Temple Architecture and Sculpture

Basic form of a Hindu temple

.The basic form of a Hindu structural temple consists of the following.

1. Garbhagriha:

 It literally means ‘womb-house’ and is a cave like a sanctum.

 In the earliest temples, it was a small cubical structure with a single entrance.
 Later it grew into a larger complex.
 The Garbhagriha is made to house the main icon (main deity) which is itself the focus
of much ritual attention.

2. Mandapa:

 It is the entrance to the temple.

 It may be a portico or colonnaded (series of columns placed at regular intervals) hall
that incorporates space for a large number of worshippers.
 Dances and such other entertainments are practiced here.
 Some temples have multiple mandapas in different sizes named as Ardhamandapa,
Mandapa, and Mahamandapa.

3. Shikhara or Vimana:

 They are mountain like the spire of a free-standing temple.

 Shikhara is found in North Indian temples and Vimana is found in South Indian
temples.
 Shikhara has a curving shape while vimana has a pyramidal-like structure.

4. Amalaka:

 It is a stone disc like structure at the top of the temple and they are common in North
Indian temples.

5. Kalasha:

 It is the topmost point of the temple and commonly seen in North Indian temples.

6. Antarala (vestibule):
  Antarala is a transition area between the Garbhagriha and the temple’s main hall
(mandapa).

7. Jagati:

 It is a raised platform for sitting and praying and is common in North Indian temples.

8. Vahana:

 It is the mount or vehicle of the temple’s main deity along with a standard pillar
or Dhvaj which is placed axially before the sanctum.

Classification of Indian Temples

Indian temples can be classified into two broad orders as

 Nagara (in North India)

 Dravida (in South India)
 At times, the Vesara style of temples as an independent style created through the
mixing of Nagara and Dravida orders.

Sculptures, Iconography, and Ornamentation

 Iconography is a branch of art history which studies the images of deities.
 It consists of identification of image based on certain symbols and mythology
associated with them.
 Even though the fundamental myth and meaning of the deity may remain the same for
centuries, its specific usage at a spot can be a response to its local or immediate
social, political or geographical context.
 Every region and period produce its own distinct style of images with its regional
variations in iconography.
 The temple is covered with elaborate sculptures and ornament that form a fundamental
part of its conception.
 The placement of an image in a temple is carefully planned: for instance, river
goddesses (Ganga and Yamuna) are visually found at the entrances in a Nagara
temple, Dwarapalas are usually found on the gateway or gopurams of Dravida
temples, similarly mithunas (erotic images), navagrahas ( the 9 auspicious planets)
and Yakshas are also placed at the entrances to guard them.
 Various forms or aspects of the main divinity are to be found on the outer walls of the
sanctum.
 The ashtadikpalas (deities of direction) face eight key directions on the outer walls of
the sanctum and/or on the outer walls of the temple.
 Subsidiary shrines around the main temple are dedicated to the family or incarnations
of the main deity.
  The various elements of ornamentation are gavaksha, vyala/ yali, kalpa-lata, amalaka,
kalasha, etc.

The Nagara or North Indian Temple Architecture

 Nagara is the style of temple architecture which became popular in Northern India.
 It is common here to build an entire temple on a stone platform with steps leading up to
it.
 Unlike in south India, it doesn’t usually have elaborate boundary walls or gateways.
 Earliest temples had only one shikhara (tower), but in the later periods, multiple
shikharas came.
 The garbhagriha is always located directly under the tallest tower.

Nagara temples can be subdivided mainly into three – based on the shikhara type.

1. Latina/ Rekha-Prasada:

 It is the simple and most common type of shikhara.

 It is square at the base and the walls curve or slopes inwards to a point on top.
 Latina types are mainly used for housing the garbhagriha.
 Later on, the Latina buildings grew complex, and instead of appearing like a single
tower, the temple began to support many small towers, which were clustered together
like rising mountain type with the tallest one being in the centre, and this was the one
which was always above the garbhagriha.

2. Phamsana type shikhara:

 They are broader and shorter than Latina type.

 Their roof is composed of several slabs that gently rise to a single point over the
centre of the building, unlike the Latina ones which look like sharply rising towers.
 Phamsana roofs do not curve inwards; instead, they slope upward on a straight incline.
 In many north Indian temples, the phamsana type is used for mandapas while the main
garbhagriha is housed in a Latina building.

3. Valabhi type shikhara:

 These are rectangular buildings with a roof that rises into a vaulted chamber.
 The edge of the vaulted chamber is round, like the bamboo or wooden wagons that
would have been drawn by bullocks in ancient times.
 The form of this temple is influenced by ancient building forms that were already in
existence.

We can also classify the Nagara Temples on the basis of region as follows:

Central India
 In the later periods, the temples grew from simple four pillared structures to a large
complex.
 This means that similar developments were incorporated in the architecture of temples
of both the religions.
 Two such temples that survive are; temple at Udaygiri which is on the outskirts of
Vidisha (it is a part of a large Hindu temple complex) and a temple at Sanchi, which
was a Buddhist site.
 The early temples were modest looking shrines each have four pillars that support a
small mandapa before an equally small room that served as garbhagriha.
 Some of the oldest surviving structural temples of Gupta period are in Madhya
Pradesh.
 The ancient temple sin UP, MP and Rajasthan share many traits and the most visible
is that they are made of Sandstone.

1. DASHAVATARA VISHNU TEMPLE, DEOGARH, UP:

 Even though the patrons and donors of the temple are unknown, it is believed that this
temple was built in the early 6th century CE.
 This is a classical example of the late Gupta period.
 This temple is in the Panchayatana style of architecture. [Panchayatana is an
architectural style where the main shrine is built on a rectangular plinth with four
smaller subsidiary shrines at the four corners and making it a total of five shrines – i.e.,
Pancha]

 There are 3 main reliefs of Vishnu on the temple walls.

 In fact, it is not actually known to whom the four subsidiary shrines were originally
dedicated.
 The temple depicts Vishnu in various forms due to which it was assumed that the four
subsidiary shrines must also house Vishnu’s avatars and the temple was mistaken for
a dashavatara temple.
 The grand doorway of the west facing temple (west facing is less common) has the
sculptures of Ganga on the left and Yamuna on the right side.
 The shikhara is in latina/ prasada style which makes it clear that this is an early
example of a classical nagara style of the temple.
 Sheshayana – on the south (Vishnu reclining on the sheshanaga called Ananta)
 Nara-Narayana – on the east (discussion between human soul and the eternal divine)
 Gajendramoksha – on the west (story of achieving moksha , symbolically
communicated by Vishnu’s suppression o an asura who had taken the form of an
elephant)
 The temple is west facing, which is less common, as most of the temples are east or
north facing.

2. TEMPLES AT KHAJURAHO, MADHYA PRADESH:

 The temples at Khajuraho were made in the 10th century, about 400 years after the
temple at Deogarh and the complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
 The temples were patronized by Chandela kings.
  We can see how dramatically the shape and style of the nagara temple architecture
had developed.
 The temples at Khajuraho are all made of Sandstone.
 The largest temple at Khajuraho is the Kandariya Mahadeva temple which is attributed
to king Ganda.
 The Lakshmana temple dedicated to Vishnu was built in 954 by Chandela king,
Dhanga.
 All the towers or shikhara of the temple rise high, upward in a curved pyramidal
fashion, emphasizing the temple’s vertical thrust ending in a horizontal fluted disc
called an Amalaka topped with a Kalasha or a vase.
 The crowning element Kalasha and Amalaka are to be found on all nagara temples of
this period.
 The Khajuraho temples are also known for their extensive erotic sculptures (about 10%
of total sculptures); the erotic expression gives equal importance in human experience
as a spiritual pursuit, and it is seen as a part of the larger cosmic whole.
 Many Hindu temples, therefore feature Mithuns (embracing couples-erotic sculptures)
sculptures, considered auspicious.
 Khajuraho sculptures are highly stylized with typical features.
 There are many temples at Khajuraho, most of them dedicated to Hindu gods.
 There are some Jain temples as well as a Chausanth Yogini temple.
 Chausanth Yogini is a temple of small square shrines dedicated to esoteric devis or
goddesses associated with the rise of Tantric worship after the 7th
 [Khajuraho dance festival is organized by MP Kalaparishad and is one week long (first
week of February) festival of classical dances celebrated annually against the
spectacular backdrop of Khajuraho]

East India

 East Indian temples include those found in the North-East, Bengal, and Odisha and
each of these three areas produces a distinct type of temple.
 The history of architecture in the northeast and Bengal is hard to study because a
number of ancient buildings in those regions were renovated, and what survives now is
later brick or concrete temples at those sites.
 It appears that terracotta was the main medium of construction.
 A large number of sculptures have been found in Assam and Bengal, which shows the
development of important regional schools in those regions.

BENGAL:

 The style of sculptures during the period between the 9th and 11th centuries in
Bengal (including Bangladesh) and Bihar is known as the Pala style, named after
the ruling dynasty at that time.
 That style in the mid 11th and mid 13th centuries is named after the Sena kings.
 While the Palas are celebrated as patrons of Buddhist monastic sites, the temple of the
region is known to express the Vanga style.
 The Siddheswara Mahadeva temple in Burdwan, W.B, built in the 9th century, shows
a tall curving shikhara crowned by a large amalaka, is an example of early Pala
style.
 Many of the temples from 9th to 12th centuries were located at Telkupi in Puruta district,
W.B.
 They were submerged when dams were constructed in the region.
 The architecture of these temples heavily influenced the earliest Bengal Sultanate
buildings at Gaur and Pandya.
 Many local vernacular building traditions of Bengal also influenced the style of the
temple in that region.
 The most prominent of these was the shape of the sloping or curving side of the
bamboo roof of a Bengali hut.
 This feature was eventually even adopted in Mughal buildings and is known as across
India as the Bangla Roof (word Bungalow derived from this).

1. Sun temple, Konark, Odisha:

 It is built around 1240 on the shores of the Bay of Bengal.

 The temple is set on a high base, its walls covered in extensive, detailed ornamental
carving.
 These include 12 pairs of enormous wheels sculpted with spokes and hubs,
representing the chariot wheels of the sun God who, in mythology, rides a chariot
driven by 8 horses, sculpted here at the entrance staircase.
 The whole temple thus comes to resemble a colossal processional chariot.
 On the southern wall is a massive sculpture of Surya carved out of green stones.
 It is said that there were 3 such images, carved out of a different stone placed on the
three temple walls, each facing different directions.
 The fourth wall had the doorway into the temple from where the actual rays of the sun
would enter the garbhagriha.

2. Jagannatha temple, Puri, Odisha:

 It is also located on the eastern coast, at Puri, Odisha.

 The temple is a part of Char Dham (Badrinath, Dwaraka, Puri, Rameswaram)
pilgrimages that a Hindu is expected to make in one’s lifetime.
 When most of the deities in the temples of India are made of stone or metal, the idol
of Jagannatha is made of wood which is ceremoniously replaced in every twelve or
nineteen years by using sacred trees.
 The temple is believed to be constructed in the 12th century by King Anatavarman
Chodaganga Deva of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty.
 The temple is famous for its annual Ratha Yatra or Chariot festival.

The Dravida or South Indian Temple Architecture

 Unlike the nagara temple, the Dravida temple is enclosed within a compound wall.
 The front wall has an entrance gateway in its centre, which is known as Gopura/
Gopuram.
 The shape of the main temple tower is known as Vimana (shikhara in nagara style).
 The vimana is like a stepped pyramid that rises up geometrically rather than the
curving shikhara of north India.
 In south India, the word Shikhara is used only for the crowning element at the top of
the temple which is usually shaped like a small stupika or an octagonal cupola (this is
equivalent to the amalaka or kalasha of north Indian temples).

 In north Indian temples, we can see images such as Mithunas (erotic) and the river
goddesses, Ganga and Yamuna guarding the temple. But in the Dravida style of
temple architecture, instead of these sculptures, we can see the sculptures of fierce
dvarapalas or door keepers guarding the temple.
 A large water reservoir or a temple tank enclosed in the complex is general in south
Indian temples.
 Subsidiary shrines are either incorporated within the main temple tower or located as a
distinct, separate small shrine beside the main temple.
 The north Indian idea of multiple shikharas rising together as a cluster was not popular
in Dravida style.
 At some of the most sacred temples in south India, the main temple in which the
garbhagriha is situated has, in fact, one of the smallest towers.
 This is because it is usually the oldest part of the temple.
 When the population and the size of the town associated with the temple increased, it
would have become necessary to make a new boundary wall around the temple (and
also associated structures).
 An example for this is the Srirangam temple at Thiruchirapally, which has as many as
seven concentric rectangular enclosure walls, each with gopurams.
 The outermost is the oldest while the tower right in the centre housing the garbhagriha
is the oldest.
 Just as the nagara architecture has subdivisions, dravida temples also have
subdivisions. These are basically of five different shapes:

1. Kuta or caturasra – square

2. Shala or ayatasra – rectangular
3. Gaja-prishta or vrittayata (elephant backed) –elliptic
4. Vritta – circular
5. Ashtasra – octagonal

PALLAVAS:

 The Pallavas were one of the ancient south Indian dynasties that were active in
Andhra region from the 2nd century onwards and moved south to settle in Tamil Nadu.
 Their history is better documented in the inscriptions in stone and several monuments.
 Although they were mostly Shaivites, several Vaishnava shrines also survived from the
reign, and there is no doubt that they were influenced by the long Buddhist history of
the Deccan.
 The early buildings of Pallavas were rock-cut; while the later ones were structural
(structural buildings were well known to them when rock cut ones being excavated).
 The early buildings are generally attributed to Mahendravarman I, contemporary
of Chalukya king, Pulikeshi II of Karnataka.
  Narasimhavarman I, who was also known as Mamalla, acceded the throne around
640 CE.
 He expanded the empire and also inaugurated most of the building work at
Mahabalipuram which is known after him as Mamallapuram.

THE SHORE TEMPLE AT MAHABALIPURAM, TAMIL NADU

 It is a structural temple and was built during the reign of Narasimhavarman II, also
known as Rajasimha.
 The temple is facing east towards the sea and has three shrines – east and west to
Shiva and the middle for Vishnu (Anantashayana).
 This is unusual because temples generally have a single main shrine and not three
areas of worship. This shows that it was probably not originally conceived like this and
different shrine may be added at different times.
 In the compound, there is an evidence of a water tank, an early example of a gopuram,
and several other images.
 Sculpture of the bull, Nandi, Shiva’s mount, lines the temple walls.
 The temple has suffered severe disfiguration due to erosion by salt water laden air
over the centuries.

The Pallava temple architecture can be classified into four groups according to the rulers
and the features of temples they constructed.

a. Mahendravarman Group:

 Early temples of the Pallavas belong to King Mahendravarman I (7 th century).

 They were rock-cut temples (may be influenced by rock-cut architecture).
 g. Manndagapattu, Mahendravadi, Tircuchirapally, etc.

b. Narasimha/Mamalla Group:

 It is the second stage of Pallava architecture which started when Narasimhavarman I

(Mamalla) came to the throne.
 The architecture is represented by Monolithic rocks.
 The monolithic rathas and mandapas of Mamallapuram are examples.
 The five rathas are popularly known as Panchapandava rathas.

c. Rajasimha Group:

 The group was under Narasimhavarman II who was also known as Rajasimha.
 He introduced the structural temples and Gopura style in Pallava architecture.
 The Kailasnath temple at Kanchi and the Shore temple at Mahabalipuram are
examples.

d. Nandivaram Group:
 Architecture mainly under the Pallava king, Nandivaram Pallava.
 They also represented structural temples.
 The temples were generally small compared to the other groups.
 The Vaikundaperumal temple, Tirunelveli and Mukteswara temple are examples.

Cholas

 The best example of Chola temple architecture is the Brihadeswara temple at

Tanjore.
 The temple is also known as Rajarajeswara temple.
 It was completed around 1009 by Rajaraja Chola and is the largest and tallest of all
Indian temples.
 The temples pyramidal multi-storeyed Vimana rises a massive seventy metres, topped
by a monolithic shikhara, and the kalasha on top by itself is about three metres and
eight centimetres in height.
 The main deity of the temple is Shiva, who is shown as a huge lingam set in a two
storeyed sanctum.
 Painted Murals and sculptures decorate the walls surrounding the sanctum.

The Vesara or the Deccan Temple Architecture

 The buildings in the Deccan region are hybridized style, which contains both elements
from nagara and Dravida architectural styles and is known in some ancient texts as
the Vesara style (not all temples of Deccan are the vesara type).
 The vesara style became popular after the mid 7th century.

Chalukyas
1. Ravan Phadi cave, Aihole, Karnataka:

 The Ravan Phadi cave at Aihole is an example of the early Chalukya style which is
known for its distinct sculptural style.
 One of the most important sculptures at the site is of Nataraja, surrounded by a large
depiction of saptamatrikas: three to Shiva’s left and four to his right.

2. Lad Khan Temple at Aihole, Karnataka:

 The temple is dedicated to Shiva and is one of the oldest Hindu temples.
 Built in the 5th century by the Kings of the Chalukya Dynasty.
 It seems to be inspired by the wooden – roofed temples of the hills except that it is
constructed out of stone.
 The temple is named after a person named Lad Khan, who turned this temple into his
residence for a short period.

3. Durga Temple at Aihole, Karnataka:

  The temple is built in between 7th and 8th century.
 The architecture of the temple is predominantly Dravida with Nagara style also in
certain areas.
 The temple is considered as a unique and magnificent temple of the Chalukya period.
 The Lad Khan Temple of Aihole is located to its South.

4. Temples at Pattadakkal, Karnataka:

 There are ten temples at Pattadakkal including a Jain temple and is a UNESCO
world Heritage Site.
 A fusion of various architectural styles can be seen here.
 Out of ten temples, four are in Dravida style, four are in nagara style and one is a Jain
temple, while the Papanatha Temple is built in a fusion of both nagara and Dravida
styles.
 The Jain temple (Jain Narayana temple) was built by Rashtrakutas in the 9 th
 The Virupaksha temple at Pattadakkal is also known as Sri-Lokeswar-Maha-Sila-
Prasad, was built by Loka Mahadevi, the Queen of the Chalukya king Vikramaditya II
(733-44).
 It was probably built around 740 CE to commemorate her husband’s victory over the
Pallavas of Kanchipuram.
 It closely resembles the Kailasnath temple at Kanchipuram on plan and elevation.
 It represents a fully developed and perfect stage of the Dravida architecture.

Rashtrakutas

 By about 750 CE, the early western Chalukya control of the Deccan was taken by the
Rashtrakutas.
 Their greatest achievement in architecture is the Kailasnath Temple at Ellora.
 The Jain temple at Pattadakkal was also built by Rashtrakutas.

Hoyasalas

 With the waning Chola and Pandya power, the Hoyasalas of Karnataka grew into
prominence in south India and became the most important patrons centred at Mysore.
 The three main temples of Hoyasala are the temples at Belur, Halebid and
Somanathpuram.
 The most characteristic feature of these temples is that they grow extremely complex
with so many projecting angles emerging from the previously straightforward square
temple so that the plan of these temples starts looking like a star.
 As the plan looks like a star, it is known as stellate plan.
 They are usually made out of soapstone.