Wood

Dagens tried to identify as many of the trees as possible among those listed in two shaiva sthApanA-tantra-s. The Sanskrit name along with his ID & the images or parts of a temple made from them is given. While in some cases I’m doubtful, I’m not sure the alternative is better. A corollary to this is that temples and the images in them were made from wood for a long time. We don’t have any historical exemplars of such surviving due to the marUnmatta-s & natural causes.

Rau= Raurava; Aj=Ajita

  • Ariṣța (Sapindus trifoliatus): Linga (Aj)
  • Aśoka (Saraca indica): Dhvajadaṇda (Aj)
  • Asana (Terminalia tomentosa): Stupidanda, Sula (Aj)
  • Karañja (Pongamia glabra): Linga (Aj)
  • Ketaka (Pandanus odoratissimus): Dhvajadanda (Rau)
  • Kramuka (Areca catechu): Dhvajadanda (Aj, Rau); Dīpadanda (Rau)
  • Kṣīriṇa (Mimusops hexandra): Dhvajadanda (Rau)
  • Khadira (Acacia catechu): Linga, Śūla, Stūpidanda (Aj)
  • Khādira (Acacia catechu): Dhvajadanda (Rau)
  • Candana (Santalum album): Linga, Śūla (Aj); Dhvajadanda (Rau)
  • Campaka (Michelia champaka): Dhvajadaṇda (Aj and Rau)
  • Tamāla (Garcinia pictoria): Dhvajadanda (Aj)
  • Tāla (Borassus flabellifer): Dīpadaṇda (Rau)
  • Tintriṇi (Tamarindus indica): Stūpidaṇda (Aj)
  • Devadāru/Surataru (Pinus deodara): Dhvajadanda (Rau); Linga, Śūla (Aj)
  • Nameruka (Eleocarpus ganitrus?): Stūpidaṇda (Aj)
  • Nālikera (Cocos nucifera): Dīpadaṇda (Rau)
  • Padmavệkṣa (Prunus puddum): Stūpidanda (Aj)
  • Panasa (Artocarpus integrifolia): Śūla (Aj)
  • Pumnāga (Calophyllum inophyllum): Dhvajadanda (Aj)
  • Bilva (Aegle marmelos): Dhvajadanda (Aj, Rau); Linga (Aj)
  • Madhūka (Bassia latifolia, L.): Linga, Stūpidanda, Dhvajadanda (Aj)
  • Munivệkṣa (?): Dhvajadaṇda (Rau)
  • Rājavřkṣa (?): Sūla (Aj)
  • Vakula (Mimusops elengi): śula (Aj)
  • Veṇu (Bamboo): Dhvajadaṇda (Aj, Rau); Śūla (Aj)
  • Śami (Prosopis spicigera): Linga (Aj)
  • Simsapa (Dalbergia sissoo): Stupidanda (Aj)
  • Sirīṣa (Albizia lebbek): Dhvajadaṇda (Aj)
  • Saptadala/Saptaparṇa (Alsthonia scholaris): Śūla (Aj); Dhvajadaṇda (Rau).

chaitya-vR^ikShas

While a connection between the chaitya-vR^ikSha and the wooden shrines is possible, it should be noted that the chaitya-vR^ikSha-s go back a long way before the Agama-s. They are already mentioned in the mahAbhArata. The shaiva texts mention a specific sthala-vR^ikSha for each of the major shaiva shrines. This association might have emerged early when the earliest shrines were probably still mostly wooden.