The plan of a Hindu temple is intended to help the devotee progress from the everyday world to Divine realization. The inner sanctum, or garba grha, is the "chamber of the womb" that holds a central image of a deity. Only qualified priests may enter this dark recess, so as not to adulterate the transmission of Divine power that comes through the image.
Along the ritual path, or pradakshina, to the inner sanctum, devotees shed the mundane world as they encircle the central chamber. Large compounds may have five concentric corridors; the final round leads through a windowless passage. Worshippers hear bells ringing and priests chanting, see lighted lamps and feel their heat, smell incense and eat blessed food. For the devout, a sixth sense detects the presence of the Divine.
In Hindu temples, priests conduct rituals and act as intermediaries between devotees and the Divine. Trained since boyhood, Brahman priests, who are always male, learn the proper ritualized ways to approach deities, the rites of preparation and supplication and the meaning of the scriptures. Large temples have many Brahman priests, organized into complex hierarchies.
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