What is the benefit of studying archeology and epigraphy? The foremost duty of epigraphy is to unearth truths. But no matter how much information we … - S. Srikanta Sastri

...temples occupied a prominent place from the perspective of education, fine arts, [reflected the] economic condition [of the kingdom] and social service. Thus, people had a firm belief and faith in the pious act of donating to temples. [Donors included] everybody from the monarch to the most ordinary citizen...temples were governed and maintained by a duly elected board. They distributed money, food grain, and seeds to farmers from the Deity’s Treasury...[temples] were also engaged in moneylending...temples conducted various celebrations like Pakshotsava [fortnightly utsavas], Maasotsava [monthly utsavas], Brahmotsava, and oversaw the distribution of the harvest derived fromtemple lands. Theatre and dance halls organized dramas during Utsava days in both Sanskrit and Desha Bhashas. Music and dance recitals offered as Seva for the Deity immensely enriched art forms like classical music, Bharatanatyam, and Vastushilpa [sculpture art]. Moral and spiritual discourses by learned scholars, Yatis, and such other eminences were drawn from the Vedic and Puranic lore thereby instilling and reinforcing Dharma among the pilgrims and others who visited the temple. There were also lecture halls for imparting higher education in Veda, Vedanga, Medicine and other subjects by teachers and scholars employed by the temple. Students were given free scholarship and boarding and lodging... Massive temples were secure like fortresses and contained an abundance of food grain, water and other supplies and provided shelter to refugees during wartime...Because Hindu kings regarded temples as sacred spaces, they deferred harming or despoiling them even slightly even if this caution meant certain defeat in war.... Temples in island nations like Java, Bali, Sumatra, Burma and Cambodia were built following the ideals, ideals and physical plan of various Indian temples.

Other cultures and religions are premised on an assumption that Otherness is both absolute and unalterable through human efforts. This prohibits free philosophical and spiritual inquiry in these religions. These religions preach that the only solution to mankind’s problems lies in a total dependence on the political machinery, that because feelings of superiority and inferiority are eternal, social reform is both an illusion and impossible, that there can never exist economic equality, and therefore the only option is to live with the existing condition…only the culture of India has unambiguously shown the whole world the nature of the relationship that must exist between the doer, the deed, and the cause of the deed. It is a culture, which confidently exhorts that “there is no other way than this” (naanyaH panthA vidyatEyanAyA)… Indian culture, far from being incomplete like other cultures, has a wholesome beauty…The spiritual outlook that lies at the heart of Indian culture is the reason it is still alive and flourishing in the world… [Emphases added]Indian culture is thus like Atman, the Self: timeless and imperishable.

The limits of human knowledge and the pace of scientific progress creates a time difference. The hallmark of a superior culture is its ability to keep this difference in mind and achieve progress in a state of peace. From a spiritual and ethical perspective, if we are to establish culture in the exact, noble sense of the word in the present world, we need to newly create and instil a sense of dharma in human beings.