Question

what was the difference in the signafance in the signafance of a king building temples and a sultan building mosques

Answer 1

Temples and mosques were beautifully built as they were places of worship and also demonstrated the wealth, power, and devotion of the patron. For example the Rajarajeshwara temple was built by king Rajarajadeva to show his devotion to lord Rajarajeshvaram.

Kings took god's name as it was auspicious and showed that his status was equal to that of god's and also through rituals it shows that one god (the king) worships the other god (heavenly god).

Large temples were built by kings and the smaller ones were built by nobles or subordinate kings.

The Muslim kings or Badhshas did not claim to be incarnations of God but the Persians called the Sultan as 'The Shadow of God'. For example inscriptions in the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque in Delhi explain that God chose Allauddin as a king because he had the qualities of Moses and Solomon.

It also says that the greatest law-giver and architect is God himself who created the world out of chaos and introduced order and balance.

As each new dynasty came into power, kings emphasised on their relation to God and so rulers offered patronage to learned and pious men and transformed their capitals into religious and cultural centres.

The rule of a king in ancient times was considered an age of plenty where all resources were available in plenty, especially water, and so kings built tanks and reservoirs to provide clean water to their subjects.

For example, Iltutmish built the Hauz-i-Sultani (King's Reservoir) a large water reservoir outside Delhi.

Many a time these water sources were built as a part of a mosque or a temple.