SUBTERRANEAN STRUCTURES

As we have just seen in the example of the kund at Modhera, the non-manifest could also be modelled by subterranean architecture, i.e., builtform within the earth’s surface.

This is a concept with the most profound metaphysical connotation. For water is the giver of life as well as its dreadful taker. And wells, being among the prime sources of water, were particularly significant. They became elaborate architectural constructs, and the path down to the water level a ritualistic pilgrimage.

Descending into the earth was analogous to other crucial areas of existence: as for instance, the furrowing of the fields for the planting of seed. And so going down into the well becomes analogous to submersion in water, i.e., to rebirth. It is similar to the dissolving of the germinating seed into nothingness, into the world of unformed matter, before it reappears in the form of a plant. If the temple is a model of the cosmos, then could this subterranean architecture be a model of the dissolution of the cosmos?