The mandir is the Hindu place of worship, and Hindus think of it as a house for the main god or goddess which is especially honoured there. In the past the Hindu temple were not only a place of worship but was also the very focus of society, they served as a centre of culture and education a charitable institution, feeding home, a hospital and an art gallery, all in one. A mandir represents the body of god- a living body. In the mandir you will find idols, Aum sign, Bells, Conch (sea shell), Jyoti (sacred flame), coconut and fruits. Mandirs are usually built in places where a god has appeared and lived on earth. These appearances of the gods are called avatars. In India the mandir is used for prayer and worship, but in Britain it has several functions other than worship. These include: Education in which if you want your child to learn Hindi or Gujarati you can send them to a mandir. Mandir is also a feeding home. A mandir is also a hospital. Hindu birth ceremonies and weddings are also performed in Mandirs. A mandir can also be an art gallery. The layout of a Mandir The basic form of the temples in India is a square cell, oriented to the four cardinal directions, containing a platform with an image of the deity in the centre, a flat roof overhead and a doorway on the east side. In front of the door way is a porch shaded by a roof supported by pillars, where worshippers gather before and after approaching the gods. At the founding of the temple, priests establish a sanctified area in the centre of the shrine and while praying and performing rituals they set up the image of god. The deity is the power of god on earth. Every Hindu temple in India exists as the centre of the universe where the gods overlook. The Shrine room This is the most important part of the Mandir and it contains the murti- images of the gods and goddesses which are worshipped there. The shrine room has images of the gods who associated with the main ones...