Maṇḍapa
Maṇḍapa, “the pavilion”
Dvārapāla has other meanings too: see all meanings of Dvārapāla.
Grammar: masculine (also neuter) noun: an open hall or pavilion.
Meaning: a pavilion built for a rite (the yāga-maṇḍapa or yajña-śālā), or a hall built in front of a temple.
In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa gives the maṇḍapa in these rites.
- In the foundation rite: Hayagrīva teaches Brahmā that, for the laying of the stones, a maṇḍapa is built first, and in it four kuṇḍas, the seats for placing the jars, the bricks, the door and the pillars. When the stones are laid, Śrī Mahāvishṇu is worshipped on a śayyā (bed) in the eastern maṇḍala inside the maṇḍapa (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 41).
- In the temple: the width of the sabhā-maṇḍapa in front of the temple is twice the garbha-sūtra (the measure line of the sanctum), and the pāda-stambhas (base pillars) equal the length of the wall. The mukha-maṇḍapa (front hall) equals the garbha in measure and is built to the same height. A vāstu-maṇḍapa of eighty-one padas is begun: first the devatās near the door are worshipped, then those of the prākāra, then the thirty-three devatās of the padas. In front of a Vishṇu temple a Garuḍa-maṇḍapa is built (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 42).
- In the pratishṭhā of a mūrti: the ācārya builds a maṇḍapa in front of the temple of eight, sixteen or twenty hastas, called nimna (low), madhyama (middle) and uttama (best). Half of it is set apart for the bath of the devatā, the kalaśas and the materials of the yāga; in the other half, or a third part, a vedi is made, adorned with kalaśas and canopies. Pañcagavya is sprinkled inside to purify it, and the dikpālas are asked to come and protect its directions (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 56).
- In the pratishṭhā of a liṅga: Parameśvara teaches that a maṇḍapa is built in front of the temple, square, with four doors. Taking half its ground, a maṇḍapa for the bath (snāna-maṇḍapa) is built, with one or four doors, in the north-east, the east or the north. The first maṇḍapa is eight, ten or twelve hastas, and the remaining eight increase by two hastas each. In the middle a vedi of four hastas is built with four pillars at its corners. The doorways on the east and the other sides are of plaksha, udumbara, aśvattha and vaṭa wood, and flags of many colours are hoisted on each side (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 95). Outside the yāga-maṇḍapa, in the north-east, Caṇḍa is installed and worshipped. At the end, as dakshiṇā, the guru takes the yāga-maṇḍapa with its cloths, and the śilpī takes the snāpana-maṇḍapa with its implements (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 97).
- In the pavitrāropaṇa: the sādhaka enters the yāga-maṇḍapa reciting “oṃ hrīṃ śrīṃ śrīdharāya trailokyamohanāya namaḥ” and adorns it. Pañcagavya is prepared for sprinkling the maṇḍapa, and with an unbroken stream from the vardhanī he wets the maṇḍapa in pradakshiṇa (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 34). He winds the three-strand thread round the maṇḍapa and scatters mustard on all sides again (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 35).
- For yajñas and houses: Parameśvara tells Skanda the maṇḍapas needed for yajñas: a maṇḍapa thirty hastas long and twenty-eight wide is the abode of Śiva; reduced by eleven each, nineteen by seventeen hastas, it is called “Śiva”; one twenty-two hastas long is called Sāvitra. In a house, leaving the eight parts, building in the ninth is auspicious, and there the maṇḍapa is best, square or twice as long as it is wide (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 105).
- For the ayuta-homa: for the homa of ten thousand offerings, a maṇḍapa is made in the house, with a kuṇḍa of one hasta with mekhalās and a yoni; there may be four ṛtviks, or one may do it alone (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 167).
Related terms: Yāga-maṇḍapa · Vedi · Kuṇḍa · Prāsāda · Pratishṭhā · Vāstu
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 34, 35, 41, 42, 56, 95, 97, 105, 167