India is very famous for its temples. Thousands and thousands of temples built and maintained since time immemorial. The sculptures and construction techniques will speak for themselves the glory of the great tradition.
Madurai is located 462 kilometers south of Chennai (Madras, as it was known in earlier times). The famous Meenakshi Amman Temple is located in the center of the city. Inside the temple, there are famous halls such as the Marriage Hall, the Thousand Pillars Hall, etc.
The Thousand Pillars Hall is very famous for its beautiful construction.
The hall, despite being called the hall of a thousand pillars, has only 985 pillars. The pillars are erected in such a way that they line up from whatever angle we look at.
In the year 1983, a team of experts from the audiology department entered the room and conducted an extensive study. They have used the latest scientific devices and found that there is absolutely no echo anywhere in the temple, even with the whole crowd around, the sound level rarely exceeds 80 dB (decibels).
Naturally, the noise level in a quiet environment will be 40 dB, on a busy street about 80-85 dB, and at the airport, when a jet plane takes off, it will be about 100 dB.
According to the team led by ENT specialist Dr Kameswaran, there appears to be a mechanism built into the Madurai temple compound to contain the echo. The total noise does not exceed a specific level that would make it unpleasant for visitors.
The temple is an acoustic marvel, the experts noted. Near the road there is an Ashta Shakti Hall. There the noise level is only 40 dB.
The team members said that with this ambient noise it is possible for a person to contemplate and meditate on Divinity.
Approximately around 5,000 to 6,000 people visit the temple daily. And the sound level registered at peak hours is of the order of 70 dB to 80 dB.
It implies that the craftsmen knew the basic principles of acoustics. The huge icons on the raw pillars, the layout of the vents, the allocation of open spaces around them, are all mechanisms to contain the noise level. The arrangements are made in such a way that they are not crude but there is an artistic planning that combines utility with beauty. This arrangement contrasts strangely with the arrangement made in certain modern buildings where noise-breaking and sound-absorbing instruments are hung from the ceiling in a very clumsy and unartistic manner.
This room is a classic example of perfect sound engineering technique. The average height of each pillar is approximately 12 feet. The pillars represent four types of motifs, one consisting of molded squares, the other with a rampant dragon, the third with the figure of a deity, and the fourth of a donor or her family. Raw pillars of exactly the same size and shape are placed in mathematically precise positions. These aspects have made the room echo resistant.
Furthermore, the pillars are arranged in such a peculiar way that any person sitting in a specific place could see a central figure without any kind of obstruction in any position. In any position within the room, as a consequence of the arrangement of the pillars, 16 colonnades of different widths and lengths on each side open around us so that the perspective they offer is simply marvelous.
The expert team correctly described the hall of a thousand pillars as an acoustic marvel.
Thousands of such intricate wonders are hidden in these Indian temples.