HINDU ARCHITECTURE

GUPTA & CHALUKYAN

Tigawa temple Jabalpur

Ladh Khan Aihole
Durga Temple - Aihole
Papanatha, Virupaksha – Pattadakkal
EVOLUTION OF THE TEMPLE
•Vimana over the Sanctuary
•Shikara is the upper pyramidicaly portion
•Cella- inside vimana- place for diety
•Garbagriha-Cella- wombhouse has a door on the inner side on the east
•Mandapa- in front of the garbagriha- a pillared hall attached to the temple
•Initially it was detached like the example at the Shore temple at Mahabalipuram
•Later on attached forming a vestibule inbetween called the Antarala.
•Arthamandapa- porch leading to the mandapa
•Maha mandapa-on either side of the mandapa
•Later on started enclosing the temple within a rectangular courtyard having a continuous range of cells opening
inwards
forming a wall around the temple.
•1st example- Kanchipuram-Vaikuntanatha Temple
•Pradakshanapatha-passage around
•Relationship with the church
•Nave- Mandapa
•Chanal-Sanctuary
•Tower/Spire-Shikara
•Cloisters-Cells
•GREEK realationship
•Naos-mandapa
•Pronaos-artha mandapa
•Temple became the dwelling place of the gods.
•Shikara- repetition of a single element
•2 styles evolved- Dravidian style- in the southern Indian peninsula covering 1/5th of the country and
•Indo Aryan in the north covering the balance of the country
EVOLUTION OF THE TEMPLE

GENERAL FEATURES OF TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

•No structural innovativeness
•Based on centre of gravity
•Mass supporting mass
•Repetition
• No mortar- dry order
•Method of quarrying-
•groove drawn
•hole driven
•wooden peg inserted
•on pouring water wood expands
•stone breaks free
•facing was hammer dressed
•offsite fabrication was always carried out
•assembling at site after preparation of each block at quarry
•To enable this accurate measurements are needed
•Sometimes models are prepared initially
GUPTA PERIOD 320 – 650 AD
The Gupta Period is also known as the “Golden Period of Architecture” in India
Political State of Affairs:
In the north Mahayana with Hellenistic influence was still alive
South- Amaravathi still had the influence of Buddhism
Rest of India the period under Buddhism was fast declining
Andhras declined in 225 AD in the south
Kushanas declined- 236 AD in the north
Guptas emerged 400 AD

Brahmanical period
•Aesthetic architecture and structural architecture predominated
•Stone masonry emerged
•Evolution of the temple or the House of the God can be seen during this period
•Satapatha Brahmana- describes- posts and beams with reeds and mats being a place of worship
•Garbagriha came into being- a square womb house, a small chamber filled with darkness
•Inner walls plain, outer side of the door richly carved
•In front a shallow porch, later become a pillared portico
•Generally had flat roofs
•Greek and Egyptian temples too derived from such rudimentary forms
•First they were small structures, then monumental

Guptas lasted for 160 years

Gupta buildings continued to be built in their style even after their decline
TIGAWA TEMPLE – JABALPUR 415 AD
•The temples built during the early Gupta period were very simple and
unimpressive
•They were just meant to house the shrines, while the other rituals were
performed in the open air.
•Though the temples were modestly built like the one at Tigawa, near
Jabalpur.
•"It had all the characteristics of early Hindu temples –
•an inner Garba-griha - Mulaprasada
•surrounded by an ambulatory path or cella - Antarala
•an outer portico with columns in the front - Praggriva
•Sanctum- 12’ 6” feet sq.
•a flat roof of stone •Enclosing a cella 8’0”
•This temple is notable for the vitality of the carving on its outer •Porch 7’ projection
columns. •Portico had pillars, intercolumniation,
•There is indeed certain crudeness in its construction, an overuse of stone, middle interval being wider
far more than structurally necessary. This may be attributed to the •Thus the Gupta order of pillars
mason's unfamiliarity with the new material. originated
•Had massive abacus
STYLE- •Surmounted by a device of lions
•Shape of the pillars and capitals
•Treatment of intercolumnation •Capital resembling a broad
•System of continuing the architrave as a stringcourse round the building conventional vase
•Design of the doorway •Square pedestal, octagonal shafts
•Principles of Flat roof and pillared
portico
SHIVA ,PARVATI TEMPLE – DEOGARH
GUPTA STYLE Example- Shiva temple at Bhamara
and Parvati Temple at Nachna , built before 500 AD
Parvati temple
•Square building 15’ side
•Cella 8’ 6”
•Plinth was a square platform 35’0” side
•Plinth extends in front by 12’
•2 flight of steps approach this extension
•Carved doorways
•Projecting lintels
•Figure panels - ornate treatment
Decoration:
Shiva temple •Makara and Tortoise carving placed on top
•No flat roof existed here later on placed at the bottom
•Upper part of the sanctum was carried upward in the •Gupta capital called the PURNA KALASA-
form of a pyramidical roof bowl of plenty
•Height greater than 40’ •Vase and flower motif- most graceful
•Base 18’ side placed on a plinth of 5’ high Temple at Udaigiri was the first to be built
•Flight of steps in the middle on each side during Chandragupta II -382-401 AD
•4 porticos one on each side False caves in the beginning
•pillars chamfered Dwarapalas
•vase and foliage capitals As time passed became more spacious, more
•projecting lintels ornate
Simple porches became pillared halls
GUPTA IRON PILLAR 4th c.
• Shaft
• Lion abacus
• Bell capital
• Supports a statue of god Vishnu with a halo
• 43’ high
• At present it is the iron pillar at Delhi
• Erected by Kumaragupta
• Original site near Mathura
• Erected 415 BC
• Later shifted to a mosque site
• 23’ 8” high
• mad of pure malleable iron
• 6 tons weight
• First it bore the image of Garuda
• Mouldings on top
• Can be divided into three parts
• Uppermost- square abacus
• Below melon capital
• Campaniform capital
• 7.3 m tall, with one meter below the ground; the
diameter is 48 centimeters at the foot, tapering to 29 cm
at the top,
This 7.2 meter high pillar stands in the courtyard of the mosque and has been there
since long before the mosque's construction. A six - line Sanskrit inscription
indicates that it was initially erected outside a Vishnu temple, possibly in Bihar, and
was raised in memory of the Gupta king, Chandragupta Vikramaditya, who ruled
from 375 to 413, and was built by Chandravarman in the fourth century AD in
commemoration of victory.
EARLY CHALUKYAN PERIOD-5th – 8th c. AD
(550 – 750 AD, 973 – 1190 AD)
The birth of the Chalukyan Dynasty was in the 5 th c. with its capitals at Aihole, Badami, Pattadakkal
Constituted the center of influence for medieval Indian art
The contributions of the Pallavas and Orissa along with Northern influences were absorbed
Aihole illustrates 2 distinct variants in the development of dressed stone Hindu architecture
LATER CHALUKYAN PERIOD-9th – 12th c. AD
•The Pallavas and the Chalukyas were rival dynasties battling the control of south India
•There was hence a style that combined Dravidian and Nagara Styles
•Hence the Structures of this period have Pallavan influence
•The only difference being it is of dressed rather than rock cut
•Pyramidal roof of stepped layers,Flat roof with the Shrine inside
•No indication of a temple on the outside
•Tower was added to distinguish the building from other buildings
•Cella was projected on the western end to form the Vimana
•All the above stages can be seen at Aihole including the emergence of Shikara.
•In the beginning it was a stepped pyramid, the Finials took different shapes later on.
•The capital was shifted from Badami to Pattadakal during the later periods.
•At Pattadakal 2 styles of temples existed side by side showing the process of evolution.
•Indo Aryan-Papanatha temple and
•Dravidian Style of Temples-Virupaksha Temple.
•Both were the largest of all temples
EARLY CHALUKYAN PERIOD-5th – 8th c. AD (550 – 750 AD, 973 –
1190 AD) - LADH KHAN TEMPLE – AIHOLE – 450 AD

Ladh Khan is the oldest temple of the period

•Plan – 50’ square
•3 sides walled, two sides of which have perforated stone
grilles
•4th side on east-open pillared porch projecting outwards
•Entered through a 12 pillared portico in an expansion of
the 9 square plan
•Interior consists of a 16 pillared hall like a pillared
pavilion
•2 square groups of columns, one within the other thus
providing a double aisle. •An axial stairway gives access to the 12 pillared vestibule
•Nandi-Bull in the central bay at the Far end is the Cella within the
square
•Can be clearly seen that the Statue of Nandi was added at a later date.
•Originally built for Vishnu
•Deviation from a temple-Santhagara- meeting hall was the original
purpose.
•Originally a place of gathering.
•Open to outside so that people could look inside.
•Later on the opening between the pilasters was filled with masonry
shutting off light, thus introduction of perforated windows.
•Seating inside was eliminated, but retained in the portico.
LADH KHAN TEMPLE - AIHOLE

Ornamentation:
•The holy shrine was introduced at the end
for the deity.
•Plain square shaft pillars existed
•Bracket capital, neck and wave
mouldings
Roofing: •Handsome jali whose perforations
compose geometrical motifs and relief
•Roofed with huge slabs of stone laid almost
structures
flat •Kudu friezes in upper part of the temple
•Inclined to permit run off base and around sides of roof – celestial city
•On the roof a little square aedicule has the
•Carried on pillars and corbels in imitation reliefs of the 3 divinities-Vishnu, Surya,
of a wood frame structure Devi
•Stone battens between the roofing stones •Roof-Joints-covered all along by another
helped to make it water tight stone
•Disproportionate structures
•Primitive roofing technique which gave •Wasteful materials used unnecessarily
way to successive layers of horizontal
corbelling
LADH KHAN TEMPLE - AIHOLE

•The experimental nature of temple

building by the Chalukyas is best elaborated
in the Ladh Khan Temple,
•located south of the Durga Temple.
•Not knowing how to build a temple, they
built it in the Panchayat hall style.
•The windows were filled up with lattice
work in the northern style and the sanctum
was added later on.
•The sanctum is built against the back wall
and the main shrine has a Shivalinga along
with a Nandi.
•Above the center of the hall, facing the
sanctum, is a second smaller sanctum with
images carved on the outer walls.
•The temple, built about 450 AD, gets its
name from a Muslim prince who converted
it into his residence.
EARLY CHALUKYAN PERIOD-5th – 8th c. AD
(550 – 750 AD, 973 – 1190 AD)

Ravana Phadi Cave Temple

MEGUTI TEMPLE
•The only dated monument in Aihole, the Meguti
Temple was built atop a small hill in 634 AD.
•Now partly in ruins, possibly never completed, this
temple provides an important evidence of the early
development of the Dravidian style of Architecture

•In examples like the one at HUCHIMALLI

TEMPLE, a Pronaos was introduced
•Finer masonry- stone blocks used
HUTCHIMALLI TEMPLE
•Delicate ornamentation
DURGA TEMPLE – AIHOLE – 6th c.AD

•It is an imporovement over the Ladhkhan Temple

•Derived from the Budhist Chaitya halls
•6th Century
•The temple derives its name from Durgadagudi
meaning 'temple near the fort'.
•Dedicated to Vishnu,
•Standing on a high platform with a 'rekhanagara'
type of Shikhara, it is the most elaborately
decorated monument in Aihole.

The Durga Temple at Aihole is one of the most

celebrated and intriguing ancient Hindu
temples. It has a unique tapered-oblong plan.
It has a high molded adisthana and a tower -
curvilinear shikhara.
A pillared corridor runs around the temple,
enveloping the shrine, the mukhamandapa and
the sabhamandapa. All through the temple,
there are beautiful carvings
DURGA TEMPLE – AIHOLE – 6th c.AD

•60 ‘ x 36’ main structure

•24’ deep portico on eastern front
•total 84’ x 36’
•Raised on a plinth
•Total height-30’

•Over the apse- Shikara- Pyramidical roof

•Passage all round formed by a colonnade verandah terminating the
portico
•2 flights of steps lead to the portico.
•Inside the portico- a pillared vestibule having the entrance
doorway
•Interior hall 44’ long
•Divided by two rows of 4 pillars into a nave and two aisles
•Apsidal cella
DURGA TEMPLE – AIHOLE – 6th c.AD

•Aisles continue round the cella- processional

passage
•Light through the stone grills- side of the square
•Circular apse
•Stone grills- each filled with elegant carved pattern
•Roof at nave is higher than aisles
PAPANATHA TEMPLE – PATTADAKAL
•Dedicated to Vishnu
•Built as the chief temple after the capital was founded
•Later on converted into Shiva’s temple
•Clearly shows the evolution of the temple
•90’ long
•Tower on the eastern end- too small and stunted
•Illogical arrangement of the plan as evolution of the
temple took place •Not finely decorated
•Uncertainty of positioning the elements •Outer walls have a heavy cornice formed by a parapet
of ornamental shrines
•Antarala or Vestibule is wrongly positioned
•Below, basement is formed by a bold string course
•Too large, takes the shape of a square court with 4 pillars carried round the structure.
•In between the upper and lower band- filling by
•Instead of a connecting chamber it becomes another hall sculptures
•Disproportion in plan has created disproportion in •Repetition of a typical shrine in 3D- Indo Aryan style
elevation. •Each shrine or niche has 2 pillars, a cornice, canopy
•Rock cut influence can be seen by the massiveness of and a mural shrine motif
each element •Repeated 30 times round the building
•Shows lack of design, poverty of ideas
•Ignorance of spaces
VIRUPAKSHA TEMPLE – PATTADAKAL 740 AD
•Built during the reign of Vikramaditya
•Dedicated to Shiva
•Built 50 years after papanatha temple was built
•Skill was imported from Pallavas which is evident from the
inscription and style used.
•Dravidian influence
•Vikramaditya conquered Kanchipuram- brought the architect to
build the temple
•This temple had better proportions in plan
•Better placement of the shrine/ pillared hall
•The temple is 120’ with a detached Nandi pavilion in the front
•The cella Is surrounded by a narrow passage and gives in to a
fine hypostyle hall with 4 bays of 4 pillars
•Further 2 pillars precede the cella forming a kind of porch
•The hypostyle hall forms the center of the composition
•Surrounded by 3 projecting portals creating a cruciform plan
•Axial portal with a mandapa in front with the Nandi
•Stands in the center of courtyard entered via a gateway in the
form of a low gopuram
•The structure is enclosed by a low wall that follows the cruciform
plan
VIRUPAKSHA TEMPLE – PATTADAKAL 740 AD
•balanced proportions and
compositions
•Unity in treatment
•Yet the solid nature exists
•Solidity relieved by an increase in
the sculptured ornamentation
•Existence of mouldings,pilasters,
cornices brackets, floral scrollwork,
perforated windows and other
ornamental carvings
Bold animal supports were used
Intricate bas reliefs
•Full sized statuary- figures- by master sculptors
•Sculpture and architecture gel together here.
•Filling- divided by pilasters
Single or double
Well proportioned spaces
Niches alternating with perforated windows
The repetitive shrine- Dravidian character
•The style of the temple is governed by the individual niche or shrine
•Temple is the development of the aboriginal shrine
•Shaft or the pillar- tapering at the top
•A structure rising above the parapet at the back of each portico
•called the gopuram-gatehead developed into horn and scroll
•motif over the entrance.