• Dr. Jayaram Shettigar

Temples have been playing the most essential role in the socio-religious life of the people of this country. The Hindu temples as it is today are a product of centuries of accumulation and amalgamation of several social religious cultural practices of a particular region. A temple in this region and the gods and goddesses within its perimeters and the interrelationships between them represent the social configuration of the region and the representative relationship of the society. The social system of a region influences the religious practices and beliefs of that area. Similarly, the social system influenced the religious structure of that region. In this article, it is stated that the physical buildings or Hindu temples of South Western India reflect the social order of the region. Tulunadu or the Tulu region is situated in southwestern India. There are a large number of temples belonging to Shaiva, Shakta, Vaishnava, and Ganapatya, in addition to temples or Daivasthana of local deities. Hindu temples are usually devoted to several different Deities. Temples in this region were built in a complex with a main shrine and sub-shrines. Hindu temples of South Western India reflect the social order or caste order of the region. Temples simply reflect its broader social context. Caste in India is a social reality. The structure of the Hindu social order is hierarchical in nature. Society has upper castes and lower castes. In an extended temple complex one can find deities of all social groups. Such deities were placed in the temple complex in such a way that reflected the social order of the region. Temples also have a main deity at the center, subordinate deities in the second circle, the gods of some particular castes or communities placed in the next circle. The Daivas shrine of the aboriginals is placed in the subsequent circle or the outer circle of the same temple complex. Thus, the gods of the original inhabitants of Tulunadu, the Dalit generally called the Daivas are part of the main temple but were kept in the outer circle of the temple. The Vedic gods were worshiped with tantric rituals whereas non-Vedic gods were worshiped with folk rituals and animal sacrifice was offered to them. So, it is very clear that religiously, ritualistically, and culturally there is no affinity among these gods. But they were brought together into a single temple complex.

temple complex, social hierarchy, Brahmanical deities, non-Brahmanical deities, Daivas, folk rituals, tantric rituals, temple Prakara.

"A sociological study of the sacred complex in Udupi", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.4, Issue 9, page no.952-957, September-2017, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1709142.pdf

"A sociological study of the sacred complex in Udupi", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.4, Issue 9, page no. pp952-957, September-2017, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1709142.pdf