Acoustic Characterization of Hemadpanti-Style Hindu Temples: A Case Study of the Markanda and Mrikunda Temples

This article presents the acoustic characterization of two well-known Hemadpanti-style Indian Hindu temples in Maharashtra, India, built during the twelfth century. The studies of architectural acoustics in Indian Hindu temples are sparse. Therefore, characterizing the acoustic nature of such historical Hindu temples is vital. This study may provide insight into the role of architectural characteristics that support the desired sound field, ensuring that the music ritual, singing of devotional songs, and Vedic chanting are suitable in Hemadpanti-style Hindu temples. The research aimed to report and investigate the acoustic behavior of the Hindu temples through in-situ measurements in an unoccupied condition. Virtual acoustic models were developed and validated using the in-situ measurements under the same conditions. Objective room acoustic indicators considered are reverberation time (T30), clarity of music (C80), and Speech Transmission Index (STI), which are later simulated and analyzed for two sound source positions in occupied conditions. The results report that the spatially and spectrally unoccupied averaged values for reverberation time (T30) and clarity of music (C80) of the Markanda temple are 0.98 s and 3.98 dB, and the Mrikunda temple (T30) and (C80) values are 0.73 s and 5.62 dB respectively. The values obtained for both temples are within the optimum range adopted for this study. The average subjective rating for speech intelligibility of the Markanda and the Mrikunda temples is “good”. After analyzing indicators, the results emphasize the influence of architectural features on the acoustic characteristics of the Hemadpanti style of Hindu temples.