The
Mauryas were famous for their art and architecture Evidence of the
earliest known structural temples has been recovered through
excavations. A circular brick and timber shrine of the Mauryan period of
3rd century B.C., was excavated at Bairat District of Jaipur,
Rajasthan. The shrine measures 23 meters in diameter and was made of
lime-plastered brick work, alternating with 26 octagonal pillars, of
wood. It was entered from the east through a small portico, supported by
two wooden pillars and was surrounded by a seven feet wide ambulatory. A
second example of a Maurya temple uncovered by excavations, Temple 40'
at Sanchi, has a similar plan, it was a stone temple on an apsidal plan
enclosed by an ambulatory, and raised on a high, rectangular scale,
approached by two flights of steps from diagonally opposite sides. The
super-structure was possibly built of wood, and has disappeared. In the
following centuries the temple underwent a series of changes making it
difficult to recognise from the original plan.
Temple 18 at Sanchi also
was an apsidal stone temple probably with a timber superstructure,
originally dating from the 2nd century B.C. The present remains of the
apsidal temple with its stately pillars and pilaster dates from about
the 7th century A.D. though the temple remained in use till the medieval
period.
Perhaps the earliest structural temple
still standing in its original condition is the one constructed at
Aihole in Karnataka. This is a little structure built of huge almost
boulder-like blocks of stones. The temple consists of a simple square
cell the garbhagriha or sanctum sanctorum, in front of which there is a coveredverandah, a
portico, which consists of four heavy pillars supporting a stone roof.
The pillars as well as the entire structure is as simple as can be,
except for a small frieze-like motif on the small parapet that runs on
two sides of the ground length of the portico.
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Temple 18 at Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh
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It is interesting to observe that the
architect who built this edifice had not yet discovered that the two
pillars nearest the cell need not have been built standing clear away
from the wall but that they could easily have been pilasters, half
pillars, half jutting out of the back wall of the verandah. Nor
had he taken the climate into consideration and did not provide
gargoyles to allow the rain water to run off the roof. The entire
structure is heavy, bulky and clumsy. Probably, this was constructed
near about 300 to 350 A.D.
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Temple No. 17, at Sanchi is a
small temple built about 400 A.D. and everything attempted earlier, is
done much better here. The stones are smaller and laid out in regular
neat rows; the roof has been separated so that the portico has a
slightly less prominent height - the Sanctum-Sanctorum being the main
house of the God. Gargoyles have been thoughtfully provided to drain off
rain water and the four back pillars are more slender and beautifully
carved. This temple truly belongs to the Classical Period and is marked
by elegance, harmony, balance and dignity. Decoration is minimal and is
only used where one structural form joins another.
An inverted lotus is placed where the top of
the shaft joins. The capital and little lions, seated back to back, act
as support where the roof rests on top of the pillar. The entire
structure is simple, with no complication. However, in the course of
time the extremely plain and simple temple architecture becomes
increasingly complicated, from a simple quadrangle it evolves into
salient and re-entering angles, protrusions are added, making the
outline more and more involved, till eventually it becomes almost like a
star with more than a hundred little corners on the ground level.
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Temple 17 at Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh
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Lad Khan Temple, Aihole, Karnataka
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The Ladkhan temple of Aihole
belongs to about 5th century A.D. Here the architect has tried to give
attention to the circumambulation path which is enclosed by means of a
wall allowing devotees to havepradakshana or cirumambulatory of
the holy of holies. Obviously when a large number of people would be
going round in a dark gallery the consideration of light and ventilation
would naturally arise and for that purpose the architect has provided
perforated jallies. The entrance portico is in this particular
case kept relatively small and not too much stress is laid on it. After
all, it is only the entrance gateway. The structure still reminds us of a
wooden prototype with stone walls, supporting a slanting roof made of
large boulders of stone slabs. Cleverly enough the roof has been given a
slant and provided with gargoyles to allow rain water to run off and on
the sanctum sanctorum proper the roof is a little higher, and very
rightly so, for that is the, abode of the God. On the top of the
structure is the very first attempt to raise a turret, a precursor to
the future loftier spire, the Shikhara. The idea behind it must have
been that, a temple being the home of the God must be seen from far and
near, from different parts of the village or town so it must be tall and
higher than the surrounding buildings.
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The Durga temple
at Aihole is an apsidal temple of about 550 A.D. in which the architect
has made immense improvements upon his previous attempts. This temple is
provided with a high pedestal, an open pillared verandah serving as pradakshanapatha, in place of a dark, ambulatory passage as in the case of the Ladkhan temple. Instead of perforated jallies is a pillared verandah running
round the shrine, open, well ventilated and well lit. There is a high
entrance with steps leading up to a tall base; the roof is almost double
in height and in this particular case the turret is beginning to take
the shape of a little spire, which, during the course of the next
centuries; evolved into a towering Shikhara. The pillars would have
looked very dull had they not provided an opportunity to the sculptors
to carve with beautiful figures. Carving is also done under the row of
pillars and for the first time we come across brackets supporting the
beam of the roof across the wide opening of the temple. This again
reminds us of the practice followed by the architect working in wood,
who wanted to make either a house or a shrine by putting up pillars or
posts of bamboo or wood on top of which he put horizontal beams so as to
hold the roof. To make this construction doubly strong, he hit upon the
'idea of making brackets, an essential element in Hindu and Buddhist
architecture in India and used much earlier in China; a slanting piece
of stone emerging as it were from the pillars or posts, reaching out
like an arm to hold the lintel or beam steadily. This kind of
construction is known by the architectural term, trabeate, as distinct
from accurate which was later made use of by the Muslims.
Apart from structural temples the other
variety of temples are rock cut, found at Mahabalipuram, about 38 miles
down south of Madras on the sea shore, datable to the 5th century A.D.
In local parlance they are known as Ratha or chariots and are
named after the five Pandava brothers and Draupadi but they neither have
anything to do with chariots nor probably with the Pandavas and these
associations are purely of a local character. The great Pallava rulers
of Kanchipuram, were great builders and the Pallava craftsmen, seized
upon the long outcrop or rocks and boulders available on the sea shore,
carved them and gave to them the shape of temples (monolithic) as well
as colossal statues of lions, elephants and bulls, etc. carved out of
smaller boulders.
One of these rock cut temples is known as the Draupadi Ratha. It is a rock cut imitation of a mud hut, supported by wooden posts, crowned by an imitation of a thatched roof. The Draupadi Ratha consists
of a square cell, with not even a portico, surmounted by a. hanging
roof suggestive in its shape of a Bengali hut. There is every reason to
believe that this, like so many other forms of structural Indian
architecture is an imitation of a proto-type construction of bamboo and
thatch. Two lovely girls adorn the entrance, each carved in a small
niche provided for the purpose on either side of the entrance. A floral
decoration runs along the edge of the roof which, according to some, is
nothing but a rock cut representation of the original brass or copper
edging over the thatching to keep it in position.
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Durga Temple, Aihole, Karnataka
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Draupadi and Arjuna Ratha, Stone, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu
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In shape and appearance the rest of the rathas seems
to have evolved out of a building composed of cells arranged round a
square courtyard. As the community of monks occupying the monastery
increased another storey was added, and then another and still another,
the whole structure eventually being topped with a domical roof. These
are square in plan and are surmounted by a pyramidal tower such as
Arjuna's ratha and the Dharmaraja ratha.
There is another type of the Ratha which has a longitudinal and barrel vaulted roof, i.e., they have a roof of the so called elephant-back type (Gajapristhakara). The
Durga temple at Aihole, and the Vaital deul at Bhubaneswar are
examples. The roof, in the case of the square shrines consists of a
simple multiplication of hut roofs, very much the way we can see them in
Buddhist monuments and other little huts. Though these are carved in
rock they show a so-called Buddhist chaitya window with a little Buddha
head. In the case of Arjuna's ratha and Dharmaraja ratha, their
wonderful proportions, magnificent disposition of mass of light and
shade reveal their classic character. The simple upright posts
imitations, of wooden pillars support brackets and the pilasters have
small animal bases. Whereas earlier at Sanchi the animals were used for
the capital, here they are used as a base.
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A temple, named
after the twin heroes, Nakula and Sahadeva, is an apsidal one, with
ornamental features as in the Dharmaraja, Arjuna and other rathas. There
is a slight forward extension of the roof to form a porch supported by
two lion pillars. There are no figure-carvings on this temple. Close to
this is a monolithic elephant suggesting theGajapristhakara (elephant back) shape of the apsidal temple.
The Ganesh-rath is one of the finest
monolithic temples at Mahabalipuram. Though three-storeyed and of
better workmanship, it resembles the Bhima-ratha in roof form.
The gable-ends of the wagon-roof have a finial showing a human head
decorated by a trident shaped head-gear, the slide prongs suggesting the
usual horns in the dvarpala-figures and the central one long
and narrow crown. This motif is repeated in the finials of the
decorative gables along the wagon-roof. There is, as usual, the pavilion
and Kudu ornamentation. The elaborately worked roof has nine
vase-shaped finials and is the precursor of the later gopuram. A row of pilasters decorates the sides and the back, while the main opening is to the west. Between the dvarapalas at either end are two lion pillars in the centre and two pilasters.
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Nakula and Sahadev Temple, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu
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Shore Temple, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu
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The Shore temple at
Mahabalipuram datable to late 7th century is specially known because of
its location on the sea-shore. This temple though very similar
stylistically to the Dharmaraja ratha, differs from it in an
important respect that it is a structural temple and not a rock-cut one.
It is about 3 to 4 times the size of the Dharmaraja ratha and
is made a triple structure by adding a shrine at the back and slightly
jutting out in the front. There are two spires, much loftier than in the
case of the previous temples, the higher spire has more storeys than
the Dharmaraja ratha and the pinnacle is higher and pointed. It
is much more complicated, enlarged and enriched. The shrine is enclosed
by a massive wall, having the typical Pallava rampart lion pilasters at
regular intervals. On its outer side, the wall is surmounted by seated
bull figures.
The Kailasanath temple at Kanchipuram was
built by Raja Simha shortly after the Shore temple in the 8th century
A.D., and compared to the latter, is larger in dimensions and more
majestic in appearance. The Kailashnath temple is situated in a
rectangular courtyard surrounded by a peristyle composed of a continuous
series of cells resembling rathas. But there the Pallava style is further evolved and more elaborate. It consists of the sanctum (garbha griha), a pillared hall (mandapa), the ambulatory, the vestibule in the shape of a hall. The flat roofed pillared mandapa, which was a separate building originally, was connected with the sanctum by a vestibule.
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An interesting feature of this temple is that on the three sides of the garbha griha, there
are nine shrines. The pyramidal tower, having graceful contours, is a
storeyed elevation, each having heavy cornices and stupikas. The shikhara is well-proportioned, substantial, yet at the same time rhythmic in its mass and elegant in its outlines. |
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The Dhamekh stupa
at Sarnath is an imposing cylindrical structure (ht. 43.5 m., dia at
base 28.3 m.) of the Gupta age, partly built of stone and partly of
brick. Its stone basement has eight projecting faces with large niches
for statuary and is further adorned with delicately-carved floral and
geometrical patterns. Making the holy spot of the enlightenment of the
Master, this site is looked upon with, greatest sanctity and became a
flourishing Buddhist establishment with numerous temples, stupas and
monasteries. According to tradition a large number of shrines and
memorials were created at the site to commemorate the incidents before
and after enlightenment.
The main brick built shrine known as the
Mahabodhi temple which appears to have been originally erected in circa
2nd century A.D. is encumbered with heavy renovation, the four
corner-towers being an arbitrary addition of circa 14th century A.D. Its
central tower, standing on a high plinth, is about 55m. high and is a
straight-edged pyramid of seven storeys, by pilasters and chaitya
niches.
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Dhamekh Stupa at Sarnath,
Utter Pradesh
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Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya, Bihar
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According to literary
tradition, Nalanda, 10 kilometres north of Rajgir and a suburb of the
ancient city, was visited by Buddha and Mahavira. Ashoka is said to have
worshipped at the chaitya-niches of Sariputra, Buddha's disciple, and
erected a temple. By the time of Harsha A.D. 606-648, Nalanda had
become the principal centre of Mahayana learning and a famed University
town with numerous shrines and monasteries which attracted scholars from
far and near. The Chinese Pilgrims Huien Tsang and Fa-hien studied at
Nalanda and have left account of the settlement and its life.
Temple 3 was more than 31 m. high and
consisted of seven successive accumulations of which the two latest
belonged to the 11th and 12th centuries and the fifth one, dating from
circa 6th century, was notable for its sculptural wealth. The
monasteries were imposing rectangular buildings, each with an open
courtyard, enclosed by a covered verandah which leads into
cells, arranged on the four sides. The cell facing the entrance served
as a shrine. Nalanda was an important centre of Pala sculptures and
bronzes and has also yielded seals and sealings of great historical
significance.
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Let us now turn to a region where the north Indian style of temple architecture developed in an interesting direction.
Till about the 6th century A.D., the style of
temple architecture was similar both in the north as well as in the
south. It is only after this date that each began to evolve in its own
different direction. For the present let it be understood clearly that
the two areas where temple architecture developed most markedly were the
Deccan and Orissa and in both these areas the northern and southern
style temples can be found side by side. The Vimana, the temple
tower over the main shrine in Orissa is one of the most glorious
inventions of architecture in India and is functionally a much finer
conception than the south Indian Gopuram, where the barrel-shaped tower does not crown the sanctum sanctorum or thegarbha-griha but
is a glorified entrance gate. We had suggested in our introduction that
the architect wanted to impart to the temple more importance,
prominence than the other buildings in the neighbourhood, because here
lived his God in the garbha griha or the womb-house. The
Orissan spire does precisely this, proclaiming the presence of God far
and wide, from its lofty and imposing structure as at the Jagannath
temple at Puri or the Lingaraja at Bhubaneswar; driving awe and respect
into the hearts of the faithful and impressing all who approach it. The
temple tower or the vimana, as it is called in Orissa, is thus,
a mighty expression of the religious faith of people. It is interesting
to study the temple projected here which is the Vaitala Deul at
Bhubaneswar, a barrel roofed shrine of the Sakti cult, datable to the
8th century A.D. The facade or outer side of the temple is divided by
ribbon like elements that run down the base from under the barrel roof.
These ribbons project slightly and contain niches with sculptures, while
the actual barrel shaped roof is resting on a number of regularly
diminishing highly decorated mouldings, one on top of the other. The
barrel roof itself is an imitation in stone of a thatched roof of an
ancient hut, going back to very early times and still found over bullock
carts in Bengal and other regions of the east.
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Jagannatha Temple, Puri, Orissa
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Shikhara, Vaital Deul Temple, Bhubaneswar, Orissa
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It is interesting here to
remember that there is a definite pattern in the elaboration,
complication and ornamental decoration evolving out of the dignified
simplicity and harmony of the classic period such as seen in the Sanchi
temple, gradually giving place to every increasing ornamentation and
decoration.
We have already seen that in India the
sculptor and the architect were often one and the same person and it
would be highly misleading to treat sculpture and architecture
separately. As a matter of fact, sculpture was introduced as a
decorative element over the facade on outer walls of a temple. To
recapitulate let us look back at the great Sanchi temple of about the
5th century and .see how very simple the structure is and how bare and
undecorated the walls are. Then you might have observed that on the
walls of the Ladkhan temple, by providing a variety of perforated screen
windows, some variation was introduced by about the middle of the 5th
century and about a 100 years later in the Durga temple at Aihole,
sculpture were added at the base of the pillar round theverandah and
gradually in the Vaitala Deul, datable to about the beginning of the
7th century, the sculptor has made rich use of the niches in the ribbon
like projections to embellish and decorate the temple.
By about the year 1000 A.D. the temple was
treated with decorative elements. The Raja Rani temple of Bhubaneswar,
is superbly decorated, showing sensuous and graceful figures of Yakshis
and Vrikshikas standing amidst luxurious natural surroundings.
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The early Indian
temple was provided with a flat roof and there was a problem of letting
out accumulated rain water. In the Aihole temples of Ladkhan and Durga,
the roof slabs have been given a slant and these slabs of large stones
which were used in the early Orissan temples datable to about the mid
7th century, namely the Parasurameshvara temple at Bhubaneswar. In this
case there are two roofs of slanting slabs, one above the other,
providing in between, small skylights allowing light to penetrate inside
the shrine. Gradually these slanting slab-roofs begin to increase from
one to two and from two to three and gradually by multiplying these
roofs, a pyramidal roof results over the shrine, called Jagamohana in Orissa, which precedes the main shrine.
A masterpiece of Indian architecture is the
Rajarani temple of Bhubaneswar, a work of exquisite grace in which the
masses of the Jagamohana and the Vimana are admirably
combined to express perfection. There is a very lovely beehive shaped
tower rising from the ground with a gentle curvature over the sanctum
sanctorum. Shikhara onShikhara, miniature temple
towers, one on top of the other, mount higher and higher to ever loftier
heights like the great Mount Everest surrounded by smaller crags. It is
possible that the architect conceived the idea of the ever rising
succession of these miniature Shikharas and was inspired by the
great mountain range and the highest peak in the Himalayas which is
surrounded by lesser peaks and might well symbolise the aspirations of
the human soul to reach up till it merges and mixes with the Eternal and
the Almighty Spirit. The Orissan temple stands as a great monument to
the infinite patience and loving care and perseverance that moves these
architects and the kings who carved ornaments and distinct from the
severely simple pyramidal roof of modest height over Jagamohana or themandapa. The
multiplication of the slanting slabs has been carried to 13 horizontal
elements, diminishing as they reach towards the pinnacle on the top of
the pyramid. But even this pinnacle is dwarfed by the importance of the
lovely round stone, the amlaka, the chhatra or the crown on top of the spire or tower. The Jagamohana and theVimana are connected by means of miniature spires emerging from the pyramidal roof of the Jagmohana towards theShikhara of the sanctum sanctorum, making a transition a kind of step that leads the eye towards the height of the tower.
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Parasurameswara Temple, Bhubaneswar, Orissa
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Surya, Vital Deul Temple, Bhubaneswar, Orissa
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We have seen that the evolution
of temple architecture in Orissa is towards the greater elaboration of
the plan and pronounced ornamentation over the outside of the walls,
with decorative elements, including human figures, gods and goddesses,
flora and fauna. Early temples of modest size and somewhat smallershikharas such as the Parasurameswara temple at Bhubaneswar datable to the middle of the 7th century, with a squat and heavy shikhara over the sanctum sanctorum and a low flat roofed mandapa, embellished
with a relief of dancers and musicians of great charm, gradually
matures into an elaborate structure of towering height, embellished with
sculptural decorations.
Then comes the Vaitala Deul which is known
for its sculpture grace and exuberance of decoration, with a rectangular
sanctum with wagon-vault roof similar to that of the Parasurameswara
temple, and is datable on the basis of its decorative motifs and
designs, which are mature, expressive and dynamic, to the close of the
8th century.
Then comes the Mukateswara temple regarded as a gem of Orissan architecture.
The Brahmesvara temple is a panchyatana
temple securely dated by an inscription, to about 1060 A.D. This is a
temple in which the central shrine is surrounded by four small shrines
in the four corners of the compound. Though a very beautiful shrine, the
spire or shikhara appears to be curving rather abruptly under the amlaka, unlike the spire of the Rajarani which is perfect and admirable for its style and decoration. The Jagamohana has a rather top heavy pyramidal roof, unlike the Rajarani which is of modest height and much simpler.
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The Lingaraja
temple, datable to about 1000 A.D., is perhaps the most marvellous
temple ever erected in this century, the grandest and the loftiest
(above 36.50 m. high) marking the culmination of the architectural
activities at Bhubaneswar. This temple consists of the sanctum
sanctorum, a closed hall, a dancing hall and a hall of offerings, the
last two being later additions. The Lingaraja is surrounded by a large
number of additional shrines which clutters up the entire compound. The
enormous height of the spire, 5 times the height of the Rajarani,
dominates the entire surroundings by its soaring loftiness and volume,
emphasised by the deeply incised vertical lines of the rathas, a pair of which flanking the central ratha, carry four diminishing replicas of the spire itself as a decorative pattern. The Jagamohana and
the spire match each other splendidly and both express the greatness of
the Lord. The nine lower roof and seven upper roofs of the Jagamohana are
exquisitely adorned with friezes representing a procession of infantry,
cavalry, elephants and miscellaneous other scenes that break the
monotony of the rising pyramid and a great shikhara surface too is elegantly varied by the introduction of corner miniatureshikharas and
flying lions. The elegant and lovely female figures, loving couples in
embrace, and other gods and goddesses decorating the surface are all
carved with sensuous charm, beauty and delight in fine form. The mature
planning of the whole structure, the proportionate distribution of its
part, the graceful curve of its shikhara and its elegant
architectural and plastic decoration, together with its impressive
dimensions make the Lingaraja, at Bhubaneswar, one of the greatest
creations of Indian architecture. Technically speaking it is a
marvellous architectural feat to build a tower and a shrine of such
enormous size, of the fashioned stone.
It may be mentioned at this juncture, that in
the later temples of Orissa, including the Lingaraja, there are two
additional shrines attached along one axis - in front of the Jagamohana, a natamandapa, or a hall of dance and music, and a bhogmandapa, a
hall of offerings. As a matter of fact, the temple was a total work of
art in which we have not only sculptures and painting, but music,
dancing and theatrical performance, making it a true civic centre for
artistic and cultural activities, somewhat like the modern community
halls, which are places for social and cultural gatherings. In the olden
days the temple performed this task and was truly the hub around which
all civic and religious life of the community revolved.
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Lingaraja Temple, Bhubaneswar, Orissa
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Surya Mandir, Konarak, Orissa
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Among the later shrines of
Bhubaneswar the Ananta Vasudeva temple, founded in 1278, is remarkable
in more ways then one. It is the only temple dedicated to Vaishnava
worship at this predominantly Shiva site and stands on an ornate
platform terrace. It continues with the developed plan and decorative
scheme of Lingaraja, but the grouping of the roofs over the four
compartments in a gradual ascent is more spectacular here. Further, the
walls of the sanctum and the Jagamohana display images of the Regents as well as those of their consorts.
The last great temple, the grandest
achievement of the artistic and architectural genius of Orissa is the
Sun temple at Konark which was constructed by the eastern Ganga ruler
Narasimha Varmana, about 1250 A.D. It is a vast and wonderful structure,
magnificently conceived as a gigantic chariot with 12 pairs of
ornamental wheels, pulled by seven rearing horses. The colossal temple
originally consisted of a sanctum sanctorum, with a lofty curvilinear shikhara, a Jagamohana and
a dancing hall, built on the same axis, and an extensive compound wall
with three entrance gateways. The sanctum sanctorum and the dancing hall
have lost their roofs and it is only the Jagamohana which has remained intact with its roof. The sanctum sanctorum and the Jagamohana together
stand on a lofty platform, richly ornamented by friezes of elephants,
decorative ornaments interspersed with figures sculptures, often of a
highly sensuous character. Over the stupendous roof of the Jagamohana consisting
of horizontal tiers, grouped in three stages, stand life size female
sculptures of great charm, dancers, cymbal players and others adorning
each stage. The whole structure of the Jagamohana unparalleled for its grandeur and structural propriety, is surmounted by an effective contrast of light and shade.
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Udaipur, about 40
miles from Bhilsa in Madhya Pradesh, is yet another ancient and
remarkable site. The finest and best preserved temple is the Nilakantha
or Udayesvara at Udaipur, built by Udayaditya Paramara between 1059 and
1080. It has a covered porch, a pyramidal roof and a tower or Shikhara ornamented
by four narrow flat bands running from base to summit, the intervening
spaces being occupied with repeated ornaments consisting of
reduplication in miniature of the main tower. The whole is carved with
particular precision and delicacy, and both tower and mandapa are in perfect preservation, the former surmounted by an amalasila or a vase.
The most important of the temples at
Pattadakal date from the first half of the 8th century and show the
strongest possible evidences of Pallava influence. The great Virupaksha
temple, dedicated to Siva as Lokesavara, by the queen of Vikramaditya II
datable to 740 A.D., was most likely built by workmen brought from
Kanchipuram, and in direct imitation of the Kailasanath at Kanchipuram.
The main shrine is distinct from the Mandapam, but has a pradakshana passage, the pillared mandapamhas solid walls, with pierced stone windows. The square shikhara consists
of clearly defined storeys each of considerable elevation. Chaitya
window motifs are much used and there are many sculptured lintels, slabs
and monolithic pillars. It is built of very large, closely-jointed
blocks of stone without mortar, in keeping with early Dravidian temple
building practices. One of the noblest structures in India, this is the
only ancient temple at Pattadakal still in use.
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Virupaksha Temple, Pattadakal, Karnataka
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Brihadeshvara Temple, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
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Let us turn our attention once
again towards the South of India, where the Dravidian style of temple
architecture flourished roughly from the 8th century to about the 13-14
century A.D. Unlike the North, the South is literally dotted with
thousands of temples, having been relatively free from repeated foreign
invasions to which the North was subject. Behind the architectural
achievements of the country, lay the urge of the Hindu mind to give vent
to its religious and spiritual hopes and aspirations, and the
construction and maintenance of a temple became an act of merit or Dharma both
here and in the hereafter for all - Kings, nobles and laymen alike. It
was the centre of all cultural and social life, the hub around which all
activities revolved. Its influence extended beyond the purely religious
and spiritual realms and made the temple an important centre. The
temple was a leading landowner, thanks to the frequent donations from
kings, nobles and lay-devotees. The construction of a temple usually
took many years and it gave employment to hundreds of artists and
engineers. The finest craftsmen from neighbouring provinces found
employment and a whole generation of talented sculptors were trained by
them during its construction. The daily routine gave assured employment
to a large number of people, priests, musicians, dancing girls,
teachers, florist, tailors, etc. In course of time the simple
unostentatious temple became a vast conglomeration of structures,
consisting of subsidiary shrines, Natamandaps and Bhogamandapas, or
a dance hall and hall of offerings. Poet pavillions, confectioners and
others were allowed to become part of temple complex. In other words the
temple almost embraced and enveloped the town or the town embraced and
enveloped the temple. With the increase in all these additional
structures, more compounds were added to the original temple compound,
one inside the other, like Chinese boxes.
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The present South
Indian temple, therefore, consists of walls, quadrangles, one within the
other. The inner most wall in the area contains the temple proper, a
much smaller and unpretentious structure than the other larger gateways
which now began to attract the attention of architects, sculptors and
carvers. The Brihadesvara temple which was erected about 1000 A.D. is a
contemporary of the Rajarani temple of Bhubaneswar. The temple is a
magnificent and dignified edifice consisting of a pyramidal spire, made
up of ever diminishing tiers, regularly tapering towards the top
surmounted by a domica1 pinnacle. In many respects this shrine resembles
the Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram. The domica1 pinnacle, however, is
different in conception and execution from the amlaka of the Orissan Shrine. The highestshikhara rises straight over the garbha griha from
the sanctum sanctorum. The structure is adorned with beautiful
sculpture and paintings; inside as well as outside. The Brihadesvara
Temple, dedicated to Shiva, stands in a courtyard 500 ft. by 200 ft. and
consists of the sanctum sanctorum, large hall a pillared hall and a
Nandimandapa arranged on the same axis. The pyramidal vimana is
about 190 ft. high consisting of 13 zones in diminishing order and has
been so conceived that at no time during the day does the shadow of its
pinnacle fall anywhere outside the temple base.
The famous Kailasa temple at Ellora is in a
class by itself because it is a rock-cut temple complex, which in many
respects resembles the various rathas at Mahabalipuram. This
temple was constructed during the reign of the Rashtrakuta King Krishna
and belongs to the middle of the 8th century A.D. The carvers at Ellora
cut three trenches down into the rock and then began to carve the rock
from the top downwards. Even though it is carved on the model of a
structural temple, the Kailashnath temple is a rock-cut shrine within a
rectangular court. The different parts of the temple are the entrance
portico, the vimana and the mandapa as well as a
pillared shrine for Shiva's bull, Nandi. Both inside as well as outside
the temple, there are beautiful, graceful and dignified sculptural
decorations, largely pertaining to the theme of Shiva and Parvati,
Sita's abduction and Ravana shaking the mountain.
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Kailash Temple, Ellora, Maharashtra
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Temple Complex, Madurai,
Tamil Nadu
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The gopuram, is the
tower, an oblong quadrangle, sometimes a square, with a passage through
the centre and is situated on the entrance gateway unlike in the north,
or even at the Brihadesvara temple in Tanjore, where the tower-like
structure was on the top of the sanctum sanctorum or garbha-griha. In
many ways the gopuram could have descended from the Buddhist
gateway such as we have already seen at Sanchi and Bharhut, etc. It is
crowned by a barrel-vault roof over which a large number of pinnacles
rise which remind us once again of a barrel roof on a longitudinal hut
which used to be made of timber. As stated earlier these gopurams are towering structures, some having 9 storeys, others even 11. The gopuramprovided
an excellent opportunity to the sculptor to practice his craft and
contain some of the finest sculptures produced in the country. The gopuram at
Chidambaram has a series of sculptures showing dance poses of
Bharatanatyam. At night time, lights used to be lit in each storey of
the gopuram tower and these acted as a sure guide to the nocturnal traveller, acting like a light house or beacon. As a rule the highest gopuram tower was the latest, the earliest being the least high size as in the gopuram of
the Meenakshi temple at Madurai. Visitors can climb into these towers
to appreciate the carvings at close quarters and incidentally get a
marvellous view of the temple complex. South Indian temples of this
period are remarkable for the great size of their structures, mandapas and gopurams. In addition elaboratemandapas of
hundred pillared type are also constructed during the period of late
Vijaynagar and the period of the Nayakas in the 16th century A.D. This
is an interesting departure from the evolution of the temple from early
times. These pillared halls now become more and more elaborate with
pillars showing donor couples, kings, queen, mythical animals with
fantastic shapes and size. The paintings over these as well as over the
pillars and ceiling are very colourful.
In some temples there are tanks surrounded by
elegant pillared halls which are functionally and architecturally
admirable structures. The temples built in the 12-13th centuries under
the patronage of the Hoysalas of Mysore, are at Somnathpur, Belur and
Halebid. The well-known Kesava temple at Somnathpur, and the Hoysala
temple at Halebid and Belur are veritable treasure houses of ornamental
and decorative elements, carved in niches, and intricate vegetal and
floral carvings. The vimana is of a star shaped plan with
salients and reentering angles with mouldings, multiplication and
over-decoration. Not an inch of space is left uncarved and there are
animals and other denizens of the forest shown on the lower most three
or four mouldings, interspersed with floral and creeper designs and,
above them all, in more than life size, are shown huge sculptural
representations of gods and goddesses, completely covered with by lavish
decorations and rich ornaments.
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Khajuraho, twenty
five miles North of Panna and twenty seven miles of Chhatarpur in Madhya
Pradesh is an important place because of the exquisite temples built
there by the Chandellas.
The Khajuraho temples are cruciform in plan
with the long axis from East to West. Built of buff sandstone from the
quarries of Panna, these temples have a soft texture and a most pleasing
colour. The temples have usually been made on high terraces. Almost all
the temples have an inner shrine an assembly hall or mandapa, and
an entrance portico. The temples at Khajuraho have a circumambulatory
passage also. Some of the temples at Khajuraho are a cluster of five
shrines - the main temple surrounded by four others at each corner. In
architecture, these types of temples are known as Panchayatana - a
temple that has a central shrine surrounded by four other shrines.
The Kandariya Temple, the Mahadeva Temple,
the Devi Jagadamba Temple, the Chitragupta Temple, the Vishwanatha
Temple, the Parvati Temple, the Lakshamana or Chaturbhuja Temple; the
Varaha Temple; the Chaunsat Yogini Temple (the only temple made entirely
of granite and dedicated to sixty fouryoginis) are some of the very famous and worth studying from the art and architectural point of view.
These temples were built between tenth to late twelfth
centuries. The South-East of Khajuraho is famous for Jain Temples. The
Parsvanatha Temple is most important one whereas the Ghantai Temple is
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Vishwanath temple, Khajuraho,
Madhya Pradesh
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PALA AND SENA KINGS
From the eighth to twelfth centuries, the
eastern portion of India was host to a florescence of artistic activity.
Under the Pala dynasty, which ruled large portions of Eastern-South
Asia for nearly four hundred years span, many centres of Buddhism and
Hinduism flourished.
The Pala dynasty came to power around 750
A.D. The Pala school of art first flourished in the Magadha region of
Southern Bihar, the homeland of Buddhist religion. Not surprisingly, the
majority of early Pala-period remains are Buddhist. Due to intense
religious activity during Pala Sena period, many religious structures
were built or renovated. Most of these buildings have vanished leaving
no extant architecture from this period and making it very difficult to
reconstruct a systematic overview of the architectural development.
Inspite of non-availability of any building, a huge corpus of sculpture
and a few paintings survive from this period.
During the Pala-period, a number of
monasteries and religious sites that had been founded in earlier periods
grew into prominence. The large cruciform stupa at Paharpur (ancient
Somapura) in Bengal (now Bangladesh), for example, measures more than
one hundred meters from North to South. It was built around the late
eighth or early ninth century. The walls of the courtyard contain 177
individual cells that served as shrines.
Although the first two hundred or so years of
Pala-period art were dominated by Buddhist art, the Hindu remains also
exist in some quantities in that phase and clearly dominate in the last
two hundred years of the Pala-period.
The remains, though damaged, suggest that
Bengali architecture styles in particular shared many features with
other northern schools especially that of Orissa. The surviving examples
from Bengal later than Pala-Sena period especially from the sixteenth
century and later show greater Islamic influence. Thus, for an
understanding of the Hindu artistic development from the eighth to
twelfth centuries, the greater attention must be placed on the surviving
sculptures.
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