The Mandir Totem

A mandir in the totem language. The stacked form is ours; the details are drawn from a longer tradition — brass bells that sound when moved, a cast peacock, a radiant sun, and a shikhar at the crown, the spire that rises above the sanctum of a temple. Almost every Indian home keeps a mandir. It may be a room, a cabinet, or a shelf in an alcove, but it is a fixed place rather than a decorative one — where the day's first prayer is offered, where dhoop and agarbatti are lit, and where a murti, the idol of a deity, is kept. Bells are rung there to mark the beginning of prayer, as they are in a temple. A related custom places a small idol facing the entrance of a house, most often Ganesha, who is asked to clear obstacles from what follows. The entrance becomes a point of welcome, and of blessing on the way in. The Mandir Totem is built for either practice. A dedicated recess holds dhoop or agarbatti, and takes a murti(idol) if you keep one — set directly beneath the shikhar, as it would sit in a temple. Left empty, the piece stands at an entrance as a marker: the gesture of the tradition carried in a contemporary form. Stoneware clay over a mild steel base and pipe, finished in our in-house claypaste, with cast aluminium elements in a brass finish. At 5'8" it reads at standing height, meant to be approached rather than looked down at. Handmade to order.