract would not have been written or at least delayed.

The true beneficiary of his book is the prudent man, who has his own authority and sets his goals high since he knows that he will probably fall short. He is appealing to the person who is able to create something out of nothing. The cunning person, who is daring and bold, knows how to take advantage of an opportunity. Machiavelli appeals to the virtue that makes the man recognize the opportunity and seize it. Besides, he distinguishes between two principalities; hereditary and the new principalities.

Machiavelli further compares the armed and the unarmed prophets. A prophet is someone to whom God speaks. He argues that the armed prophet is a better shaper of institutions, even though he might not be religious. Mao Zedong coined the term “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun!” However, there are exceptions to the rule. Take Jesus Christ, who succeeded without any weapons. First he started with a sect, which grew into a religion, and this religion was adopted by the Holy Roman Empire. Even though physical weapons are very powerful indeed, words might be also quite powerful, as well. Machiavelli did not have an interest in daily political affairs. He was interested in how to shape the minds of the future. He had no troops, nor any territory, yet he lasted longer than any of his contemporary political statesmen.

Machiavelli believes that in order to make people obey you, they must first believe you and the way to make them believe you is to treat them badly. While ancient philosophers appealed to the virtue, and the good in people, Machiavelli introduces a new kind of anti-moralism. If

Aristotle was a teacher of good, was Machiavelli the opposite? Machiavelli does not reject the idea of good necessarily. In fact, he is mentioning his virtu frequently. But he is often referring to extraordinary situations, which he tries to normalize. In those extreme situations like wars, his concept of human morality fits the picture. He truly thinks that human nature only reveals itself fully when humans are faced with a great crisis.

In fact, virtue is dependent upon chaos and confusion. What would Churchill do without Hitler? His logic is very sinister because what he is saying is that the good is only possible because of an existence of evil prior to that. The ordinary rules of justice do not apply during times of instability and revolution. Let’s take the case of Churchill and Hitler further. It was because Hitler existed, that Churchill, an extraordinary virtuous person, could emerge as an individual hero. If you compare a person who is more aligned to the thinking of Aristotle, that person will value stability and honor honest means to achieve it. For instance, most children are taught not to do something wrong even if it benefits them individually.

On the flip side, someone who is more in alignment with Machiavelli’s thinking would seek war and would only prosper then. Machiavelli would not conform to Christian values or any classical conceptions of virtue. He is favoring daring and bold action, being ruthless to others and reliant on one’s own arms. As long as the end is met it will justify the means. In his opinion, virtue is manliness, strength and evil. The prince must have this desire to achieve success, but he thinks that the only way to succeed in the political game is to get your hands dirty.

Machiavelli suggests one deceptive trick to the prince. He should appear human, and appear to have virtuous qualities when he in fact does not possess those qualities. He suggests that religion is harmful to practice, so the prince should not practice it. In fact, he should only appear to be a Christian.

His view on liberty is also rather interesting. Machiavelli claims that you have to learn how not to be good in order to enjoy liberty. The true prince must be able to love his own people, yet be prepared to strike with cruelty when necessary. This is a rather cruel use of power, but it underlines Machiavelli’s sinister nature. According to him, the politician who is too weak and too good should not engage in politics.

Machiavelli’s way of thinking can be described as realistic opposed to the contrast view of idealism. The realist sees things how they really are, while the idealist requires the comfort of moral illusions. Clearly, Machiavelli believes that the armed prophets and the strong will always win over the unarmed prophet and the weak. So what kind of government was he proposing?

First of all, he thought that the nobles and the elite are dangerous. In fact they are more dangerous than the common people. The elitist group will have a stronger urge to rule, while the people will be more decent and lack ambition. As a matter of fact, in Machiavelli’s world in which the people will rule, the nobles will not pose a great danger to the prince.

All in all, Machiavelli’s accomplishments have been very influential to say the least. However, his thought has been exploited in the course of history. He argued that the prince should not be influenced by religion, and not be constrained by any moral affairs. The prince he imagined would be expanding and constantly engaging in war, which is a rather aggressive and carries an almost imperialistic approach. In Chapter 18, he proclaims “it is necessary for the prince to know how to use the beast and the man.” The prince must use whatever means is necessary, and have absolute no regard for morality.

Italian diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli is best known for writing The Prince, a handbook for unscrupulous politicians that inspired the term "Machiavellian" and established its author as the "father of modern political theory."

In his opinion, virtue is manliness, strength and evil. The prince must have this desire to achieve success, but he thinks that the only way to succeed in the political game is to get your hands dirty. Machiavelli suggests one deceptive trick to the prince.

By contrast, a new prince has the more difficult task in ruling: He must first stabilise his newfound power in order to build an enduring political structure. Machiavellisuggests that the social benefits of stability and security can be achieved in the face of moral corruption.

Syllables for gods

In many ways, Japan has preserved ancient Indian traditions, even when they may have changed in India. The 6th century Siddham script is preserved in Japan though it is not used in India. The “Beejaksharas” (seed syllables) of Sanskrit in this script are regarded as holy and are given great importance. Each deity has a Beejakshara, and these are venerated by the people even though most of them cannot read them. In fact, Beejaksharas are found in almost all Japanese homes. The Siddham script is also found at Japanese tombs, to respect the souls of the dead.

Many words in the Japanese language are from Sanskrit. Sanskrit was also the basis for the formation of the Japanese alphabet “Kana”.

In supermarkets, a major brand of milk products is branded “Sujata”. The company personnel are taught the story of Sujata, who gave sweet rice milk to the Buddha when he broke his period of austerity before he gained Enlightenment.

In the words of Yasukuni Enoki, former Ambassador of Japan: “More than 80 per cent of Japanese gods are originally Indian. Most of the Japanese don’t know this because these gods reached Japan with Chinese names.”

There are deep meanings in Japanese practices, which take us back to early developments of philosophy in India. In many ways, the philosophic understanding is most well preserved in Japan. Japan has not had the breakdown of cultural norms that India suffered when a colonial education system was created. Therefore, most Indians learnt about their own culture from the Western point of view. The dominant and admired language was English, and it remains so to this day. Obviously, all books and education in schools and universities in India are rooted in the English vision.

I did the research for and took most of the photographs used in this feature in spring 2015 with the support of a Japan Foundation Fellowship. I am deeply grateful for this valuable support.

I have also made a film for the Ministry of External Affairs on the subject of “Hindu Deities Worshiped in Japan”. My partner Sujata Chatterji is the assistant director of the film.

• 
• https://frontline.thehindu.com/arts-and-culture/heritage/syllables-for-gods/article7698185.ece

What Leaders Never Do In Networking Intros (And You Shouldn't Either) - Avery Blank

Networking can be challenging. You may not know what to say to strangers, including how to introduce yourself. To others, this can come across as being timid or that you are unsure of yourself. Do you want to demonstrate your confidence and leadership and introduce yourself like a boss? Do not do these three things when networking:

1. Don’t say, “Hi. My name is...”

Leaders introduce themselves, not their names. They simply say their names without any preface.

When you introduce yourself, try not to say, “Hi. My name is Jessica.” Walk up to the person and say “Jessica Smith” while making eye contact and offering a nice, firm handshake. It demonstrates your confidence and assertiveness. Here, less is more impactful.

2. Don’t mention (at first) too much about yourself.

Leaders know that others are more important than themselves. When you introduce yourself to the other person, try to refrain from saying too much about you at first. Ask about them, their career, and their professional goals. Listening has three advantages: It helps you to learn, stay curious and be likable.

Listening provides you the opportunity to understand and learn the person’s interests, priorities and challenges. You can use this information to later address what the other person said and better demonstrate your value.

Listening also keeps the other person curious. All the while they are talking about themselves, they remain interested in learning about you. Think of a networking introduction like a presentation. International world champion of public speaking Dananjaya Hettiarachchi says, “If your [presentation] title tells the audience what you are going to talk about, you have a bigger chance of losing the audience. But if your title creates curiosity, you have won the audience over.” Don’t show all your cards at the beginning, and you will have a better chance of the other person remaining interested in you.

Further, listening makes you likeable. People want to be heard and understood. Listen to them. Look at them, and never look at your phone.

3. Don’t tell them you want a job.

Leaders know that long-term success is based on relationships, and that is what networking is all about. It is not transactional, which is what asking for a job is when you meet someone for the first time. Don’t lead with asking for a job. Don’t end with asking for a job. Don’t ask, period.

Instead, share your future goals. You could say that you are looking to advance at a company that has a social mission and provides its employees with international opportunities. Don’t ask for a job. Rather, share what you envision the next step in your career to be.

Sharing your future goals does two things. It tells the person you are looking for a job without saying it. It also lets them know the type of opportunities they might share with you if they come across something.

Networking is a tough business, and getting off on the right foot is crucial to advancing your career. Before your next chance to network, think about how you are going to introduce yourself. Leverage this opportunity to show your confidence and leadership.

How do you make your introduction memorable and demonstrate your leadership when networking? Share with me your stories and thoughts in the comments section below or via Twitter or LinkedIn.

Avery Blank is a Millennial impact strategist, women's advocate and lawyer who helps others to strategically position and advocate for themselves to achieve individual and organizational goals.

Republic of Temples

Aabhas K Maldahiyar

Bharat is a godless land. Yet, it has innumerable gods and goddesses. This paradoxical idea is beautifully captured by the ‘Republic of Temples’. Bharatavarsh is a land of divinity with a delightful diversity that has amazingly come together to shape the Republic. While its diversity is tied to the legal framework of the Constitution, the Hindu culture is irretrievably tied to its temple traditions. It may appear to be distinct on the surface but if you scratch the surface and go a bit deep, it only leaves us dumbstruck.

 

Chennakeshava Temple at Belur 

Temple tradition forms the very core of our civilisation. Indeed, it is the very thread of Hindu tradition that has kept our civilisation alive, despite thousands of years of oppression and foreign invasions. Forces in post-Independence India that have become significant are trying to eschew Hinduism’s ancient tradition. Our worst shame has been our tendency to ignore our temple traditions in the absence of a Vedic realm.

How Ancient are Our Temples?

India has had highly skilled artists and architects to create art, architecture, craft etc. Priot to the Indus Valley Civilisation, it is claimed by both Indian and Western scholars that temples came into being in ancient Bharatavarsh around 100 B.C. Their assumptions and conclusions are founded on shaky evidence and sometimes outright falsehood.

The whole argument revolves around the date of the Rig Veda. The Rig Veda contains many references to images and the 'houses' of images. If the Rig Veda is accurately dated, the beginning of image worship and temple building in Vedic India can be reasonably fixed. Astronomical evidence proves that the earliest Rig Vedic compositions date back to at least the sixth millennium B.C.

 

Nagara style of temple architecture : Mukteshvara Temple, Odisha 

KC Verma points out that Lokmanya Tilak and Hermann Jacobi, ‘established that the Vedic period commences in 4500 B.C., and that the bulk of the hymns of the Rig Veda were composed between 3500 B.C. and 2500 B.C., when the vernal equinox was in the Orion (4500-3500 B.C.) and later receded (3500-2500 B.C.) to Rohini; the Krittika period during which the Vedas and the Upanishads were composed extended from 2500-800 B.C. They have been supported on independent grounds by PC Sengupta, in his Ancient Indian Chronology, 1947. He adds, “No one, to the best of my knowledge, has so far been able to refute the arguments advanced by these scholars.”

In the same book, Sengupta has also shown that the solar eclipse in the Rig Veda. V 40.5-9 took place on July 26, 3928 BC and the beginnings of the Vedic literature he traces to 3500 B.C. Some scholars have tried to brand the astronomical statements given in the Vedic literature as ‘fabrications’ based on astronomical back calculations. This would mean that the ancient Indians deliberately doctored their hymns to fool future astronomers! The very idea is ridiculous. John Playfair, astronomer, physicist and mathematician, in the Edinburgh Review, shows that the Indian Zodiac originated in 4300 B.C. and rejects any idea of Rig Vedic astronomical statements as being fabrications.

 

Pashupatinath Temple in Nepal 

Vedic scholar David Frawley basing his calculations on astronomical references in the Rig Veda takes the creation of the Rig Vedic hymns even further back. ‘...the original story of Surya Savitri, the Sun Goddess, in the Rig Veda reflects the Ashwini era of the winter solstice, and thereby a date of at least 6000 B.C. when the winter solstice was in Aries, possibly as early as 7000 B.C when the solstice first entered Ashwini.’

Frawley sums up his discussion, 'With such astronomical references in all Vedic texts, on what grounds can we deny them? If the Rig Veda uses the same terms as later astronomy, we cannot say they are wrong or referred to something else because it does not agree with our theories. Our theories may be wrong but the stars are not.

According to the stars then I would give these dates for Vedic texts:

1. Proto-Rig Vedic : before 6000 B.C.

2. Early-Rig Vedic : 6000-4000 B.C.

3. Later Rig Vedic/Four Veda period : 4000-2000 B.C.

4. Transitional Vedic Period: 2000-1000 B.C.

Thus a rapidly growing body of scholars now refutes earlier dates for the Rig Veda. In fact, some scholars doubt the existence of images and their use in the Rig Veda. Bodwing, however, writes, “The existence of images in Vedic times has been proved by Dr. Bollensen in the cases of a painted image of Rudra, of Varuna, with a golden coat of mail in the distinction drawn between the Mruts and their images of God having the form of men.” He continues, “From the appellation of the Gods as deva-naras (God-humans)... we may conclude that the Indians did not assign merely in imagination human forms to their Gods but also represented them in a sensible manner.”

 

Historians dubbed Pawon Temple as ‘The Jewel of Javanese Architecture’ 

The Shatpath Brahmana, which has been dated 3500 BC, contains the following dialogue. A question is asked, “Why should an image made of clay be used in worshipping?” The answer: “If the image is made of wood it will catch fire during the Worship. If it is of stone it will split. If made of metal it will become hot and burn things around it...”

Such references abound in Vedic literature and point to an established mode of image worship. David Frawley argues, “Certainly many great artists and craftsmen are mentioned in the Rig Veda, like the Ribhus, working in gold, bronze, stone, and wood. This shows that the craftsmanship to do such work (image making) existed... the Rig Veda does not uncommonly mention houses of worship and places of public assembly (sabha, samiti).” Vashishta, one of the most well-known of the Vedic sages, enters the vast mansion, the thousand-doored house of the God Varuna (Rig Veda VII. 88.5)... Other hymns to Mitra and Varuna indicate a temple of a thousand pillars made of bronze or gold (Rig Veda II. 41.5./V.62.6-8) Later, Hindu temples were often made in the form of chariots (rathas). As the chariot is very prominent in Vedic texts, perhaps even in these it may have referred to temples of that form. He further says, “To whatever the degree they have been used, temples and icons were not outside the mentality of the Vedic religion... along with the cities...”

Assuming that the dating of Rig Veda mentioned here is as suggested by current scholarship, image worship and temples will have been most probably the first in the history of the world. Vedic man worshipped the God as he saw in nature and sang hymns, preserved in the Rig Veda, in His Glory.

The Varied Nomenclature

In Sanskrit, the word mandir means ‘house’ (Sanskrit ). Ancient Sanskrit texts use many words for temple, such as matha, vayuna, kirti, kesapaksha, devavasatha, vihara, suravasa, surakula, devatayatana, amaragara, devakula, devagrha, devabhavana, devakulika, and niketana. Regionally, they are also known as prasada, vimana, kshetra, gudi, ambalam, punyakshetram, deval, deula, devasthanam, kovil, candi, pura, and wat.

The following are the other names by which a temple is referred to in India:

•  Devasthana in Kannada
• Deul/Doul/Dewaaloy in Assamese and in Bengali
• Deval/Raul/Mandir in Marathi
• Devro/Mindar in Rajasthani
•  Deula/Mandira in Odia and Gudi in Kosali Odia
• Gudi, Devalayam , Devasthanam, Kovela, Kshetralayam, Punyakshetram, or Punyakshetralayam, Mandiramu in Telugu
•  Kovil or kō-vill and occasionally Aalayam in Tamil; the Tamil word Kovil means “residence of God”
• Kshetram, Ambalam, or Kovilin Malayalam
• Mandir in Hindi, Nepali, Kashmiri, Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati, and Urdu
•  Mondir in Bengali

In Southeast Asia temples known as:

• Candi in Indonesia, especially in Javanese, Malay and Indonesian.
• Pura in the Island of Bali, Indonesia.
• Wat in Cambodia and Thailand

Varied Architecture Nagara Architecture North Indian temples are referred to as Nagara style of temple architecture. They have sanctum sanctorum where the deity is present, open on one side from where devotees are offered darshan. There may or may not be many more surrounding corridors, halls, etc. However, there will be space for devotees to go around the temple for clockwise circumambulation. In North Indian temples, the tallest towers are built over the sanctum sanctorum in which the deity is installed.

The Nagara style of temple designs in North India often deploy fractal-theme, where smaller parts of the temple are themselves images or geometric re-arrangement of the large temple. Hindu temple structures deploy this principle in every dimension with garbhgriya as the primary locus, and each pada as well as zones serving as additional centres of loci. This makes Nagara Hindu temple architecture symbolically a perennial expression of movement and time, of centrifugal growth fused with the idea of unity in everything.

Temples in West Bengal

Bengali terra cotta temple architecture is found in West-Bengal. Due to lack of suitable stone in the alluvial soil locally available, the temple makers had to resort to other materials instead of stone. This gave rise to using terracotta as a medium for temple construction. Terracotta exteriors with rich carvings are a unique feature of Bengali temples. The town of Vishnupur in West Bengal is renowned for this type of architecture. There is also a popular style of building known as Navaratna (nine-towered) or Pancharatna (five-towered). An example of Navaratna style is the Dakshineswar Kali Temple.

Temples in Odisha

Odisha temple architecture is known as Kalinga architecture, classifies the spire into three parts, the Bāḍa (lower limb), the Ganḍi (body) and the Cuḷa/Mastaka (head). Each part is decorated in a different manner. Kalinga architecture is a style which flourished during the Kalinga rule in ancient Odisha. It includes three styles: Rekha Deula, Pidha Deula and Khakhara Deula. The former two are associated with Vishnu, Surya and Shiva temples while the third is mainly associated with Chamunda and Durga temples. The Rekha Deula and Khakhara Deula house the sanctum sanctorum while the Pidha Deula style includes space for outer dancing and offering halls.

The Goan Temples

The temple architecture of Goa is quite unique. As Portuguese colonial hegemony increased, Goa’s Hindu temples became a rallying point for local resistance. Goan temples were built using sedimentary rocks, wood, limestone and clay tiles, and copper sheets were used for the roofs. These temples were decorated with mural art called as Kavi kala or ocher art. The interiors have murals and wood carvings depicting scenes from the Hindu Itihasa.

South Indian and Sri Lankan Temples

South Indian temples sport very large gopuram – tower - usually very ornate, at the entrance of the temple. This forms a prominent feature of kovils, the South Indian Hindu temples. They are topped by a kalasam, a stone finial. They function as gateways through the walls that surround the temple complex. The gopuram's origins can be traced back to early structures of the Tamil kings Pallavas; and by the twelfth century, under the Pandya rulers, these gateways became a dominant feature of a temple's outer appearance, eventually overshadowing the inner sanctuary which became obscured from view by the gopuram's colossal size. It also dominated the inner sanctum in amount of ornamentation. Often a shrine may have more than one gopuram. They also appear in architecture outside India, especially in Khmer architecture, as on Angkor Wat. A kovil or koil may have multiple gopurams, typically constructed into multiple walls in tiers around the main shrine. The temple's walls are typically square with the outer most walls having gopurams. The sanctum sanctorum and its towering roof (the central deity's shrine) are also called the vimanam. The inner sanctum has restricted access with only the priests allowed beyond a certain point.

Temples in Cambodia

Angkor Wat was built as a Hindu temple by King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yasodharapura (Khmer, present-day Angkor), the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Breaking from the Shaiva tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu. The Spire in Khmer Hindu temple is called Giri (mountain) and symbolizes the residence of gods just like Meru does in Bali Hindu Itihasa and Ku (Guha) does in Burmese Hindu folklore. Angkor Wat is just one of numerous Hindu temples in Cambodia, most of them in ruins. Hundreds of Hindu temples are scattered from Siem Reap to Sambor Prei Kuk in central Cambodian region.

Temples in Nepal

Pashupatinath temple is one of the important temples of Hindu religion which is situated in Kathmandu; Nepal. It is built in a pagoda style and is surrounded by hundreds of temples and buildings built by kings. The temples top is made from pure gold.

Temples in Vietnam

There are a number of Hindu temple clusters along the coast of Vietnam, with some on UNESCO world heritage site list. Examples include Mỹ Sơn – a cluster of 70 temples with earliest dated to be from the 4th century AD and dedicated to Siva, while others are dedicated to Hindu deities Krishna, Vishnu and others. These temples, internally and with respect to each other, are also built on the Hindu perfect square grid concept. Other sites in Vietnam with Hindu temples include Phan Rang with the Cham temple Po Klong Garai.

Temples in Indonesia

Ancient Hindu temples in Indonesia are called Candi (read chandi). Hindu temples of ancient Java bear resemblances with temples of South Indian style. The largest of these is the 9th century Javanese Hindu temple, Prambanan in Yogyakarta, now a UNESCO world heritage site. It was designed as three concentric squares and has 224 temples. The inner square contains 16 temples dedicated to major Hindu deities, of which Shiva temple is the largest. The temple has extensive wall reliefs and carvings illustrating the stories from the Hindu epic Ramayana.

In Bali, the Hindu temple is known as "Pura", which is designed as an open-air worship place in a walled compound. The compound walls have a series of intricately decorated gates without doors for the devotee to enter. The design, plan and layout of the holy pura follow a square layout.

Temples in Thailand

Thailand has many notable Hindu temples including: the Sri Mariammam temple in Bangkok, the Devasathan, the Erawan Shrine, Prasat Muang Tam, Sdok Kok Thom and Phanom Rung. Most of the newer Hindu temples are of South Indian origin and were built by Tamil migrant communities. However, Thailand has many historic indigenous Hindu temples such as Phanom Rung. Although most indigenous Hindu temples are ruins, a few such as Devasathan in Bangkok are actively used.

The Axis of Plurality

Based on the varied geographical and cultural pretext, we have varying styles of temples both in architecture and traditions. But the common thread of Vedic realm has always kept them united as a republic. Every temple rises in the wake of Vedic Richas. Every tradition though with difference finds roots in Vedas directly or indirectly: at times through Puranas, at times through Itihasas and at times through Brahmanas etc. Wherever you go, the rituals may seem varying but carry the core values. The ultimate goal of every tradition lays in attainment of Parama Brahma though Yogic Karmas.

The Need

If you had noted my opening remarks in the article, I mentioned Bharat as being a godless land but with multiple gods. The seemingly contrary or paradoxical statement is that the Hindu idea never perceives God as an entity from heaven but anyone around may be a God. We evoke God in stones and even in human beings. The temple is such a place which carries the vibes of rituals centered on the invoked personified deity. The traditions embed but the Sanskaras.

When inside the temple, devotees keep both hands folded (namaste mudra). The inner sanctuary, where the murtis reside, is known as the garbhagriha. It symbolises the birthplace of the universe, the meeting place of the gods and humans, and the threshold between the transcendental and the phenomenal worlds. It is in this inner shrine that devotees offer their prayers.

With the passage of time, the idea of Sanskrit phobia has erased the recital of Veda Mantras. The Mantras alike traditions are being regionalised and hence we are losing out the glue that once bound the varying traditions together under one republic. Of late, there have been various attacks on Temple Traditions as well. The latest attack on Sabrimala temple tradition is the most blatant and outrageous one. Post-modernists debated temple traditions on the grounds of gender discrimination, though the case had to do with ancient traditions. A sanatani temple is certainly not the place where you worship someone who is believed to be sitting somewhere in heaven but is about celebration of traditions. The traditions once broken do breach the philosophical make of the temple.

It is time for urgent intervention. If not intervened we will soon lose the Vedic values and traditions. As of now people hardly understand and are aware of the core reasons of the traditional values. Nothing but the preservation or observance of the temple traditions and the great ‘Republic of Temples’ can save the Sanatan Dharma.

(The writer is Bengaluru-based author and columnist)