The process of transmutation and consecration is particularly evident in the tracing of the ground plan of the temple. A pole is erected at the centre of the chosen site making an ideal axis around which the building is constructed, almost as though it were a spiral turned to stone, the symbol of expansion and ascent. A double length cord is tied to the stake and used like a pair of compasses to trace a circle. At particular
moments of the sun's passage, the shadow of the pole will mark the cardinal points east and west on the circumference; the two points are joined by a straight line, then the two cardinal points are in turn used as centre points to draw other circles that have as their radius the diameter of the first circle (i.e. the east-west line). The intersections of these two larger circles coincide with the north and south points between which another straight line is drawn to form a cross symbolising the expansion of the First Principle towards the four main directions.
Using the tangent points of the north-south line with the circle as centres for the compass and the distance between the two points as radius, two more circles are drawn. The intersections of the four circles based on the cardinal points mark the four corners of a square. This gives the "squaring" of the circle, an allusion to the passage from the profane to the sacred. The earth is transfigured and consecrated: fixed by the four cardinal points, representing tangents with the sky, it is transformed into the bride of the heavens. Considering the point occupied by the pole and the cross created from it as the initial element, the first type of temple ground plan is created -the manduka - based on a module of 4 central squares divided into a grid of 64 squares. If we start from the square superimposed on the first circle and place 8 further squares around it, the second fundamental type of temple ground plan is obtained - the paramashayin - based on a module of 9 squares and divided into a grid of 81 squares.
Although both cases symbolise the passage from the concealed to the manifest by means of the passage from the One to the multiple based on the directions of space, the two ground plans represent different levels of understanding and spiritual illumination.
The origin of the- manduka, based on 4 squares, lies in the bindu, the "point". Symbol of the mystery of existence, the point is free of dimensions and therefore invisible but it is, however, what gives dimension to the visible. It therefore contains the infinitely large in the infinitely small; it is the origin of space and creates boundaries by forming lines and other geometric forms; it is also the principle of time which is built on the theory of instants. It is the seed from which the universe-macrocosm flows and the drop of sperm from which the man-microcosm is born; it is the vibration that divided the original nucleus in a sort of "big bang" and the tremor of desire that cracks the unity of the cosmic Awareness introducing the splitting of subject/object; it is the unification of opposite poles, of male and female, and of the devotee and his God. Because of its a dimensional actuality, the bindu symbolises true Being; that is, what cannot be measured by human means or defined by space-time categories. The ground plan based on the point is thus considered ideal for a priestly environment as the Brahmans, holders of spiritual power, occupy the highest level of Hindu society and able to grasp the subtle, esoteric meaning of the symbol in a macrocosmic context.
The ground plan based on the 9squares - the paramashayin - has its origin in the square, a symbol relating to the Absolute in its manifest and therefore "coarser" form. As the square is a balanced shape with symmetrical lines, it evokes condensation, solidity and stability; it refers to the element earth and to human space. This ground plan is more suitable for a warrior environment where temporal power is exercised. A warrior occupies the second hierarchic level in Hindu society and is expected to be capable of understanding the significance of symbols only in their more obvious, microcosmic dimension.
The two ground plans form the basis for a further series of grids on which different types of temple are set.
If the ground plan evokes the passage from the One to the multiple, and therefore the manifestation, there will also be the inverse route, i.e. the resolution of the cosmic plurality into the divine Unity. This is symbolised by the recornposition of the polarities: space and time, sun and moon, male and female.
The 4 boxes of the manduka ground plan, laid on the cross given by the cardinal points marked by the sun, refer to the temporal dimension but also educes space as a result of which terrestrial space and heavenly time are overlaid and fused in the same symbolic operation. In the other ground plan, the eight squares that surround a central square are connected to the four principal compass directions and to the four intermediate directions in space; however, as these are connected with the course of the sun, the two dimensions of time and space are once again represented united.
If time and space are unified in the temple ground plan, the sun and moon are also subjected to the same process. The frame of twelve squares that surrounds the four central ones of the manduka refers to the the houses of the rnoon. The 8 squares in the paratmashayin surrounding the central square are connected not only to the principal directions in space but also to the sun, moon, the 5 planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) and Rahu, the demon of the eclipse with the role of sun in the centre. The frame of 16 squares in the next ring is related to the lunar fractions while the 32 squares of the outer ring of the grid include the 28 lunar houses and 4 squares related either to the cardinal (solar) regions or to the solstices and equinoxes; thus, the sun and moon are once more involved.
The union of male and female in certain temples is clearly explained by a particular type of icon found in the inner sanctum: the linga-yoni. The linga, an aniconic and phallic representation of the god Shiva, has a wide range of symbolic interpretations: it is the visible form of the cosmic axis around which all worlds revolve and, when the stone is clearly rounded at the top and base (indicating that it does not rest on nor arise from any point in space or time in the world of the profane), the linga represents the cosmic egg from which the heavens, the earth and all that lives between the two spilled when it was broken. The Centre of the earth, it is venerated as an instrument of procreation but also as an emblem of the dominion of the passions, ascetic cipher of essentiality and concentration. In its representation as a source of existence, the linga either sits below a container dripping water or is placed in a basin, alluding to the birth of the universe from cosmic waters and the spark that was struck in their womb. Indeed, the linga is also a symbol of fire and light. The circular plinth that the linga is placed on is the yoni, genital symbol of the Goddess inherited from ancient traditions. The lingayoni correspond to the couple of Shiva-Shakti, the great Cod and his female Energy, the static and dynamic, the union of the principles of fire and water. The exterior, abounding in images and detail, evokes Prakriti or "Nature" in the various forms of the universe in the unending play of the future, while the interior of the inner sanctum, almost always bare, is related to the Purusha, the spiritual Principle, pure Being and Awareness.