Indian Architecture: Foundations, Harappan, Buddhist, Jain, and Temple Traditions

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the historical periods, architectural components, rock-cut monuments, and structural terminology of ancient Indian architecture, from the Harappan Civilisation to the Gupta period.

Arkhitektōn

The Greek root of the word architecture, meaning chief builder or master builder, formed from tekton meaning builder or carpenter.

Sculpere

The Latin root word meaning to carve, from which the term sculpture is derived.

Citadel

The elevated or fortified sector of a Harappan city, typically containing important public structures such as granaries, assembly halls, and platforms.

Lower Town

The lower residential and functional sector of a Harappan settlement, distinct from the elevated citadel.

Harappan Brick Standardisation

The uniform dimensional ratio commonly used for burnt bricks across Mature Harappan settlements, which followed a $1:2:4$ proportion for thickness, width, and length.

Great Bath

A major public water tank at Mohenjo-daro lined with carefully fitted bricks and made watertight with gypsum mortar and bitumen, used likely for ritual or ceremonial ablutions.

Meluha

The geographical designation recorded in ancient Mesopotamian texts that modern scholars identify with the Indus Valley region, providing evidence of long-distance maritime trade.

Harappan Script

The oldest known script of the Indian subcontinent, which remains undeciphered and was generally written from right to left with suggested boustrophedon tendencies.

Brahmi Script

The oldest widely deciphered ancient script of the Indian subcontinent.

Mehrgarh

An early agricultural settlement located in the Bolan River valley near the Bolan Pass in Pakistan, representing an important precursor to the urban Harappan civilisation.

Dholavira

A Mature Harappan city on Khadir Bet in the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, famous for its tripartite layout, stadium-like structure, ten-sign inscription, and advanced stone-cut reservoirs and dams.

Lothal

A Harappan site on the Bhogavo river in Gujarat, known for bead-making workshops, fire altars, rice remains, warehouses, and a traditionally identified tidal dockyard.

Kalibangan

A Harappan settlement located on the Ghaggar palaeochannel in Rajasthan, meaning black bangles, notable for the archaeological discovery of a ploughed field and fire altars.

Banawali

A Harappan site in Haryana situated in the Ghaggar-Hakra palaeochannel region, notable for radial street arrangements and finds including a terracotta toy plough and barley.

Surkotada

A fortified Harappan site in Kutch, Gujarat, excavated by J.P. Joshi, known in archaeological discussions for its controversial and disputed identification of horse remains.

Alamgirpur

A Harappan site located on the Hindon River in Uttar Pradesh, recognised as the easternmost commonly cited site of the Indus civilisation.

Shramana Tradition

Ancient Indian ascetic and renunciant movements, including Buddhism, Jainism, and the Ajivikas, that questioned Vedic ritualism and emphasised ethical conduct, austerity, and spiritual liberation.

Chaitya

A Buddhist prayer hall or shrine constructed for collective worship, typically characterized by an apsidal end housing a stupa, nave, and aisles separated by pillars.

Vihara

A Buddhist or Jain monastic residential complex, consisting typically of a central hall surrounded by residential cells for monks.

Stupa

A hemispherical commemorative or funerary mound enshrining sacred relics of the Buddha or Buddhist saints, serving as a focus for devotion and ritual circumambulation.

Anda

The central hemispherical dome or solid earthen and brick mound of a Buddhist stupa.

Medhi

The raised circular platform, terrace, or drum that supports the anda of a Buddhist stupa.

Vedika

The stone or wooden protective railing enclosing the sacred space around a stupa.

Pradakshina Patha

The circumambulatory pathway surrounding a stupa or sacred shrine, traversed by devotees in a clockwise direction as a devotional act.

Harmika

The square railed balcony or platform situated at the very top of the anda of a stupa, demarcating the dwelling place of the sacred.

Yasti

The central vertical mast or pillar rising above the harmika of a stupa, symbolizing the cosmic axis (axis mundi).

Chhatra

The tiered ceremonial parasol or umbrella element mounted upon the yasti above the harmika of a stupa, signifying honor, protection, and royalty.

Torana

An ornamental monumental gateway located at the cardinal points of a stupa's outer railing, frequently carved with intricate narrative relief panels depicting Jataka tales.

Basadi

A Jain temple, shrine, or monastery, particularly as designated in the architectural traditions of South India and Karnataka.

Gomateshwara

The colossal monolithic Jain statue of Bahubali erected at Shravanabelagola, Karnataka, under the patronage of Ganga commander Chavundaraya around $981\,\text{CE}$.

Dilwara Temples

A renowned group of five Svetambara Jain marble temples at Mount Abu, Rajasthan, noted for their exquisite ceiling and column carvings executed during the 11th to 13th centuries.

Indra Sabha

The name given to Cave $32$ at the Ellora cave complex in Maharashtra, which belongs to the Jain group of rock-cut excavations.

Gandhara School of Art

A Greco-Buddhist sculptural tradition developed in northwestern India that utilized grey schist to portray the Buddha with realistic Hellenistic features such as wavy hair and naturalistic drapery.

Mathura School of Art

An indigenous North Indian sculptural tradition centered in Uttar Pradesh that predominantly utilized spotted red sandstone to carve images with indigenous Indian iconography.

Kumhrar

An archaeological site near Patna, Bihar, revealing the remains of an $80$-pillared hall of polished sandstone from the imperial Mauryan period.

Abacus

The circular or rectangular stone slab positioned directly above the capital and beneath the crowning animal sculpture of an Ashokan pillar.

Sarnath Lion Capital

The polished Chunar sandstone capital of an Ashokan pillar featuring four back-to-back lions, adopted on $26\text{ January }1950$ as the National Emblem of India.

Barabar Caves

The earliest surviving rock-cut caves in India, located in Jehanabad district, Bihar, carved out of granite hills during the Mauryan period with glass-like polished interiors for the Ajivika sect.

Lomas Rishi Cave

A rock-cut cave in the Barabar Hills renowned for an ornate entrance façade that meticulously replicates timber architecture with an ogee arch and an elephant frieze.

Nagarjuni Caves

A group of three rock-cut caves (Gopi, Vapiyaka, and Vadathika) near the Barabar Hills donated to the Ajivikas by Ashoka's grandson, Dasharatha.

Kailasa Temple

A monumental monolithic rock-cut Shiva temple at Cave $16$ of Ellora, Maharashtra, carved top-down from a single basalt cliff under the Rashtrakuta dynasty in the 8th century CE.

Garbhagriha

The inner sanctum sanctorum or 'womb-house' of a Hindu temple which enshrines the principal deity.

Mandapa

A pillared outdoor assembly hall, portico, or pavilion leading to the sanctum of a Hindu temple, serving worshippers during rituals.

Shikhara

The towering, mountain-peak-like superstructure rising above the sanctum sanctorum in North Indian Nagara-style Hindu temples.

Vimana

The tiered, pyramidal tower rising directly above the garbhagriha in South Indian Dravidian temple architecture.

Amalaka

The flattened, ribbed, circular stone disc placed atop the shikhara of a North Indian temple, derived from the form of the amla fruit.

Kalasha

The vase- or pot-shaped crowning finial positioned atop the amalaka on the highest point of a temple shikhara.

Panchayatana

A temple layout scheme wherein the central, primary shrine is surrounded by four secondary, subsidiary shrines located at the corners of a shared platform.

Rathas

Vertical projections or offsets decorating the exterior wall surfaces of North Indian Nagara temples, classified into Triratha, Pancharatha, Saptaratha, or Navaratha plans.

Latina (Rekha-Prasada)

The classic variety of Nagara shikhara distinguished by a square ground plan and gently inward-curving exterior walls that terminate in an amalaka.

Phamsana

A type of Nagara roof characterized by broad, low profiles constructed of straight slabs rising linearly in a pyramid, commonly used over mandapas.

Valabhi

A rectangular temple type featuring a barrel-vaulted or wagon-vaulted roof with rounded ends, resembling ancient covered wagons or timber shrines.