Āgamic Śāstras — The Revealed Texts of Temple Worship
Āgamic śāstras (Sanskrit: āgama — that which has come down; śāstra — authoritative text) are the class of revealed scriptural texts that govern the sacred arts of temple architecture (Āgama śilpa), the installation of deity images (pratiṣṭhā), and the detailed procedures of daily and festival worship (pūjā vidhi). The term derives from the Sanskrit root meaning 'that which has come down' — denoting that these texts are received revelation rather than human composition.
Within the Śrī Vaiṣṇava tradition, the relevant Āgama texts are the Pāñcarātra Āgamas — a vast corpus of Sanskrit texts governing every aspect of Vaiṣṇava worship, from the geometry of temple towers and the prescribed materials for deity images, to the mantras used in installation, the daily schedule of worship services, and the conduct of major festivals. The specifications of the Pāñcarātra Āgamas are not arbitrary aesthetic preferences; they are understood as divinely revealed prescriptions that, when followed precisely, establish the temple as a true vortex of divine presence — a place where the omnipresent Bhagavān makes himself specially and directly accessible.
The Āgamas thus stand alongside the Vedas as a primary scriptural authority in the Śrī Vaiṣṇava tradition, and the correct performance of worship according to āgamic prescription is considered an indispensable dimension of the tradition's practice.