In its reported account of India from 1000 to 1700 CE, NCERT presents temples as more than places of worship: they could hold land, employ workers, lend money and help rulers express political authority. These roles varied across regions and periods. The account comes from a PTI report on the new Class 9 textbook, Understanding Society: India and Beyond – Part 2; the book itself was not directly examined for this article.
What the reported NCERT account says
The PTI report says the textbook discusses these themes in a chapter called “Resistance and Resilience,” in a section titled “Temples: The Resilience of sacred sites.” Its central point is that temples could be embedded in regional economic, social and political life while retaining their religious role.
PTI reproduces this sentence as wording from the textbook: “Temples functioned as central pillars of the region’s socio-economic and political life. These religious institutions evolved into major economic hubs that managed extensive land grants, provided employment to hundreds of specialised workers and served as financial institutions for local traders.” The report gives no underlying count for “hundreds,” so that phrase should be read as the textbook’s general description, not as a verified employment statistic.
How temples could function as economic institutions
The reported account describes several economic functions. Land grants gave temples resources to manage; specialist workers supported their activities; and lending could connect temple resources with local traders. The report also says the textbook describes temples collecting some local taxes. Taken together, these activities show why a temple could be an important institution in a local economy, not simply a site where people gathered for worship.
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Historical scholarship offers context for these roles, but its findings are tied to particular regions and periods. Cynthia Talbot’s account of thirteenth-century South India describes temples as places of redistribution, employment and lending. A peer-reviewed study of Vijayanagara royal gifts likewise discusses temple landholding, employment and market roles. These studies support the plausibility of the functions described, but do not independently verify every statement in the new textbook.
How temple patronage could support political authority
The PTI report says the book explains that rulers’ association with deities and their patronage of temples could help establish political legitimacy. It quotes the textbook as saying: “The deities of these temples were regarded as protectors of the state and its people. In some cases, the deity was regarded as the ruler while the actual ruler governed as the deity’s deputy.” In this framing, a ruler’s authority could be presented as service to, or stewardship on behalf of, a deity.
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The textbook examples reported by PTI are regionally specific: Odisha’s Gajapati rulers called themselves the “Rauta” (deputy) of Jagannath; Jaipur’s Kachhwaha rulers governed on behalf of Govind Dev Ji; and Kota’s Rajput rulers regarded themselves as representatives of Rama. These examples illustrate the reported argument; they should not be taken to mean that all rulers across India used the same political relationship with temples.
Research on South India also connects royal donations and temple institutions with political relationships. Arjun Appadurai’s study of South India from 1350 to 1700 describes Sri Vaishnava temples as linking ritual and economic exchanges between warrior-kings from outside Tamil country and local sectarian leaders. Talbot’s work similarly connects royal giving with legitimacy and local allegiances. These are interpretations of specific settings, not a single explanation for kingship throughout the subcontinent.
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Temples as places of learning and culture
The PTI account says the textbook also presents temples as sites of social integration, education and culture, including the preservation of artistic traditions such as Bharatanatyam. An official NCERT chapter for 2024–25 independently says that temples, mathas, Jain basadis and Buddhist viharas served as sources of learning, and that education continued in temples during the medieval period. That earlier account supports the learning role, but does not independently confirm every cultural or artistic example attributed to the 2026 book.
PTI also reports that the textbook describes temples as exercising quasi-judicial authority in some cases, including administering legal penalties. The report’s wording does not establish that all temples held such authority or explain how this varied among local institutions.
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Construction, restoration and religious-political claims
According to PTI, the textbook cites the Jagat Shiromani Temple at Amer and the Jagdish Temple built by Maharana Jagat Singh in Udaipur as examples connected with continued temple construction or restoration and religious-political assertion. The report says the book presents Jagat Singh’s architectural projects as something scholars have viewed as a political and religious response to Mughal authority. That is a reported interpretation, not an uncontested conclusion established here.
How to read the 1000–1700 CE framing
The date range covers many centuries and diverse political and religious settings. Temple roles depended on local institutions, patrons and historical circumstances. Evidence about South Indian temples, for example, cannot automatically establish how temples functioned everywhere else in India.
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- Distinguish the textbook’s broad overview from scholarship focused on a particular region, institution or period.
- Ask what kind of evidence supports a claim, such as inscriptions, material remains or later historical interpretation.
- Read examples of political patronage as evidence of possible relationships, not proof of a uniform system across India.
- For the precise wording and treatment of particular episodes in the new textbook, consult the book itself; the specific claims discussed here are available through PTI’s report.
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