A Morphological Framework for Quantifying Spatial-Symbolic Continuity in Temple Corridor Redevelopments, and Its Design Guidelines

Abstract

Large-scale temple corridor redevelopments exemplified by the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham in Varanasi, the Shree Mandir Parikrama at Puri, and the ongoing queue-complex and pedestrian-corridor upgrades at Tirumala have become the dominant instrument through which Indian pilgrimage cities are being restructured in the twenty-first century. These interventions promise improved access, safety and visitor comfort, yet they routinely clear dense, symbolically layered urban fabric and replace it with open, monumental geometries whose relationship to the historic morphology of the temple precinct is rarely assessed in a structured, comparable way. This paper proposes a purely architectural, non-computational assessment instrument the Spatial-Symbolic Continuity Index (SSCI) built from six observable morphological parameters: Axial Continuity, Prakara Permeability, Threshold Density, Sightline Retention, Material-Symbolic Coherence, and Scale Transition Gradient. Each parameter is derived from classical Hindu temple planning theory (the Vastu-Purusha Mandala, the prakara–mandapa–garbhagriha sequence, and the pradakshina patha) and from established urban morphology and space-syntax methods (Conzenian plan analysis, Lynchian imageability, and axial-line mapping), and is scored through a documented architect's rubric rather than any algorithmic or data-driven process. The framework is applied to the three case-study corridors through figure-ground mapping, sectional threshold analysis, and comparative diagramming. Results show that the Kashi Vishwanath corridor achieves the highest axial and sightline continuity but the lowest fine-grained permeability; the Puri Parikrama achieves the most balanced permeability and threshold gradation through its nine-zone concentric section; and the Tirumala precinct, constrained by hill terrain and crowd-holding requirements, achieves the highest threshold density and material-symbolic coherence but the weakest axial legibility. The paper concludes with six transferable design guidelines for architects and planning authorities engaged in temple precinct redevelopment, emphasising reversible interventions, graduated thresholds, and the deliberate retention of fine urban grain at corridor edges. The study is confined entirely to architectural, spatial and symbolic analysis; no computational, statistical-learning or artificial-intelligence method is used at any stage of data processing or scoring.