UNIT -3 THE GUPTA AGE ( 350 AD -650 AD)-DEVELOPMENTS IN NORTHERN INDIA.

EVOLUTION OF HINDU TEMPLE

After the reign of Ashoka the great , there was a period of relative anarchy with the collapse of two
powerful dynasties the Kushanas (236 ad ) in the north and Andhras in the south.Buddhism too
suffered a lack of political patronage in this period, during this period leading to slow decline despite
the valiant efforts of the monks. Thus in its effects , this period in Indian history may be said to
analogous to the end of Greek empire in Europe.( which coincidentally is almost comtemporaneous)

Howeever the cyclic age of History demands a renaissance after a dark age. It was no different in
India, The age that followed has been a great intellectual awakening in the subcontinent.A large
part of the country cam e under the political control of the gupta dynasty which reached its zenith
around 400 AD. The culture of Gupatas gave a progress in the field of art and architecture.

Architecturally ,w e may discern a new sensibility ,a break from the mere copying pf form from wood
construction , to a new sensitivity in the handling and use of stone. With this radically a different
type of Architecture began to evolve.
Early Hindu Shrines

1. For the Aryan Hindu, the propitiation ( to pacify ) the abstract forms of the natural forces
were important.

2. These forces were omnipresent and building permanent earthly abode for them was not
necessary.

3. Only edifice was altar roofed with timber posts and beams and covered with reeds.
Gradually anthropomorphic form became part of the Hindu worship.

Early Brahmanical shrine.( near Udayagiri)

1. It was nothing more than a cell to house an image .Oldest shrine was near mountain side of
Udyagiri near Sanchi. The interior was a plain rectangular room /Garbagriha where the
image was installed.

2. Entrance is through a small portico a representation in stone of timber models as depicted in

the paintings of Ajantha.

Temple at Udayagiri Temple at

Sanchi

Column at Sanchi Column at Tigawa

Earliest structural Hindu temple at Sanchi and Tagawa near Jabbalpur

TEMPLE AT SANCHI

1. The patrons of the temple decided to build the temple in bricks, and their only model
available was at Udayagiri.

2. Structural masonry builders took the clue from the stone cutters.

3. Sanchi was the repetition of Udyagiri.The cell housing the image is a dark cube .The stone
walls were meticulously jointed and roofed with flat stone slabs.

4. As it was derived from cave , no aesthetic means were arrived to embellish the plain walls of
outer masonry.

5. Entrance porch had stunted versions of the familiar freestanding Ashokan columns with
inverted bell capitals and imagery of animal motifs, the only vertical column known to Indian
Builders.

6. Using stone as the building material the craftsmen were unsure of its structural potential
and were not ready to take risks. Even a 12 feet length is supported as many as four
columns. To allow reasonable entrance in the middle , the columns were erected in pairs at
either end of the longer length.
Temple at Tigawa

1. Built on a similar plan as that of Sanchi and has a

new flourish about it, which is apparent in the
novel design of the Portico column. It didnt have
the conventional octagonal shaft of the Ashoka
column .
Tigawa temple
2. It had a square plan and boldly ornamented with
robust sculpture of Gods and Godesses of Hindu
in flamboyant postures.

1. Design of capital too had the Gupta imagery of the Purana Kalasa marking the end of the
inverted bell capitals which was used for a period of 600 years, since Ashokas times.

Developments in the south

Almost contemporaneously, another similar movement was taking place in south under the
vigourous direction of the Chalukyas . The main effort of this dynasty was at Aihole , in Bijapur
distirict .Here we find almost 70 temples all in stone. Similar to Gupta temples the temples at Aihole
for the most part are flat roofed. The chief difference is the presence of a pillared hall or mandapa
in front of the temple- this represents a noteworthy step forward in the temple design.

LADKHAN TEMPLE
1. The empire that Chandra gupta and Samudragupta had won through diplomacy and war
over a period of 100 years was given to Kumaragupta I .During 40 years of rule the Guptas
reached the zenith of their power and splendor.

2. Some of the artistic authority seems to have been felt in the south. A group of craftsmen
were commissioned by the Chalukyan overlord to build shrines for the Aryan gods ,whom
they started worshipping at the capital city of aihole.(modern Karnataka)

3. Probably immigrants from site of Ajantha over 300 miles north , they were familiar with
Buddhist ritual and well versed with high tradition of Gupta sculpture.

Ladkahn temple at Aihole

4. But they had no idea nor experience in the art of frees standing monuments.Hindu priest
had only vague ideas as an impressive structure where image of god , should be installed
and worshipped.
5. Builders took up the rural timber structure Santhagar or assembly hall of village council
as their model.

6. With few modifications, they set the task of adapting timber structural frame to permanacy
in stonemasonry of the village council plan to worship of their gods. The result Is the temple
of Ladkhan.

7. It is square in plan of 50 feet side. It is roofed with gargantuan sloping slabs simulating the
thatch roof in original. Instead of timber posts there were inner double rows of massive
columns and the peripheral columns were reduced to mere pilasters. Load of roof was taken
by stone blocks piled one over another without binding materials.

8. The open parts of the mandapa were later filled with stone grills of incongruous designs.

9. In middle of the rear wall of the main hall , a square portion was the workable equivalent of
the inner sanctum /garbagriha.

10. The timber bench /Asana of the Santhagar was dispensed within the main hall. But in the
attached potico, the worshipper could sit and chat after ritual was over, even the bench was
reproduced in stone., and had two uses , as a resting place and as a baluster.

11. The element of folk Architecture to become a major design element in the hands of Hindu
Architect partculary in the central and western part of the country.

12. The Chalukyan builders copied the timber prototype faithfully as their Buddhist
predecessors . The projecting edges of roof slabs even rounded to imitate the thatch
overhang.

13. The bamboo ribs building holding the thatch down is reproduced as bulky semicylinders of
stone. The result is a strong and enduring appearance , relieved a little by iconography
similar to the plastic and sensual grace of Gupta sculpture at Ajanta.

DURGA TEMPLE AT AIHOLE

 Plan and view of Durga temple at Aihole

1. Chalukyan builders tried to adapt the plan of Buddhist Chaitya hall to Hindu worship. They
divided the inner colonnaded nave into an ante chamber and sanctuary by putting a
platform across the apsidal end.

2. The temple stands on a highmoulded plinth 3m high .The aisles around became an open
pradakshina path .The roof of sloping slabs showed little advancement over the Ladkhan
temple.

3. In front of the sanctuary, an entrance portico slightly narrower than the temple is reached
by two staircases at rightangles to the temple axis . In the portico , a series of columns rises
from the low permeter walls. Graceful deities,treated in a vigourous style of relief carving ,
ornament the pillars , which are capped with bracket capitals.

4. There is Garuda over the door of the shrine which is elaborately carved. Light is admitted to
the hall which is 44 feet long through stone grills of perforated pattern.The entire length is
84 feet and 36 feet. The entire construction is of red sandstone and ribs looks like timber
construction.

5. The overall appearance of Durga temple is unusual.Its collanade and apse relate it to the
Buddhist snactauries ,while its open bays along its sides confer on it an airy quality. But its
ruined tower make it a little incongruous. It was an architectural experiment with few
successors.

6. However the builders were not really successful in building a monument that Hindus
desired to erect for their worship of God.

7. They interpreted temple as a House of God rather too literally as a house and no more.
What was missing in these shrines was an architectonic form that would adequately
symbolise a new faith and convert the house into a virtual monument.

8. Later addition to the Durga temple

9. In the Durga temple, the successful shikara which had already been developed in the north
was incongruously planted over the apsidal end of the flat roof.

Pattadakkal

1. Pattadakal is famous as the second capital of Chalukyas. It was mainly used for the
coronation of the Chalukyan kings .Situated on the banks of the MAlprabha river, it appears
as a scenic sight. PAttdakkal has been declared as a UNESCO world heritage site for it
 comprises the best of Chalukyan art and architecture . The town has about a dozen temples
representing the finest examples of the Chalukyan Architecture.

2. The famous temples include Virupaksha temple,Mallikarjuna temple ,Galaganatha temple

,Papanatha temple and Jambulinga temple.

Papanatha temple

Plan and view of Papanatha

temple,Pattadakkal

1. Papanatha temple is the last example of a southernshrine adorned with a shikara instead of
a vimana. The craftsmen realized that the rather slender form of the shikara could not
substantially counterpoise the sprawling lower mass of the horizontality of the plan.

2. Papanatha temple is built in Vesara style dated to 680 AD. The temple was started in nagara
style but later changed to a more Dravidian style. Sculptures here speak of scenes from
Ramayana and Mahabaratha.The temple has many similarities with the Navabrahma
temples inAlampur,which were also built by the same dynasty.

3. In many respects this temple is unique two hypostyle hall and a porch leads to the
sanctuary. Temple is 90 feet in length probably , originally conceived as a detached structure
which is now the garbagriha, and later enclosed by walls to create an ambulatory passage
way. The northern features in the temple are seen in the moulding surmounting the
sculpture panels. There are three porches on the three sides of the sanctuary sheltering
pierced stone windows flanking sculptural panels.the towers of the Jambulinga and
Kadasidheswara at the same site. The southern features are recognized in the parapet
 above the walls and the carved doorways which have foliated aquatic monsters perched on
pilasters.

4. Running around the outer walls and on the columns of the east porch east porch are friezes
illustrating episodes from great Hindu epics , the Ramayana and Mahabharath. Inside the
temple is richly decorated exuberant foliation typical of the last phase of the Early western
Chalukyan art.

Virupaksha temple

Nandi pavilion.
Virupaksha
temple,
Plan and view of Virupaksha Pattadakkal
1. This temple was built by the Queen of Vikramaditya to celebrate his victory over the pallavas
temple,Pattadakkal
of Kanchipuram.This closely resembles the Kailasanada temple of Kanchipuram on plan and
elevation and represents a fully developed and perfected stage of Dravidian Architecture.

1. In the temple of Virupaksha , built at Pattdakkal in the immediate neighbourhood of

Papanath ,the Chalukyan builder decided to surmount the garbagrihas with the more
acceptable form of southern vimana.
2. To achieve equal balance between the upper and lower parts of temple a richly sculpted
barrel shaped form was projected out from the middle of the vimana to interlock as it where
the tower and the mandapas.

1. Facing east , this temple has on plan a square sanctum (garbagriha) .The corridor like space
along the back and sides of the inner sanctum becomes the virtual pradakshina or
circumambulatory path for the worshipper.

2. There is an antarala between the sanctum and sabha mandapa with two pillars and with two
shrines for Ganesa and Mahishamardini facing each other in front.

3. Next is the sabha mandapa with four bays on four pillars, with entrance porches on the
east , north and south and a separate nandhi mandapa in front. The complex is enclosed by
high prakara walls . Against the inner faces of the walls are smaller shrines (originally 32)
dedicated to the subsidiary shrines of which only a few exist now. The enclosure has
provided with ornate entrance gates on both east and west.Now to sum total the
superstructure is built from a neatly synchronized ground plan.

Temple faade

1. The temple is built on a high plinth of five fully evolved mouldings. The outer faces of the
walls of the sanctum are divided into a central projection , two intermediate projections and
two corner projections with four recesses inbetween. Like wise the mandapa walls on
either side northern , eastern and southern porches are divided into two projections and
two recesses. All these projections of the sanctum walls carry niches housing images of Saiva
and Vishnu deities , while there are perforated windows of various designs in the rest of the
recesses. The parapet consists of architectural elements called kutas (square) , panjaras
(miniature apsidal shrines) and salas (oblong ) corresponding to the projections below.

2. The superstructure over the sanctum is the dravida vimana as mentioned earlier , which is in
three storeys with a sukasana projection above the antarala. It is square in plan and repeats
many elements of the parapet and walls beneath. It has a beautifully shaped square roof
with a round kalasa above.

Interior

1. The whole of the interior of this temple is embellished with elegant carvings and
aesthetically modelled sculptures . Episodes from the Ramayana , Mahabhratha , Bahgavata
and Kiratarjunya are depicted in the pillars of the Sabha mandapa. Flora,Fauna, geometrical
patterns and amorous couples adorn various parts of the temple. Ceiling depicting divine
beings and majestically standing dwarapalas all unfold the world of plastic art and attest the
heights reached by the Chalukyan sculptures.

2. The Nandi mandapa situated to the east of the temple ,is a square pavilion open to all the
four sides . It houses a large image of Nandi on a raised floor.Its roof is supported by four
pillars and short lengths of walls whose outer surfaces are carved with attendant and
mithuna figures.
3. The temple has a 50m tall elaborately carved gateway and has been renovated in 1510 by
Krishnadevaraya.

Evolution of the VImana of south Indian temple.

View of unknown temple at

Construction in Bamboo
Badami

1. In Durga temple, the shikara was incongruously placed over the apsidal end of flat roof.

2. In Ladkhan on the other hand, was adorned with cubical volume in the roof of main hall.
Though these two increased the height of temple, did not produce any achievement in
architectural composition.

3. In the unknown temple at BAdami in the inspired and the modified version of Ladkhan
temple, the true style of vimana evolved. The designers of this temple have reorganized the
parts of the Ladkan temple.The garba griha relocated to the core of the composition and
enclosing path around the cell for circumambulation . It was roofed by massive stone slabs
like ladkhan. Plan completed by addition of madapa and portico in front similar to LAdkhan.

4. In the addition of the tower over the garba griha marks the decisive step in the evolution of
temple architecture. The tower now takes the form of a stepped pyramid , every step
defined by horizontal mouldings of varying thickness.Each one is rounded to imitate the
overhang thatch of bamboo huts.The apex is crowned by a domical form derived from rural
one.It si similar to the shallow and semicircular contours of bamboo canopy built over a
square base.

5. The combination of stepped pyramid and dome with a cubic base even thoug h primitive in
form is a novel and pleasing assemble. It became a hall mark in south indiam temple
architecture.

6. The pyramidal tower of Badami is far from perfect but gave birth to a new concept of
vimana to be refined later, elsewhere.