Hindu Garden see also

Hindu’ describes the civilization and religion of the Indus valley. Linguistic analysis identifies its origin as Indo-European (Aryan). Hinduism is not an organized religion, like Christianity or Islam. It is more a set of beliefs and a way of life centered on a set of sacred texts (including the Bhagavad Gita, Rig Veda and the Upanishadas). Hinduism is also a nature-lovingfaith. There are references to gardens in Hindu literature, including tanks, lotus-shaped baths and lakes, creeper pavilions and tanks. Much was either lost after the Mogul invasions or absorbed into the Islamic tradition.

Harappan civilization flourished in the Indus valley c2000 BCE (eg at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa). They built in stone but little is known of their beliefs. Early Buddhist buildings was made of wood and later of stone. It is not known whether these buildings were influenced by Persia and Mesopotamia but Buddhism certainly influenced construction of the oldest Hindu temples (after c100 CE). In Hinduism, the earth itself is worshiped as the mother goddess Devi (the name means 'goddess'). She is incarnate in rivers which give fertility to the soil. Garlands thrown in the water honour her. The other two great gods in the Hindu trinity are Shiva ('the destroyer') and Vishnu ('the creator'). Each has many avatars and temples were built as places to honour and worship gods, with the guidance of Brahmins.

A mandala is a 2-dimensional representation of the cosmos with the god and his palace at the centre. Hindu temples are 3-dimensional mandalas. They are rectangular enclosures with a sanctuary at the centre, a tall structure to represent Mount Meru (the centre of the universe). In her study of The Hindu Temple (1946) Stella Kramrisch noted that 'The gods always play where groves are near rivers, mountains and springs, and in towns with pleasure gardens'. Temples are therefore sited in relation to rivers and groves. They are places of pilgrimage, not places of congretational worship.

Nelson Wu, in Chinese and Indian Architecture: the City of Man, the Mountain of God and the Realm of the Immortals, 1963) sees the circle as a symbol of Indian civilization. He contrasts the 'Indian world of holy places' [the Mountain of God] with the square as a symbol of Chinese civilization [the 'Chinese world of walled cities' - the City of Man]. Buddhist and Hindu design ideas grew together.