Indian Architecture 2

The major improvement over the previous Badami Chalukya temple was

"Architectural Articulation" or ornamentation on the outer walls of the shrine. The presence of Figure sculpture such as Heroes of Ramayana and Mahabharata and loving couples (Mithuna) was additional structure of these temples at the earliest period. The Western Chalukyan Temples are either Ekakuta (one mandapa of one shrine) or Dvikuta (a common hall attached to two shrines)

The Badami Chalukya era (7th and 8th century) was an important period in the development of South Indian architecture

"Karnata Dravida architecture". Nearly a hundred monuments built by them, rock cut (cave) as well as structural, and are found in the Malaprabha river basin in modern Bagalkot district of northern Karnataka. The building material they used was reddish-golden Sandstone found locally.

Most of the temples built in the Gupta era were carved with representation of Gods

(mainly avatara of Vishnu and Lingams) and Goddesses. There was a single entrance or mandapa or Porch. Gupta style temple was modelled on the architectural norms of the Mathura school.

Both early Chaityas and Viharas were made by woods and later stone cut Chaityas and Viharas were made

A Chaitya was a rectangular prayer hall with a stupa placed in the centre, the purpose was prayer. The Chaitya was divided into three parts, and had an apsidal ending i.e. a semicircular rear end, the central part of the hall (also called the nave) was separated from the two aisles by two rows of pillars, Chaityas also had polished interior walls, semicircular roofs and horse-shoe shaped windows called the Chaitya windows. Viharas were the residences of the monks.

Mahadeva Temple, Itagi

About 20 kilometers from Nakkundi is located the Mahadeva Temple of Itagi. It was built by one of the commanders of the Western Chalukya King Vikramaditya VI in 1112 AD. This temple is one of the finest example of "Dravida Articulation" in Nagara style

The earliest temples of India include

Dasavatar temple at Deogarh, in Uttar Pradesh, Nachna-Kuthara and Udaygiri near Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh. All of these temples are simple structures consisting of a veranda, a hall and a shrine at the rear

The key examples of Gupta architecture among temples are

Dasavatara temple of Deogarh Bhitargaon temple Vishnu Temple of Tigawa Jabalpur Shiva Temple of Bhumara Parvati Temple of Nachria Kathura Mukund Darra Temple of Kota Lakshaman Temple of Raipur Shiva Temple of Koh Bhitari Temple at Ghazipur. Among stupas, the Dhamekh stupa is the most prominent masterpiece of Gupta architecture.

Doddabasappa Temple, Dambal

Doddabasappa Temple located at Dambal in Karnataka is one more example of fine Western Chalukyan Art. This temple is a variant of Dravida style called the karnatadravida Temple style. The temple is built on uninterrupted 24 pointed star shaped floor plan, which is different from the pre existing 6-12 and 24 interrupted star shaped temples

Shikhara / Vimana

From the fifth century AD, the free standing temples started getting a tower which is called Shikhar in north India and Vimana in southern India.

The finest example of Gadag style - Truketshwara Temple, Gadag

Gadag Style, which can be recognized by the ornate columns in the temples, originated in the period of the Western Chalukya King Someshwara I. This temple was created during the reign of Someshwara I in the 11th century. The temple is dedicated to Shiva and has three lingams mounted on a single stone. The ornate pillars are located in an exclusive Saraswati Shrine in the temple complex.

A simple Hindu temple comprises the following the following parts essentially:

Garbhagriha Mandapa Shikhara / Vimana Vahana

The foundation of Buddhist stupas was mainly laid by Asoka

He is said to have built over 84,000 stupas, most of which are not extant today. The earliest and largest stupa found in Sanchi is ascribed to Asoka. The best examples of Buddhist stupas are found at Amaravati, Sanchi, Barhut and Gaya.

The narration in the inscriptions which was concise in the Bharhut has got elaborated at Sanchi

However, the Symbols continue to be used representing the Buddha. The historical narratives such as the siege of Kushinagara, Buddha's visit to Kapilavastu, visit of Ashoka to the Ramgrama Stupa are carved with great details

Toranas

It has four beautifully decorated toranas depicting various events from the life of the Buddha and the Jatakas. Figure compositions are in high relief, filling up the entire space, thus showing remarkable improvement from the Bharhut

Circumambulatory path

It has upper as well as lower pradakshinapatha

Garbhagriha

It is a cave-like sanctum. In the earliest temples, it was a small cubicle with a single entrance and grew into a larger chamber in time. The garbhagriha is made to establish the main diety. The establishment of the deity itself is a great ritual practice called Prana Pratishtha.

The Dhamekha stupa is located at Sarnath, 13 km away from Varanasi.

It marks the deer park or Rishipattana where Buddha gave his first sermon. As per an inscription dated 1026 AD, recovered from the site, its older name is Dharmachakra Stupa. Archeologist, Alexander Cunningham in search of a relic casket bored a vertical shaft through it center down to the foundation and at a depth of around 91 centimeter he found a slab with an inscription.....Ye Dharma Hetu Prabhava Hetu.....written in Brahmi script. This inscription is of 6th or 7th century. Below this, one more stupa made of mauryan bricks has been found which gives in indication that Asoka might have commissioned it.

The Dhamekha stupa is located at Sarnath, 13 km from Varanasi.

It marks the deer park or Rishipattana where Buddha gave his first sermon. It was constructed by Asoka. It is cylindrical in shape and about 34 m high and 28.3 m in diameter. The lower portion of the Stupa is covered completely with beautifully carved stones. The borders of Dhamekh Stupa have delicately carved geometrical and floral designs and figures of humans and birds. The base of the Stupa is made of stone with the upper areas of brickwork which probably once had a carved stone fencing.

Anda

Its nucleus was a hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of the Buddha

The temple depicts the ten avataras of Vishnu.

Its stones were secured together by dowels and its four porches afforded relatively more space for the worshippers to congregate The sanctum of this temple stood on a raised plinth occupying the central square of the open terrace. The doorway leading to the sanctum was the chief centre of the attraction, serving as an elegant outer frame to set off the image installed in the cells.

Kasivisvesvara Temple, Lakkundi

Kasivisvesvara Temple, Lakkundi is one of the most ornate temples in Karnataka. This temple was initially built in the Western Chalukyan Empire and later additions were done by Verea Ballala II, the great Hoyasala King. It's a Dvikuta Temple.

Temples of Lakkundi

Lakkundi is a tiny village in Gadag District of Karnataka. Here, we find 50 temples of the Western Chalukyan Empire, most important of which are Mahadeva Temple and Kahi Visheveshwar Temple. The place is also a source of around 30 inscriptions of the Chalukyas, Kalachuris, Seunas, Kadambas and Hoysalas

The temples can be distinguished with the Shikhara or Vimana

On this basis, there are two types of temple Nagara which is North Indian Dravida, which is South India

The artists are Barhut have used the small space available on reliefs to depict the pictorial language very effectively to communicate stories.

One of such pictorial narrative is the "Queen Mahamaya's dream". Queen Mahamaya was mother of Gautama Buddha. In this image, the queen is shown reclining on the bed whereas an elephant is shown on the top heading towards the womb of Queen Mayadevi.

The Shikhara was not much prominent in the early Gupta temples but was prominent in later Gupta era.

Sanchi temple at Tigwa has a flat roof. Dasavatar Temple at Deogarh , Bhitargaon temple and Mahadev Temple at Nachna Kuthar have a square tower of Shikhara. Manyar Math at Rajgriha is a circular temple of Gupta Era. Main style of temple architecture in Gupta period is Nagara style.

Three Types of Stupas

Sariraka Stupa contained the buried bodily remains of the Buddha, Paribhogika stupa contained buried belongings of Buddha. Uddeshika Stupa were created as memorials

Nagara

Shikhara is shaped like a beehive and is made up of layer upon layer of architectural elements called kapotas and gavakshas. The temple also has a very unusual, open ambulatory around the sanctum, with pillars and no wall on the outside.

The three key elements of Buddhist architecture are

Stupas, Viharas and Chaityas.

Ravana Phadi Cave, Aihole, near Badami

The earliest monument of Chalukyas of Badami It was probably made around A.D. 550 and is dedicated to Siva. Earliest Rock Cut Temple located at Aihole, the first capital of the early Chalukyas. At Aihole, they built more than 70 Hindu Temples later

Harmika

The harmika was a small platform with a railing located at the very top of a stupa. Sometimes umbrellas (chatri) were mounted in the harmika as a symbol of honour and respect.

A stupa refers to a mound-like structure that contains some relic of Buddha or Buddhist monks

The origin of Stupas is considered to be from the Shramana tradition in which the Shramana monks were buried in seated position. When Buddha died, his remains were cremated and the ashes were divided and buried in eight mounds

These temples show a transition from the Nagara to Dravida style and create a new style called Karnatadravida

The ornate columns are seen as one of the most important features and that is why some of the temples such as "Mahadeva Temple" are called finest in Karnataka after Halebid. The Temple plan in most of the plans is star shaped. Most temples are dedicated to Shiva and Nandi at the entrance of the shrine appears as a main feature.

The nine-foot-high railing, or vedika, and the gateway, or torana, are made in imitation of the wooden architecture of that time.

The railings create a path for the devotee to walk on as he goes around the revered stupa. As he proceeds, stories made on the railings remind him of the virtuous qualities of the Buddha. Jatakas, or tales of the pervious lives of the Buddha, are used to exemplify the rules of conduct in everyday life. The sculpture was mainly done in low relief in the panels of the stupa along with narratives which are in few words

Around 100 B.C., a great stupa was made at Bharhut, eastern MP

The railings of the stupa and its one surviving gate are at the Indian Museum in Kolkata. This is the earliest stupa railing to have survived. Unlike the imperial art of the Mauryas, the inscriptions on these railings show that the reliefs and figures were contributed by lay people, monks and nuns These mainly include the images of Yaksha and Yakhshini akin to the Mauryan period

Badami Cave Temples

The red sandstone cliffs of Badami offered a spectacular setting for the excavation of four caves, three Brahmanical and one Jaina (Parshwavanath). The largest and most impressive of these is Cave 3, dedicated to Vishnu. An inscription next to a Varaha depiction states that Mangalesa, a brother of King Kirtivarman, dedicated the cave in A.D. 578. Apart from the above four, there is a fifth natural Buddhist cave in Badami

Vesara Style, also Central Indian Style

The style has characters of both the Northern as well as Dravidian temple architecture represented by the Hoyasala Temples also Most of the temples of the Western Chalukyas are dedicated to Shiva, some of them dedicated to Vishnu and Jain Tirthankars also. The Hoysalas architecture was clearly influenced by the Western Chalukyan Architecture.

With the construction of the Stupas, the construction of the Hindu temples also started as free standing structures

The subject matter of the deities in the Hindu temples were the mythical stories narrated in the Puranas. There were 3 kinds of the temples on the basis of access and the circumambulatory path built in it

Sandhara

These types of the temples have a square sanctum enclosed by a gallery of pillars meant for Pradakshina. Thus, the Sandhara temples have a Pradakshinapatha.

Sarvatobhadra

These types of the temples have four functional doors on cardinal direction and also a Pradakshinapatha with a row of 12 pillars around the santum sanctorum. These types of temples could be accessed from all sides.

Vahana

This refers to the mount or vehicle of the temple's main deity along with a standard pillar or dhvaj is placed axially before the sanctum

Nirandhara

This type of temples do NOT have Pradakshinapathas

Temple Architecture of Western Chalukyas

While the buildings of the Chalukyas of the Badami are centred in and around Pattadakal, Aihole, Badami & Alampur, the buildings of the Western Chalukyas are widely dispersed, which reflect the system of the local government and decentralization in the Western Chalukyan Administration

Gadag style

a feature of the Western Chalukya temples and it is characterized by ornate columns.

Virupaksha Temple, Hampi, Karnataka

banks of the Tungabhadra river. dedicated to Lord Shiva It is in the Virupaksha temple at Hampi that full glory of the Early Chalukyan art can be seen. This temple was built in 735 AD by a queen of Vikramaditya II to celebrate the victory over the Pallavas of Kanchipuram. The temple was improvised in Vijaynagar Empire.

The Navabrahma Group of temples is located at Alampur in Andhra Pradesh

based upon the Nagara style and do not reflect the Dravidian style of temple architecture (8 out of 9 are clearly Nagara style) These temples are all enclosed in a courtyard on the left bank of the river Tungabhadra.

A transition to a new style had begun towards the end of the Gupta period in around 500 A.D

can be seen in the Dasavatara temple at Deogarh, which is first North Indian temple with a sikhara, though its shikhara is curtailed and part of it has disappeared. It is said that originally, its shikhara was of about 40 feet The sikhara in this temple is in three tiers rising on the top of square cells, and embellished with an elegantly carved doorway on one side and three big panels placed outside the three walls.

Mandapa

entrance of the temple which may be a portico or colonnaded hall that incorporates space for a large number of worshippers. Portico - A portico (from Italian) is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their top, often free-standing, or part of a building

The reign of Rastrakutas of Manyakheta was from 753 AD to 982 AD

great patrons of architecture. The Rastrakuta architecture was a splendid form of Rock cut architecture. Most of the shrines were Buddhist caves such as Ellora and Elephants at Maharastra. Notable example is the Kailashnath Temple at Ellora,

Kalinga architecture

has Rekha Deula,Pidha Deula and Khakhara Deula types of temples. Out of them the Khakhara Deula is essentially of a female deity such as Durga or Chamunda. Konark Sun temple is a Pidha Deula

Vesara

has characters of both Nagara and Dravida.

The Ladkhan temple is the earliest temple of Aihole, which dates back to 5th century AD

inscription on this temple says that it was dedicated to Durga. There is a Shiva ling out there. The temple is known as Lad Khan after its owner (in most recent times) at a place used as cattle sheds or houses. This temple has a large porch and is made in a Panchayat hall kind of design with 12 pillars. This was earliest experiment for a pillar based structures in the temple architecture.

Dasavatara temple, Deogarh Uttar Pradesh

most important temple of Gupta era discovered by Captain Charles Strahan and was named so by Alexander Cunningham

Bhitagaon Temple is located in Kanpur District of Uttar Pradesh

oldest remaining Hindu temple, and was built in the Gupta Era in 6th century. The special feature of this temple is that it is made entirely in bricks. It is conceived from top to bottom in terms of terracotta and bricks. It is beautified with several courses of well-preserved friezes and moulded bricks with designs exceedingly varied and beautiful. The temple has a pyramidal roof and its walls were decorated on the outside with terracotta panels, depicting scenes from Hindu mythology. Architecturally, the temple is important as it possesses the earliest true arch in India.

Barhut is basically known for its Stupa

originally established by Asoka in the 3rd century BC, but was improvised and beautified during the Sunga period.

Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh is a site of three stupas

out of which the first and the oldest Great Stupa was originally commissioned by Asoka. The 'Great Stupa' at Sanchi is the oldest stone structure of India and was originally commissioned by the Ashoka in the 3rd century BC, vandalized by Pushyamitra Sunga and rebuilt by his son Agnimitra and again improvised by Saatavahana kings

Gupta Period is called Golden or Classical age of India

partially due to the unprecedented activities and development in the arts, architecture, sculpture, painting and literature. The rock cut architecture reached at its zenith in Gupta era and a new beginning of free standing temple architecture began.

Vedika

railings surrounding the stupa

These temples are a mixture of Northern and Dravida style of temple architecture

represent a transition as well as experimentation in the temple architecture. The temples are located on the banks of River Tungabhadra and Malprabaha in Karnataka and Alampur in Andhra Pradesh , which is near Kurnool. The largest temple of Chalukyas of Badami is Virupaksha Temple, whose complex encloses 30 sub shrines and a large Nadi mandapa. This was also earliest example of Shiva temples, which have a Nandi pavilion in front of the temple.

Numerous temples at Pattadakal on the bank of river Malprabha

some kilometers from Aihole mark the return of the Chalukya patronage to Karnataka after several years of activity in the Andhra Pradesh. The first temple is Galagnatha Temple which is in Nagara style similar to the Alampur temple

Though they ruled a vast empire

the Chalukyan workshops concentrated most of their temple building activity in a relatively small area within the Chalukyan heartland - Aihole, Badami, Pattadakal and Mahakuta in modern Karnataka state

Dravida

tower consists of progressively smaller storeys of pavilions.

Similarly, other sculptures depict the Jataka tales, for example the Ruru Jataka

where the Boddhisattva deer is rescuing a man on his back. The other event in the same picture frame depicts the King standing with his army and about to shoot an arrow at the deer, and the man who was rescued by the deer is also shown along with the king pointing a finger at the deer