Architecture of Ancient India & SE Asia - Glowacki

Buddha

"The Enlightened One"

Great Stupa Shrine Borobudur, Java, Indonesia 800-850 CE

-*Stupa* on top of pyramidal base -Oriented to cardinal directions -Four galleries on three rising terraces -72 Smaller stupa shrines, 500 Buddahs and Bodhisavatas -Sculpted friezes show life of Buddha

12) Explain how the description 'repeated, diminishing forms along cardinal axis' relates to the shikhara roof design.

-As you approach the shikhara, the mandapas imitate the form with increasing size and importance -With regards to the roof itself, it tapers as you reach the pinnacle.

13) What is the purpose of the mandapa in a Hindu temple? What activities could take place there?

-Build up, processional route (preparation to be in the presence of the deity) -Hall for Dance, Hall for offerings, Assembly, etc.

2) What is an Asokan (or Ashokan) pillar? Why and where were they erected? How can we understand the symbolism of the decorated capitals?

-Decorated Capital: Lion=Buddha -Placed along pilgrimage routes -King Ashoka was the first patron of Buddhism - Wheel= Wheel of Law, Law of the Universe -Lotus Blossom=divine purity

Great Stupa Sanchi, India (added)

-Derived from traditional burial mounds -Contains relics of the Buddha -Dome of the heaves -Axis Mundi -*Verdika* fence -*Torana* 4 gates -Circumambulation paths -*Chatra* umbrella/ Bodhi tree

3) What is a "stupa" in Buddhist architecture? What is the evolution and symbolism of the form? How does the architectural reflect both the physical requirements of prayer and worship and the symbolic requirements of Buddhist ideology and cosmology?

-Monument that indicates relics of the Buddha -Derived from traditional village burial mounds -Symbolism: dome represents the heavens, link between heavens and earth -Physical Requirements: Circumambulation, provide a pathway indicated verdika -Symbolic Requirements: 3 jewels (Buddha, Law, Monastic Life), symbolic of the sacred enclosure and bodhi tree Buddha reached enlightenment under -Cosmology: Dome of heavens and axis mundi, linking heavens and earth

Khandariya Mahadeva temple Khajuraho, India ca. 1025-1050 CE

-Northern Style Temple -Shikara -Garbhagriha -Axis Mundi, image -Mandapas -On top of a *plinth* -*Mandapas* -Growth and proliferation of forms that *get larger as they grow taller*

Chaitya Hall (Cave Temple) (added)

-Porch has pairs of columns, sculpted and painted -Ribs along ceiling to imitate barrel vault -*Stupa* with *chatra* at back

8) What is the importance of temples in Hindu society: what takes place there, who participates, how do they reflect the role of the arts?

-Represent the link between the gods, people, and universe -Focus of life; educational, religious, social, and cultural -Worshipped deity with various art forms -Everyone participates, it was the center of life

Brihedesvara Temple (Rajarajeshvara Temple to Shiva) Tanjor, India 11th century CE

-Southern Style Temple -*Vimana* replaces Shikara -Dedicated to Shiva, built by Chola dynasty -Longitudinal Axis

4) What are the main architectural elements (using correct terminology) of the Great Stupa at Sanchi?

-Torana -Harmika -Axis Mundi -Verdika -Chatra -Circumambulation Paths -Multi-level -viharas (for monks)

5) What is a Chaitya Hall? What are the main architectural elements?

-Village Memorial -Cave Temple -Stupa inside -Barrel Vault (or imitation with Ribbing) -Imitation of Persian Capitals

6) What is a "mandala"? How can the plan and elevation of the Stupa at Borobudur be understood symbolically as a "mandala"?

-geometric diagram based on a subdivided square that is used to generate proportions for Hindu temple designs, numbers associated with gods, links to divine proportions, hence harmony with the cosmos -Map of the Universe in hinduism and buddhism -Cicumambulation=achieving enlightenment -Ascension, the top is enlightenment/center of the universe/ heaven

1) What are the 3 major religious traditions of ancient India? What do they have in common?

1. Buddhism 2. Hinduism 3. Jainism -Transmigration of the Soul; Reincarnation

vimana (S: mountain-peak roof)

A pyramidal tower over the garbha griha of a Hindu temple of the southern, or Dravida, style.

Hinduism

A religion and philosophy developed in ancient India, characterized by a belief in *reincarnation* and a *supreme being* who takes many forms

Buddhism

A religion based on the teachings of the Buddha. Gautamas *Four Noble Truths* 1. Life is *suffering* 2. *Suffering* is caused by *craving* 3. *Craving* can be overcome 4. The true path to *salvation* lay in the eightfold path of right view (middle way between self-indulgence and self-mortification)

Temple

A study of the ancient architecture in India and Southeast Asia is to a very large extent an examination of the development of Blank______ architecture.

pagoda

A tapering tower with multiple roof levels, built by Buddhists particularly in China and Japan (Sanskrit dagoba, meaning stupa)

chatra

A triple-tiered umbrella form set atop a stupa, symbolic of the bodhi tree under which Buddha gained enlightenment

torana

An elaborate entrance gate into a Buddhist shrine

False

Archaeology reveals that Harappan settlements were laid out haphazardly and not oriented toward any particular direction.

Hindu temples

Aspects of the cosmos that are incorporated by the use of specific forms, sacred geometry, careful orientation, and axial alignments are fundamental in the construction of:

11) What are the significant differences in architectural form between "northern" and "southern" Hindu temples? What elements do they have in common?

Common: Garbhagira, axis mundi, mandapas, plinth Difference: Shape of mandapas, shikhara or vimana, amalaka or capstone

verdica

Fence surrounding a stupa

10) Describe the fundamental design elements and symbolic forms of Hindu temples, using the vocabulary listed above.

Gateway: gopura Processional Route: mandapa Towers: Shikhara or Vimana Womb Chamber: Garbhagria Image of the deity Axis Mundi Imitates Mt. Mehru, home of the gods Physical and symbolic focal point of village life

mandala

Geometry derived from a subdivided square called Blank______ is given importance in the construction and design of Hindu temples.

mandapa

Hall in a Hindu temple, sometimes with a pyramidal superstructure, and with columns supporting intricate ceilings; pillared assembly hall

gopura

In Hindu architecture, a monumental gateway erected on axis with the temple.

wood

In contrast to the permanent materials employed for the shrines at Sanchi, viharas (buddhist monastery) were constructed of:

Identify the leading cities that formed the most important settlements of the Indus Valley civilization.

Mohenjo-Daro Harappa

Mohenjo-Daro

Of the Indus Valley settlements, the best-preserved and most extensive city, estimated to have had a population of 40,000, with tightly packed houses that had water supply through wells and drainage and sewer systems was:

The featured ornamental carvings on the Asoka columns are clearly modeled on Blank______ originals.

Persian

plinth

Plain, continuous projecting surface under the base molding of a wall, pedestal, or podium (platform)

garbhagriha (sanctuary or womb chamber)

The "womb chamber" or shrine room at the heart of a Hindu temple.

Aryans

The Indo-European language that displaced native Indian tongues was brought to India by the:

Floods

The Indus Valley cities featured a walled, terraced citadel on high ground, provided with ceremonial buildings, large public storehouses for grain, and mills that could be used in time of peril to shelter and feed the population in case of:

Pakistan and Afghanistan

The Indus Valley, which played a large role in the prehistory of India, is now part of the modern countries of

four small shrines at its corners

The Lakshmana Temple at Khajuraho is raised on a rectangular platform and is anchored by:

Brahma

The creator, one of the three primary deities of Hinduism

stupa

The cremated remains of the Buddha were divided by his followers and placed in locations that were marked by a simple mound of rubble and earth known as a:

toranas

The elaborate stone entrance gates of the stupa at Sanchi, with carved figures representing Buddhist legends, are known as:

mandala

The geometrical diagram based on a subdivided square that is used to generate proportions for Hindu temple designs and Buddhism. *Act of Worship* diagram of cosmos (universe)

pyramidal

The halls of the Lingaraja Temple at Bhubaneshwar have Blank______ roofs.

true-arch

The passage connecting the sanctuary and the porch of the brick Vishnu Temple at Bhitargaon is unusual because of its incorporation of Blank______ construction.

Lion sculptures

The porch of the great cave temple of Karli was marked by paired freestanding columns supporting:

Indus Valley

The prehistory of India is largely an account of settlements along the:

Buddhism

The religion founded by Siddhartha Gautama, which had a major influence on architecture in India, Sri Lanka, China, Tibet, and southeast Asia, is:

Jainism

The religion that was inspired by the life of Vardhamana, who found his version of the path to salvation in a complete rejection of the complex formulations of the Brahmins, was:

harmica

The square railing at the top of a stupa.

shikhara (N: mountain-peak roof)

The tall curving roof, often with a parabolic profile, that rises like an artificial mountain over the garbhagriha in a Hindu temple

bodhi tree

The tree under which Sidartha Gautama achieved enlightenment. (the Buddha)

Buddhist Monks

The viharas at Sanchi were built for the:

Verdica

To indicate their sacred character, the Buddhist stupas created during Asoka's reign were protected by an enclosing fence, which delimited the path for circumambulation, known as a:

hemispherical

Under Asoka's patronage, all stupas were regularized into Blank______ forms, creating a symbolic link to the cyclical nature of existence.

brick

Under Asoka's patronage, to provide for greater permanence, the stupas were faced with:

agriculture

______, facilitated by irrigation and the periodic flooding of the rivers, was the basis of the economy of the Indus Valley civilization.

Nirvana

a condition of great peace or happiness; state of enlightenment for the buddha

bodhisattva

a person who is able to reach nirvana but delays doing so out of compassion in order to save suffering beings.

Asokan pillar

a series of columns dispersed throughout the northern Indian subcontinent, erected or at least inscribed by the Mauryan king Ashoka during his reign in the 3rd century BCE. Originally, there must have been many pillars but only nineteen survive with inscriptions. Many are preserved in a fragmentary state.[1] Averaging between forty and fifty feet in height, and weighing up to fifty tons each, all the pillars were quarried at Chunar, just south of Varanasi and dragged, sometimes hundreds of miles, to where they were erected.[2]

nagara

a style of temple architecture in northern India

chaitya hall

a traditional village memorial erected over the grave of an honored person; built to enclose such a memorial and permit circulation around it

ambulatory

ailse around the apse

linga

an upright stone in traditional Indian shrines symbolic of the male element

jainism

ancient religion that teaches that the way to liberation and bliss is to a live of harmlessness and renunciation

axis mundi

believed to connect the heavens and the earth and regarded as the center of the world; celestial connection btwn heaven and earth

Mt. Mehru

central square of mandala also represents the Mount Meru as the center of Universe adds emphasis to the location. The tallest part of Hindu Temple.

yoni

concentric circles surrounding the linga and representing the female principle for a religious building

Vedas

contain hymns and prescribe rituals for the worship of gods

During Asoka's reign, which of the following were used to crown Buddhist stupas to mark their special association with the Buddha?

harmica - square railing chatra - three tiered umbrella form

Great cave temple of Karli

has a hall that is 45 feet wide

Temple 17 at Sanchi

has small square sanctuary preceded by pillared porch

Mohenjo-Daro houses

houses presented virtually blank facades to the street

The Vedas contain

hymns and prescribe rituals for the worship of the gods

amalaka

in Hindu temple design, the large flat disk with ribbed edges surmounting the beehive-shaped tower

Orthogonal town plans

indication of high level of central gov control (ex. Harrapan culture)

Harappan settlements

laid out according to an orderly grid oriented to the cardinal directions

corbelling

masonry that projects slightly from a wall and serves as a support

vastu shastra

means "building science" or science of architecture

lotus blossom

most important symbol to the buddhist- complete purification of the defilement of the body; impurities of us.

Vedas

oldest indian sacred writings, dating from 1500 to 900 BCE

The porch of the great cave temple of Karli was adorned with:

painted scenes from the life of the Buddha

Nandi

sacred bull of shiva (her vehicle)

Yakshi

semi-divine female figure associated with fertility

Asoka columns

tall columns inscribed with Buddhist teachings

shiva

the destroyer, one of the three primary deities of Hinduism

stupa

the mound of earth and stones erected over relics of the Buddha or, by extension, over the remains of a holy person

vishnu

the preserver, one of the three primary deities of Hinduism

All three major religions that developed in India during sixth century BCE shared general belief in

transmigration of souls

circumambulation

walk all the way around something

chakra

wheel-symbolizes wheel of law