This view has, for the most part, been changed, and now almost all Hindu temples ban meat from temple premises.

In his lifetime, as part of his missionary activity, Francis Xavier used to refer to pagans as devil-worshipers and spiritually blind, Hindu teachings as repulsive and grotesque, Vishnu's transformation as foulest shapes, Shiva as shameless, Kali as clamoring for sacrifices, many-headed and many-armed gods and goddesses in temples as hideous forms and temples and altars as place of degrading rites.

Many large Hindu temples in southern India, particularly those built by the 11th century king Rajaraja Chola I, were made of granite.

* Shahjahan during his rule destroyed hundreds of Hindu temples.

* Muhammad of Ghor destoyed several Hindu temples and relics and looted the temple wealth.

The city is home to one of Afghanistan's few Hindu temples, the Dargha Hindu Temple on Chowk Omomi Street.

These Kerala mural painting are on walls of Hindu temples.

Buddhist ( and Hindu ) temples were Mandala shaped, they are oriented according to the four cardinal points, the main gate being towards the east. Since building space and materials were scarce, Maldivians constructed their places of worship on the foundations of previous buildings.

They lacked, for example, the ubiquitous Islamic dome which did not appear in Indonesia until the 19th century, but had tall timber, multi-level roofs not too dissimilar to the pagodas of Balinese Hindu temples still common today.

Hindu and Buddhist temples in Patan, the capital of one of the three medieval Newar kingdoms

However the later temples built in Java were influenced by Indian Hindu architecture, as displayed by the towering spires of Prambanan temple.

Navagrahas can be found in almost all Hindu temples.

The Sinhalese community is well represented by many old boys associations of prominent schools in Sri Lanka and many temple organizations associated with Buddhist and Hindu temples represent both Sinhala and Tamil communities in the UK.

* The Nallur Kandaswamy temple, one of the most significant Hindu temples in the Jaffna district of Sri Lanka, is built.

As popular tourist destinations in Karnataka, Hoysala temples offer an opportunity for pilgrims and students of architecture to examine medieval Hindu architecture in the Karnata Dravida tradition.

Hindu temples began as simple shrines housing a deity and by the time of the Hoysalas had evolved into well articulated edifices in which worshippers sought transcendence of the daily world.

Hoysala temples were not limited to any specific organised tradition of Hinduism and encouraged pilgrims of different Hindu devotional movements.

The Hoysalas usually dedicated their temples to Lord Shiva or to Lord Vishnu ( two of the major Hindu gods ), but they occasionally chose a different deity.

The temple complex comprises two Hindu temples, the Hoysaleshawara and Kedareshwara temples and two Jain basadi.

The blending of sexual and spiritual is portrayed in Hindu iconography, as seen in ubiquitous phallic and vaginal iconography in Hindu temples and for instance in the Kharjuraho and Konarak medieval temples, where thousands of couples having sex in endless positions, and with the gods, are carved in deep bas-relief.

Again, India has imposed formidable barriers against the entrance of additional missionaries, and fanatical Hindu parties are expected to seek further action against Christians once the influence making for tolerance due to Nehru and his followers is gone.

Gateway of enclosure, ( once a Hindu temple ) of Zein-ul-ab-ud-din's Tomb, in Srinagar.

:" He crossed the Caucasus ( Hindu Kush ) and descended into India ; renewed his friendship with Sophagasenus ( Subhashsena in Prakrit ) the king of the Indians ; received more elephants, until he had a hundred and fifty altogether ; and having once more provisioned his troops, set out again personally with his army: leaving Androsthenes of Cyzicus the duty of taking home the treasure which this king had agreed to hand over to him.

The accounts also describes a misunderstood form of the " hook-swinging " ritual once commonly performed as part of some popular Hindu religious festivals.

The film, considered " pornographic " by Hindu activists, was only shown once in India.

According to Hindu cosmology, life in the universe is created, destroyed once every 4. 1 to 8. 2 billion years, which is one full day ( day and night ) for Brahma.

Kamal Haasan's performance was highly lauded by critics with The Hindu stating that he " has once again done Tamil cinema proud ".

Dowry killings were once a Hindu phenomenon, but have spread to Muslim, Christian, and Sikh communities as well.

It is sincerely believed by the Vaishnavism a sect of ancient Vedic Hindu religion, that Aadi Sesha the divine snake over which God Vishnu resides took incarnation as Lakshmana, later as the great Vaishnavaitic saint and philosopher Sri Ramanuja, later once again as Sri Manavala Mamunigal as he is the embodiment of ultimate service to lord Almighty Sriman Narayana

Phanom Rung Fair ( งานประเพณ ี ข ึ้ นเขาพนมร ุ้ ง ): Phanom Rung Sanctuary was once a sacred Hindu shrine which was later changed into a religious site for Buddhists.

In the Hindu religion, demigod is used to refer to deities who were once human and later became devas ( gods ) and are worshiped as such.

The once flourishing town of Dhaka was burned down to Ashes by the Hindu Maratha Warriors who called themselves Bargis ( Lord Shiva Messengers ).

Gateway of enclosure, ( once a Hindu temple ) of Zein-ul-ab-ud-din's Tomb, in Srinagar.

Located north of Kabul Province, it was once the name of an ancient town in the Hindu Kush mountains.

" According to legend, the moon's light was once reduced due to a curse by King Daksha, whose 27 daughters ( the 27 stars, according to Hindu astrology ) were married to the moon.

The origin of this resplendent relic – described as having the shape and proportions of half a hen's egg – can be traced back to the 18th century Sri Ranganathaswamy Hindu temple, in Srirangam, Tamil Nadu, India where it once served as the eye of the presiding deity.

A powerful motivation behind Western interest is that many central concepts of Shaktism – including aspects of kundalini yoga as well as goddess worship – were once " common to the Hindu, Chaldean, Greek and Roman civilizations ," but were largely superseded in the West, as well as the Near and Middle East, with the rise of the Abrahamic religions:

He assembled a powerful confederacy which faced defeat as his elephant turned back from the battle in a crucial moment, turning the tide into Mahmud's favor once more at Lahore in 1008 bringing Mahmud into control of the Hindu Shahi dominions of Updhanpura.

Hindu legends say that the Vindhya mountains once showed a tendency to grow so high as to obstruct the usual trajectory of the sun.

As per Shiv Mahapuran, once Brahma ( the Hindu God of creation ) and Vishnu ( the Hindu God of saving ) had an argument in terms of supremacy of creation.

As per Shiv Mahapuran, once Brahma ( the Hindu God of creation ) and Vishnu ( the Hindu God of saving ) had an argument in terms of supremacy of creation.