Jaga mohan or Jagamohan or Jagamohana ( or, ଜଗମୋହନ) is an assembly hall in the Hindu temple architecture, especially in

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...

Overview

It is located between the temple entrance and the

Garba griha A ''garbhagriha'' or ''sannidhanam'' is the ''sanctum sanctorum'', the innermost sanctuary of a Hindu and Jain temples where resides the ''murti'' (idol or icon) of the primary deity of the temple. In Jainism, the main deity is known as the ''M ...

that is to say, the heart of the sanctuary. It is typical of the

Nagara architecture Hindu temple architecture as the main form of Hindu architecture has many varieties of style, though the basic nature of the Hindu temple remains the same, with the essential feature an inner sanctum, the ''garbha griha'' or womb-chamber, where ...

temples of northern India. In the south of India, the halls are named '' mandapas'' which are often large halls with columns. As

garbhagriha A ''garbhagriha'' or ''sannidhanam'' is the ''sanctum sanctorum'', the innermost sanctuary of a Hindu and Jain temples where resides the '' murti'' (idol or icon) of the primary deity of the temple. In Jainism, the main deity is known as the ' ...

, it is most often built on a plan based on structures of squares and circles. However, for the temples of goddesses, the jaga mohan is built on a plan based on structures of rectangles and triangles. Such as for example the plan of the temple of Varahi Deula at Chaurasi near

Puri Puri () is a coastal city and a municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is also known as '' ...

in Orissa. Generally the garbhagriha is a windowless and sparsely lit chamber, intentionally created thus to focus the devotee's mind on the tangible form of the divine within it. On the contrary, the jaga mohan is highly decorated with sculptures of deities, mythologic scenes or ornements. The most famous is the one of the Temple of Surya at Konark. Due to the collapse of the main temple tower (

shikhara ''Shikhara'' ( IAST: '), a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India, and also often used in Jain temples. A ''shikhara'' over the ''garbhagriha'' chambe ...

), the jaga mohan now appears to be the main building of the temple.

Notes

External links

{{Commons category * http://ganapati.perso.neuf.fr/anglais/aor/aor.html * https://books.google.com/books?id=bGgf_LkeG2kC&pg=PA373 Architecture in India Hindu temple architecture