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Architecture of India||Introduction||Temple Architecture|| Cave Architecture||Rajput Architecture|| Jain Architecture || Indo-Islamic Architecture||Colonial Architecture||Modern Architecture||Sculpture in India||World Heritage Sites|| Temple Architecture Of India||Solanki Style || Gupta Style || Orissa Style || Chalukyan Style || South Indian Style|| TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE OF INDIA As temples form the
backbone of Indian medieval architectural heritage, it would be appropriate to discuss
their basic architectural features before we move on to different styles of Indian
architecture. Despite the vastness of the land, Indian temple architecture is remarkably
uniform. It is, however, often distinguished into two chief styles, each having numerous
sub-styles. The Northern or Indo-Aryan style is marked by a tower with rounded top and
curvilinear outline while the Southern or Dravidian style has the tower usually in the
shape of a rectangular truncated pyramid. The standard
type of the Hindu temple has remained fundamentally same from the 6th century AD to the
present day. The construction of temples – whether in the north in the south –
essentially followed a similar pattern. There is the sanctuary or the vimana of which the upper and outer pyramidal and
tapering portion is called the shikhara, or
pinnacle. The vimana is a rather dark place
that houses the divine deity. This small area is called garbha griha, literally meaning 'womb house'. The
entrance is through a doorway, normally from the eastern side. The doorway is reached
through a mandapa or pillared hall, where
devotees congregate for prayers. However, earlier temples may have had the mandapa at a little distance from the main temple
(the Shore Temple in Mamallapuram near Chennai, circa 700 A.D.), although this practise
was done away with in later constructions. Later it became necessary to unite both
buildings, making way for the antarala or
intermediate vestibule. A porch or a smaller room called ardha mandapa leads up to a hall (mandapa), which in turn goes into a maha mandapa. A tower generally surmounted the
shrine-room while smaller towers rose from other parts of the building. The whole
conception was set in a rectangular courtyard, which sometimes contained lesser shrines
and was often placed on a raised platform. The most perfect examples of temples on this
structure are the Khajuraho temples. Here, each chamber has its own separate pyramidal
roof rising in gradual steps so that the final sanctum’s roof towers up, surrounded
by smaller spires, finally forming a graceful, rising stepped pyramid. THE PRATHIHARAS
The
Pratiharas, who ruled over an extensive empire from Ujjain during the 8th and 9th
centuries, were among the significant successors of the Guptas. The Pratihara temples of
Central India have their own unique designs and decorative schemes. The important temples
of Ujjain include the Mahakaleshwar temple, which has one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of India, Kal Bhairava temple, which
finds a mention in the Skanda Purana, and
Mangalnath temple, which is regarded as the birthplace of Mars, according to the Matsya Purana. THE PALAS
The Pala
School of Architecture (8-13th Centuries AD) flourished in Bengal and Bihar
under the Pala and the Sena rulers. Nalanda was its most active centre, whose influence
was spread to Nepal, Myanmar and even Indonesia. Stone
sculptures of this period are found at Nalanda, Rajagriha, Bodh Gaya, Rajashahi and other
places. The Pala School of art is seen at its best at Nalanda and several sculptures
belonging to this period have been unearthed in excavations. THE CHANDELAS
The Chandelas of Jijihoti or Bundelkhand were known as great builders during the l0th-11th centuries. It is they who built the temples at Khajuraho justly famous for their graceful contours and erotic sculptures. These 22 temples (out of the original 85) are regarded as one of world's greatest artistic wonders. The Khajuraho Temples do not illustrate a development over a long period of time but were built within a short period of hundred years from 950-1050 A.D. The Khajuraho Temples have highly individualistic architectural character and are generally small in size. Each temple is divided into three main compartments - the cella or garbha griha, an assembly hall or mandapa and an entrance portico or ardha mandapa. Some temples also contain the antarala or vestibule to the cella and the transepts or maha-mandapa. The Kendriya Mahadev temple is the largest and most beautiful of the Khajuraho Temples. The Shiva Temple at Visvanath and the Vishnu Temple at Chaturbhanj are other important temples at Khajuraho. ||Introduction||Temple Architecture|| Cave Architecture||Rajput Architecture|| Jain Architecture || Indo-Islamic Architecture||Colonial Architecture||Modern Architecture||Sculpture in India||World Heritage Sites|| |
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