Architecture of India

is boarded by 6 countries
which are Pakistan, China,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar
and Nepa

It has a coastline of 7000
kms

Bounded in the southwest by
the Arabian sea and in the
southeast by the Bay of Bengal.

the geography of this country is extremely diverse with landscape ranging from snowcapped mountain ranges to deserts, plains, hills and plateaus

used mainly as
facing for rubble walling

works using white marble of
Rajasthan in the north

Tropical to temperate zonal extremes

The temperature extremes are
confined largely to the slopes of the Himalaya.

Except in the more mountainous
regions, most of the rest of India has a uniformly tropical climate

Seasonal variations, resulting from the
south-western and north-eastern
monsoons, profoundly influence
temperature, humidity, and
precipitation throughout the subcontinent

The seasons of India may be classified as rainy and dry

One of the world’s earliest civilization that began to develop around the Indus River in what is now Pakistan and western India

Ruins of ancient cities such as Harappa (Punjab) and Mohenjo-Daro (Sindh).

Writing and counting, built drainage systems that ran into brick-lined sewers and dug canals to irrigate their farms were developed systems

Civilization developed by the Dravidians equaled and possibly surpassed in splendor the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt

Civilization is founded upon three basic concepts: the
sacred, universal and ritualistic

The civilization is noted for its cities built of brick, roadside drainage system, and multistoried houses

The baths and toilets system the cities had is acknowledged as one of the most advanced in the ancient world. A well and drainage system and a bath and toilet excavated.

Emergence during the intermingling of Indo-Aryan and Dravidian cultures.
Notable for advanced skills in arts and sciences.

Skills and Achievements:
Livestock raising
Metal handicrafts
Carpentry
Boatbuilding
Military science
.

Architectural Note:
No colossal monuments; notable for vernacular hut dwellings.

The Aryan (VEDIC) hut, in its most basic shape, was circular
in plan with thatched roof over a bamboo network of ribs.

It was later elongated to become rectangular in plan, with roofing of bamboo as well, only this time curved in the shape of a barrel.

In 321 B.C. Chandragupta, founder of the Maurya dynasty of Indian kings known to the Greeks as Sandrocottos, seized control of Magadha and extended his sovereignty over most of the subcontinent.

Set the empire at Pataliputra, probably the largest and most sophisticated city and center of culture in the world

Buddhism flourished and had become the official language of Hindu architecture established by King Ashoka.

Ashoka proclaimed Buddhism as a state religion and spread its message through state-funded monasteries, grunts, and his famous rock-edicts seen in modern Orissa and central India

Buddhism waned, as Hinduism and Jainism became dominant.

Distinct from the Buddhist Stupa as the Indian temple was devoted to one or more of the deities of Hinduism.

The first stone temples were built to honor the Hindu gods like Krishna and Vishnu. The earliest stone temple is a small one at Tigawa, in central India.

Muslim invaders from the Abbasid Empire conquered most of Northern India

Most important Indian temples were destroyed and replaced with big Mosques, tombs, complexes, and palaces to showcase their power and wealth

Ruled much of India in the 16th and 17th century, its rulers developed a stable, centralized form of government that served as a model for later Indian rulers

Prohibited idol worship and imagery found on the Buddhist, Hindu & Jain architectural typologies

Indo-Islamic Architecture emerged during the
Mughal period

Shah Jahan’s reign (1628-1658) coincided with the golden age of Indian Saracenic architecture, best exemplified by the Taj Mahal. He was driven from the throne in 1658 by his son, Aurangzeb, who
took the title of Alamgir (“Conqueror of the World”).

With the decline of the Mughal Empire, the country fell increasingly under British domination

Vedism and Brahmanism
Hinduism
Jainism
Buddhism

scripture with a collection of hymns composed between 1500 and 900 B.C.E

Life and earth-affirming, positive faith appropriate to battle-loving tribes whose chieftains and godsoddesses and heroes resemble divinities and characters.

Polytheistic Religion brought by the Aryan Tribes

focused on the ultimate reality to which everything belonged and returned after escaping cycles of reincarnation, the rebirth of the soul into new bodies.

Sanatana Dharma meaning
“immemorial way of right living

the continuous cycle of life, death, and reincarnation

the universal law of cause and effect

One of the key thoughts of Hinduism, the belief in soul

This philosophy holds that living creatures have a soul, and they're all part of the supreme soul

social group, based partly on occupation which grew up with Hinduism

priests

kings and warriors

merchants and farmers

workers E. Untouchables – outcasts

is the chief god, the omnipresent one who is father of the Brahman Trinity.

Has 4 heads, 3 of which (representing their Trinity) can be seen from any point of view

Founded by Mahaveer or Vadhaman born in 599 B.C.

Belief in Nirvana as a state of pure rest
without rebirth but no total destruction

overlapped with hindu styles and produced the elaborate all over patterns carved in bands that became the distinguishing feature of Indian Architecture.

Buildings were Built on a gigantic scale; a marked feature being pointed domes constructed of level courses of corbeled stones

Religion and philosophy founded in northeastern India in the 5th century

Based on the teaching of Siddhartha Gautama, a Sakya prince known as Buddha the enlightened one.

Adopted some ideas from Hinduism, doctrine of karma but rejected caste system and all of its gods.

Divided into two branches – Theravada (Way of the Elders) and Mahayana (The Great Vehicle

describes buildings which are carved, cast or excavated from a single piece of material, historically from rock.

building of monuments. They are not designed for people to reside in. Rather, they offer public areas, which can be symbolic or for certain activities.

Rock-cut buildings

A religion originated in India which later spread to China, Burma, Japan, Tibet and parts of Southeast Asia

Founded by Siddharta Gautama (563-483BC)

suffering exists; has cause; has end

desire and ignorance lie at the root of suffering

end of the suffering in this life on earth and in the spiritual life, achieving through Nirvana.

Good Moral Conduct (Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech)

Meditation and Mental Development (Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort)

Wisdom or Insight (Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration)

Began with the development of various symbols, representing aspects of the
Buddha’s life.

The major features of this style are

Stupas
Stambhas
Chaityas
Viharas

Beginnings were traced back to the funerary customs of the Vedic age

Dome-shaped mound that mimics the funerary mounds used to mark the graves of great kings

Contain holy relics to indicate the sacred character of the place or commemorate an important event associated with Buddha

The initial function of a this was the veneration and safe-guarding of the relics of Buddha

Stupa plans develops symmetrically about a central point

Stupa volume develops symmetrically about an axis that rises vertically from the central point

Stupa mass is oriented in accordance with the directions of space.

The orientation of the gates equally
corresponds to the sun’s course, to sunrise, zenith, sunset and nadir. As the sun illuminates the physical world, so does the Buddha illuminate the spiritual world.

represents his birth

represents his enlightenment

represents procalamation of his doctrine

represents his final liberation

An umbrella-shaped finial symbolizing dignity, composed of a stone disk on a vertical pole

An elaborately carved,, ceremonial gateway having two or three lintels between posts

a railing enclosing the sacred area

a stone fence or railing that enclosesa a square area symbolizing the sacred domain of the god

a circular terrace enclosed by a railing surrounds the dome on which the faithful are to circumambulate in a clockwise direction

the pathway which is on a slight elevation from the ground level

the hemispherical dome of the stupa

The oldest stone structure in India, located on the top of the Sanchi Hill

The main body of the stupa symbolizes the cosmic mountain.

The dome is a solid brick work 36.60 m in diameter and 16.46 m high. It symbolized the infinite space of the sky.

holds the triple umbrella or Chhatri which represents the three jewels of Buddhism

the Buddha (original nature), the Dharma (Compassionate teaching) and the Sangha (Harmonious community)

are the crowning achievements of Sanchi. Each gateway is made up of two square posts topped by capitals of sculptured animals or dwarfs surmounted by three architraves which end in spirals.

depicts the events of the Buddha’s life

freestanding monumental pillar having carved inscriptions religious elements or a statue

consists of a circular column or octagonal shaft slightly tapering towards the summit

it is made up of polished sandstone or metal some as high as 60 and 70 ft

Elephant

represent the guardians of 4 quarters of the universe

the guardian of South

guardian of West

the guardian of North

symbolizes the first sermon delivered by Buddha

is a shrine, a temple or a hall where prayer is done

It is usually carved out of solid rock on hillside, having the form of an aisled basilica with a Stupa at one end.

Cave 10 is thought to be the oldest of the other chaitya halls

Ornamental façade

Central hall divided by means of pillars into a nave and aisles

Rock-cut stupa at the rear end of the hall with enough space around it for performing the rite of circumambulation (pradakshina patha

Leads to a monolithic stupa in the apse

Aisle formed by a series of massive columns crowned with male and female riders on elephants

Contains 29 caves

Most magnificent examples of rock cut architecture and cave paintings which dates back to the 5th c.

The paintings and sculptures of major events in the life Buddha are considered masterpieces of Buddhist religious art.

Excavated from the solid rock and symbolizes the three
faiths of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

has 34 caves:
12 caves to the south are Buddhist,
17 in the centre are Hinduism,
5 caves to the north are Jainism

are early types of monasteries consisting of an open court surrounded by open cells accessible through an entrance porch.

They were the residential places of the Buddhist priests (monks), but originally, they were constructed to shelter their monks during the rainy season, when it became difficult for them to lead the wanderer’s life

Rock cut vihara hewn into the side of a mountain or a hill

Stand-alone, structural building

It consists of a pillared archway on the door, a central court with or without pillars marking its periphery, and three rows of secluded cells with narrow, low doorways ringing the court’s perimeter.

There is very little in the way of sources of light, except from the main entrance itself. The overall effect is that of seclusion and penance, as exhorted by the principal tenets
of Mahayana Buddhism, whose precepts the monks were serving

Indian symbol of spiritual growth, since the lotus seed germinates in the muck at the bottom of a pond, then the stem grows as long as is necessary (2, 4 to 10 ft) so that the flower can blossom above the surface of the water. (symbolizing transcendence of earthly circumstances)

connected with the story of the Buddha's conception, in which his mother became pregnant when a white elephant appeared in a dream and tapped her on the abdomen with the lotus it was holding in its trunk.

most important of the four events, since this is what made him the Buddha ("Enlightened One").

According to tradition, the Buddha renounced his home after seeing the Four Signs: an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a wandering monk.

He then sat down underneath a ficus tree in Bodh Gaya (modern Bihar) and began to meditate on the question of birth-and-death with a focused mind

His analysis eventually revealed the causal chain that leads to rebirth, known as pratityasamutpada (Interdependent Origination), in which each element provides the cause for the one that follows.

symbolizes the 3rd great event in the historical Buddha's life, in which he "turned the wheel of dharma" by preaching his first sermon (The Four Noble Truths) at Sarnath, near modern Benares. It represents his career as a teacher.

Restrained both in character and extent

Painted wall decoration was widely used and ranged from purely architectural forms to very elaborate genre paintings - cave walls at Ajanta

Provide invaluable social and architectural
records of the period.

Female form in its most voluptuous - common motif used in architectural sculpture.

is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent

They believe in a single supreme God who appears in many different manifestations as devas (celestial beings or deities), and they may worship specific devas as individual facets of the same God.

Deities commonly worshiped include Shiva the Destroyer; Vishnu in his incarnations as Rama and Krishna; Ganesha, the elephant god of prosperity; and different forms of the goddess Shakti (literally
meaning “power”), the primordial feminine creative principle.

Architecture and sculpture are inextricably linked in Hindu temples, which are usually devoted to a number of different deities .

Residence for the god and not a hall for congregational worship.
A symbol of primordial man

the inner sanctum in which the murti , or idol of the deity, is housed; a mandapa (congregation hall); and sometimes an antechamber and porch

surmounts the garba griha

Found between the
Vindhyas and Himalayas

makes Use of a square or cruciform plan but the walls are sometimes so broken up that the tower often gives the impression of being circular.

Characterized by a beehive shaped tower made up of layer upon layer of architectural elements such as:
- kapotas and gavaksas,
- topped by a large round cushion-like element called an amalaka.

Vimana rises vertically from its base in a curvilinear form.

Found between the Krishna river
and Cape Comorin

South-Indian Hindu temples are often like miniature towns

A broad open courtyard (prakaram) surrounds the temple and mandapa (porch) on all sides

The roof contains a vaulted
octagonal or domical structure

composed of
-Vimana
-Mantapams/Mandapas
-Gopurams
-Chautris/Chawadis

the actual temple, square in plan, and surmounted by a pyramidal roof of one or more stories; and contains the cell in which the image of the god or his emblem is placed

always cover and precede the door leading to the cell.

Principal features in the quadrangular enclosures that surround the more notable temples

used for various purposes, and which are the invariable accompaniments of these temples.
Vertically represents the god’s body with the sikhara as the head and the garbhagriha as the neck, mandapa as the body and gopura as the feet.

is called ‘shikhara’ or sikhara (summit), represents the mythological ‘Meru’ or the highest mountain peak.

varies from region to region and the steeple is often in the form of the trident of Shiva.

where the image or idol of the deity ‘murti’ is placed.

Small unlit shrine for the cult image or symbol crowned with spire-shaped sikhara roof.

Only the temple priests are
allowed inside.

Thick walls and heavy ceiling
to protect the deity.

Most large temples have a hall for audience to sit, called ‘nata-mandira’ (hall for temple-dancing) where women dancers or ‘devadasis’ used to perform dance rituals

Devotees use the hall to sit, meditate, pray, chant or watch the priests
perform the rituals

Usually decorated with paintings of gods and goddesses

If the temple is not in the vicinity of a natural water body, a reservoir of fresh water is built on the temple premises

is used for rituals as well as to keep the temple floor clean or even for a ritual bath before entering the holy abode if there is no nearby body of water.

Most temples have a this around the walls of the inner chamber for circumambulation by devotees around the deity as a mark of respect to the temple's god or goddess

Known as the 'big temple’, it is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is amongst one of the largest temples in the country. The temple tower is a 216 feet high, making it the tallest in the world. Remarkable for its sculptures and bronze

Temple serves as a stunning example of Hindu architecture, characterized by its towering spire, intricately carved pillars, and an impressive pyramidal structure.

This ancient Hindu temple is dedicated to Lord Jagannath, a form of Lord Vishnu, and is renowned for its grandeur, rituals, and the annual Rath Yatra, a colossal chariot festival

The presiding deities of the temple are Lord Jagannath, his elder brother Balabhadra, and their sister Subhadra. The idols are made of wood and are distinct for their incomplete limbs, which are rebuilt every twelve years during the Nabakalebara ceremony.

This sacred ritual involves transferring the essence of the deities to new idols carved from a sacred tree

is set in the heart of Gujarat. The Modhera Sun Temple is an architectural beauty dedicated to the Sun God, Surya.

It is one of the prime examples of Indian temple architecture

The temple is situated on the banks of the Pushpavati River in the town of Modhera and offers a glimpse into the rich history and culture of Gujarat

Concept of `mountains of immortality’ – building of temple-cities on hills

Temples - militant aura around them, surrounded by embattled walls

Divided into wards similar to fortified cities with parapets and niches to repel
armed aggression.

Considered richest temples in the world, surpassing even Mughal buildings in grandeur and material wealth.

All Jain temples have many marble pillars which are carved beautifully with Demi god posture.

Jain temples have numerous pillars having a well-designed structure, forming squares.
The squares thus formed create chambers, used as small chapels and contains the image of a deity

have richly carved brackets that emerge at about two thirds of their height

have pointy and flat domes and wherever there is a dome, the pillars are omitted to create an octagonal space within

has stonework ceilings that are elaborately carved

A four-faced design, considered to be one of the most sacred symbols in Jainism, as it represents Tirthankara in his full enlightened state.

Entry into these temples is also from four doors that face the cardinal directions.

the entrance hall, is a large open space, typically pillared and serves as gathering place for worshipers

the central shrine and the most sacred part of the temple that houses the image of a Jain deity.

– a pillared hall in front of the garbhagriha. This space is used for prayers and rituals and is often adorned with intricate carvings and sculptures

– dome-like structure that sits atop the temple and is meant to symbolize the spiritual aspirations of Jain devotees

the altar in front of the garbhagriha where offerings are made to the deity.

an ornate gateway or archway that serves as the entrance to the temple