Kovil in the context of Tamil language

A temple (from the Latin templum) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship for some religions are commonly called "temples" in English, while those of other religions are not, even though they fulfill very similar functions.

The religions for which the terms are used include the great majority of ancient religions that are now extinct, such as the Ancient Egyptian religion and the Ancient Greek religion. Among religions still active: Hinduism (whose temples are called mandir or kovil), Buddhism (whose temples are called vihara), Sikhism (whose temples are called gurudwara), Jainism (whose temples are sometimes called derasar), Zoroastrianism (whose temples are sometimes called agiary), the Baháʼí Faith (which are often simply referred to as Baháʼí House of Worship), Taoism (which are sometimes called daoguan), Shinto (which are often called jinja), Confucianism (which are sometimes called the Temple of Confucius).

A Hindu temple, also known as a Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, Kshetram or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to whom it is dedicated. Hindu temple architecture, which makes extensive use of squares and circles, has its roots in later Vedic traditions, which also influence the temples' construction and symbolism. Through astronomical numbers and particular alignments connected to the temple's location and the relationship between the deity and the worshipper, the temple's design also illustrates the idea of recursion and the equivalency of the macrocosm and the microcosm. A temple incorporates all elements of the Hindu cosmos—presenting the good, the evil and the human, as well as the elements of the Hindu sense of cyclic time and the essence of life—symbolically presenting dharma, artha, kama, moksha, and karma.

The spiritual principles symbolically represented in Hindu temples are detailed in the ancient later Vedic texts, while their structural rules are described in various ancient Sanskrit treatises on architecture (Bṛhat Saṃhitā, Vāstu Śāstras). The layout, motifs, plan, and the building process recite ancient rituals and geometric symbolism, and reflect beliefs and values innate within various schools of Hinduism. A Hindu temple is a spiritual destination for many Hindus, as well as landmarks around which ancient arts, community celebrations and the economy have flourished.

Om (or Aum; listen; Sanskrit: ॐ, ओम्, romanized: Oṃ, Auṃ, ISO 15919: Ōṁ) is a polysemous symbol representing a sacred sound, seed syllable, mantra, and invocation in Hinduism as well as in other Indian religions. Its written form is the most important symbol in the Hindu religion. It is the essence of the supreme Absolute, consciousness, Ātman, Brahman, or the cosmic world. In Indian religions, Om serves as a sonic representation of the divine, a standard of Vedic authority and a central aspect of soteriological doctrines and practices. It is the basic tool for meditation in the yogic path to liberation. The syllable is often found at the beginning and the end of chapters in the Vedas, the Upanishads, and other Hindu texts. It is described as the goal of all the Vedas.

Om emerged in the Vedic corpus and is said to be an encapsulated form of Samavedic chants or songs. It is a sacred spiritual incantation made before and during the recitation of spiritual texts, during puja and private prayers, in ceremonies of rites of passage (samskara) such as weddings, and during meditative and spiritual activities such as Pranava yoga. It is part of the iconography found in ancient and medieval era manuscripts, temples, monasteries, and spiritual retreats in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. As a syllable, it is often chanted either independently or before a spiritual recitation and during meditation in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.