This is the layer of Hindu scripture that outsiders almost never hear about and that governs almost everything they would see in a temple. The Vedas contain no instructions for temples, images, or the daily worship of a deity in stone — none of that existed when they were composed. The Agamas and Tantras do: dimensions of the sanctum, iconometry, the installation of the deity, the sequence and timing of daily services, the festival calendar, and the qualifications of the officiant. Shaiva Siddhanta counts twenty-eight primary Agamas; Vaishnava temples follow either Pancharatra or Vaikhanasa, and a temple will identify which. The legal significance is not academic: Indian courts adjudicating who may serve as an archaka, whether a particular ritual may be changed, or whether a temple must admit a class of worshipper, have taken evidence on what the relevant Agama prescribes — most consequentially in the Tamil Nadu priesthood cases, where Agamic prescription has been the principal argument against appointing non-Brahmins.