The period when Hindu temple traditions evolve through a rich experimental phase and
proliferate through much of India and Nepal coincides with the reign of the Gupta Empire.
The Gupta Period was one of great cultural ferment and creativity, partly stimulated by the
expansion of trade routes on the Indian subcontinent as such connections enriched culture as
well as inspiring whole new modes of creative expression.
This influx of new creativity transforms Hinduism itself in a very dynamic way. New literary
genres such as kavya (poetry) and drama stimulate court culture. Additionally, the Hindu Epics
take their final form around this time. But it is the Puranas – great compendiums of Hindu myth
and history – that also emerge in the 4th century CE and radically transform Hindu cosmology
and ritual for all time to come. This marks the beginning of Hindu theism and also coincides
with the rise of ecstatic bhakti, as the first bhakti poets appear in the Tamil south. All of these
creative outlets correspond with an expansion of pilgrimage networks, the rise of Shaktism and
the transition to temples becoming the institutional centers of Hindu society at large.