Narayana Guru revised the existing temple concepts. It can be considered as the Guru's gentle defiance against the distorted beliefs, superstitions and immoral practices in Hinduism. Guru is known to have conducted 51 temple consecrations. These include 23 Shiva consecrations, 3 Devi consecrations, 14 Subrahmanya consecrations, 2 Ganapathi consecrations, and 9 consecrations that are not of any male or female deities. The latter include lamps, plaques, mirrors, ‘pranavam’ (‘Om’ sound), ‘chilambu’ (anklet) and ‘peetham’ (holy seat). All the Guru's temple consecrations were performed in the early morning.
The Guru was opening a new way for the common people to worship God. Since there is no temple in the Aluva Advaita Ashram, the third stage of the Guru's temple consecration involved no object for worship. The temples with rituals and festivals, the Sharada Mutt with facilities only for meditation, and the Advaita Ashram without an idol or a temple, reveal the three levels of worship. It reflects the trajectory of the Guru’s realisation that religious institutions, including temples, were becoming obsolete.
Guru challenged the established upper-caste hegemony by strategically utilizing temples as a tool for social change, an act of tremendous historical significance. He not only constructed temples in response to popular demand but also composed hymns to guide the people in their worship. Initially, the concept of these temples was rooted in religious symbolism, but Guru continuously experimented with his vision. Elements like light, lamps, mirrors, and the Advaita Ashram were introduced as means to draw people closer to the principle of non-duality. It can be inferred that Guru eventually distanced himself from further temple construction, realizing that they were diverging from his core objectives. Nevertheless, the system of worship he established did not evolve beyond these initial forms.
Ultimately, Narayana Guru’s 51 consecrations systematically transitioned from traditional idols to abstract symbols like mirrors and light. This evolution mirrored his belief that temples should serve as temporary tools for social equality and non-dual realization, rather than permanent fixtures of ritual, eventually leading him to favor silent meditation and education over conventional religious structures.
