Vapi is a well within the Prakara and it used for the deity for Abhisheka and other cleaning purposes. The pushkarani is not used for the deity

Maharashtra has three Jyotirlingas – Bhimashankar, Triambakeshwar and Grishneshwar. Madhya Pradesh has two – Ujjain and Omkareshwar. Varanasi is the only Jyotirlinga in Uttar Pradesh.

The site of the Devaalaya (or any construction site) was home to several living beings in the past which lived there and safeguarded the site. The Vastu Samana Pooja is a recognition of this fact. It seeks permission from them for disturbing the site to start new construction. It acknowledges that the natural forces are the legitimate owners of the site. This is also called Prakruti Pooja or Bhumi Puja.

Lectures and works of Prof Nagaswamy cover several aspects of temples. He is an archaeologist and has excavated several temples in Tamil Nadu. Many of his lectures are available online and are valuable learning material. He has written several books on temples.

Upapitha is the part that is below Adhisthana. The rest are types of GrabhaGraha.

Brahadeeswara Temple at Gangaikonda Cholapuram. The Vimaana has a slight curved shape unlike the Big Temple.

It was estimated that there were 15,000 serpent groves in the former Travancore and Cochin states alone. Of course there have been many additional ones erected since. One such grove is at Mannarsala, the abode of the snake king and queen, the most important serpent worship centre in Kerala.

Teertha means to cross. They help us cross our own limitations. Teerthas provide us the ambience for such discovery. To go towards Teertha is Teerthayatra.
Teerthayatra is when one can forget mundane activities and engage in spiritual discovery. Vishnu Dharma Sutra also calls Teerthayatra as one of the Saamanya Dharmas (universal without bar of qualification or time) as per Vishnu Dharma Sutra.

By law, Governments have the right to divert income, control appointments and deploy Govt officers to manage temples.

The idea is Vishnu as the protector of the universe sets out to hunt and destroys the demon of destructiveness. The vetta procession simulates the progress of Vishnu to the point when he runs the demon to earth in a forest. A pile of shrubbery stands for the forest and a coconut represents the hiding demon. The hunt takes place at night. The approach of flickering high-held torches tells of the coming of Deity on his redemptive mission. There is no music, no conversation, nothing that would raise the suspicion of the demon whose hiding place has been discovered. Then the Majaraja, the executant of the Divine Will, emerges and fires the arrow into the hiding place of the demon. The evil is destroyed and the silence is broken. Music breaks out and the procession returns in triumph to the temple.

Durga temple in Aihole. It is actually a Surya Temple. Durga also means a fortress. When the Islamic attack happened, the temple itself was converted into a fortress.

Musicians and devadasis were employed by the temple during the construction stage of the temple to take care of the welfare of the labour through music and dance performances

Krishna himself states that I am not the originator. It has always been there.

Saligrama are found in the Kali Ghandaki river in Nepal, near the teertha of Muktinath

India has three major story telling traditions, the Ramayana, the Mahabharatha and the Brhatkatha. Mahabaratha says the four cardinal values in life are enshrined in it; and what is found here may be found elsewhere but what is not here can never be found anywhere. It is such a confident declaration of the vastness of the narration. The Brhatkatha which is the largest (7 lakh verses) is now lost but is available in other translations in Sanskrit and Tamil.

These three traditions are compared to Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati.

The sculptures capture the stories in a visual medium.