About Devalayam

Devalayam aims to record every temple in India: the living shrines, the ruins, the temples destroyed and rebuilt, and the sites reclaimed or moved. For each one we gather its documented history, its sthala purana, the aitihyas and stories told about it, its philosophy, and what it can mean to people today.

How we treat evidence

Every story is labelled for what it is. History is drawn from inscriptions, chronicles, archaeology and scholarship. Tradition is what the temple's own texts and devotees hold. Interpretation is commentary on meaning. Each event on a timeline is marked as documented, probable, traditional or disputed, and contested sites are recorded neutrally, with dates and sources.

Languages

Every temple is being written in English, in Hindi, and in the language of the region where it stands, such as Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati or Malayalam. Translations are marked as drafts until a native speaker has reviewed them.

Photos and videos

Videos are embedded from their creators' own channels, so views and credit stay with them. Photos are used only with an open licence, with permission, or from our own contributors.

This preview

This is an early preview with a pilot set of temples chosen to cover every kind of temple and region. All entries are drafts that are still being checked against their sources. Corrections are very welcome.