hindu architecture

hindu Background on the "Subcontinent"

Geographical features like the Himalayas, the Indus and Ganges rivers played important roles in communication, trade and defense.

Stambhas

(or lath) are free-standing memorial pillars in Indian architecture, bearing insciptions, emblems or a statue

Ashokan Lion Pillar

The lion capital consists of four Indian lions standing back to back on a circular base containing Ashoka's chakra

THE STUPA

An earth mound, usually dome-shaped, forming a sacred Buddhist monument

Chaitya Hall at Karli, India

Carved out of the rock itself and enhanced wooden timbers so that the hall is modeled after earlier temples made of wood and bamboo

Takhti-i-Bahi monastery, India

An example of a vihara, a Buddhist monastery in India usually excavated from a solid rock

Asoka

, the most famous of the Mauryan kings, adopted Buddhism as state law or it would remain just another intellectual stream.

The CHAITYA HALL

Buddhist barrel-vaulted hall of worship; it is a rock-cut sanctuary housing a stupa within a space used for congregational worship

The CHAITYA HALL

means a sacred place or object

NAGARA STYLE DRAVIDA STYLE

Two Main Classifications of Indian Temple Architecture

NAGARA STYLE

● Associate with the northern parts of India

● A Nagara shrine is recognizable by its curved sikhara

●Sequential stratification of horizontal mouldings is common

● Pillar design usually have capitals in the form of the purnaghata ("brimming vase")

DRAVIDA STYLE

Associated with the southern parts of India

● A Dravida shrine usually has a tiered pyramid form

● Simplest form of Dravida temple is the alpa vimana (minor shrine) which has Buddhist roots

● Correspondence of wall projections and parapet pavilions is the norm among Dravida temples

Sikhara, Garbhagriha, 'Mandapa

Principal architectural features of a temple

Sikhara

' meaning the tower or the spire

○ It is the pyramidal or tapering portion of the temple which represents the mythological Meru or the highest mountain peak.

○ The shape and the size of the tower vary from region to region.

Garbhagriha

meaning the womb chamber.

○ It is nucleus and the innermost chamber of the temple where the image or idol of the deity is placed.

○ The chamber is mostly square in plan and is entered by a doorway on its eastern side.

Mandapa

is the pillared hall in front of the garbhagriha, for the assembly of the devotees

○ It is used by the devotees to sit, pray, chant, meditate and watch the priests performing the rituals.

Mandira

a Hindu temple

Ratha

- Hindu temple cut out of solid rock to resemble a chariot ● A temple might consist of no more than a single cell, but there were also endless possible elaborations. (B.Fletcher