ACOUSTICAL STUDIES OF WORSHIP SPACES IN HINDU TEMPLES

摘要

Sound plays a major role in Hindu worship practices at homes, community halls and traditional Hindu temples. This work presents acoustical studies carried out in a traditional Hindu temple. In a Hindu temple, Garbha-Griha (like a Sanctum-sanctorum) is an important space (room) where the deity is consecrated for worship. In front of the Garbha-Griha, there is a space called Ardha-Mantapa. In front of the Ardha-Mantapa, a large hall called Maha-Mantapa is located where large number of devotees assemble to offer worship through priests. Only priests can enter and conduct the worship in Garbha-Griha and Ardha-Mantapa. In a Hindu temple, priests through Vedic chants and instruments such as conch-shells, bells and gongs conduct worship on behalf of devotees. Throughout the worship rituals, the Vedic chants are recited in the Garbha-Griha and the assisting priests would be in Ardha-Mantapa joining in the chorus of Vedic chanting along with playing the instruments during certain stages of the rituals. Acoustically the coupled space of the Garbha-Griha and Ardha-Mantapa is highly reverberant. The reverberant sound of the Vedic chants and instruments emanating from the priests enhance the spiritual perception and experience of devotees. The intonations of the collective Vedic chants and the tonality of the instruments bring out the acoustical quality of the sacred space to the devotees. The completion of the worship ritual is marked by offering a lamp along with Vedic chants and all instruments played simultaneously. It is interesting to note that the sound from the Vedic chants would get embedded into the sounds from the instruments. Worship in a Hindu temple is a celebration in which reverberant sound in coupled space plays an important role. This paper presents the analytical and experimental studies carried out in two Hindu temples in USA.