Temples' Directions and Zodiac

Most of us might be aware that there are certain temples all over the world that have construction linked to cardinal directions. In this article, we would discuss the relation between the zodiac and these constructions. The prime contention is the stand taken by certain people who relate the temples’ directions as chosen pointing to the existence of only tropical zodiac in the past, since the directions are aligned to tropical phenomena and remain in sync even with the Earth undergoing precession.

The Sun rises (precisely due) at the Eastern horizon on equinoxes, a tropical phenomenon. Often, this reality is exploited to favour the tropical zodiac as it is the tropical zodiac which compliments directly to this tropical phenomenon.

A casual look would certainly prompt us to accept this stand. It sounds initially logical that when the Sun at equinox indicates the East direction, the zodiac must correspond to it (and that can be achieved only by the moving initial point of Aries).

But if we go deeper and analyze it broadly, we discover the following:

1. The directions the temples are aligned to are as observed at the observer's place
2. The directions are spherical
3. Zodiac has no role to play

Let us discuss each point in detail:

1) When an observer at a particular temple aligns the directions indicated by the construction to the observed sky, the directions are found to be either the horizontal coordinates (i.e. Eastern horizon, Western horizon etc.) or the equatorial coordinates (in case if North Pole is either indicated in the construction as north or indicated separately as Dhruv or else). There is no other reference.

2) The directions indicated in the constructions are spherical in nature since the observer at the temple observes the spherical directions only.

One can easily get confused to consider all these directions on the ecliptic itself, while it is not so as explained above. And we all know that the zodiac is specified on the ecliptic only.

3) Zodiac has no role to play in the cardinal directions at the place of observation. To understand it, let us consider the ascendant or lagna that keeps on changing every moment based on the rising sign in the eastern horizon. Irrespective of whether it is tropical or nirayana (sidereal) zodiac, the ecliptic rises in the same fashion at the place of observation, constantly moving and accords to the basic revolution.

While the Sun reaches due Eastern horizon at equinoxes in its revolution, we don’t assign the ascendant based on equinoxes. We designate a particular rising sign of the zodiac to the point of ecliptic rising in the Eastern horizon at the particular moment of the observation (based on whether we use the moving zero Aries of the tropical zodiac or the fixed zero Aries of the nirayana (sidereal) zodiac). It means directions are the same in both cases since eastern horizon remains at the same place and as observed.

Summing up, if we say that the tropical Sun on equinox day helps us to identify the nearly exact eastern horizon and thus the eastern entrance of the temple, that would be the right statement as far as syncing cardinal directions to the tropical phenomenon is concerned.

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