ARCHITECTURE OF INDIA

INTRODUCTION

INDIAN ARCHITECTURE WAS HIGHLY DIVERSIFIED, REFLECTING THE REGION'S RICH

HERITAGE. FAMOUS FOR ITS TEMPLES, PALACES, FORTS, AND CHARACTERISTIC INDIAN
ROCK-CUT ARCHITECTURE, WITH NOTABLE BUDDHIST, ISLAMIC, AND EUROPEAN INFLU-
ENCES.

THE ARCHITECTURE OF INDIA INCLUDES PRESENT DAY INDIA, PAKISTAN, BANGLA-

DESH AND SRI LANKA. THESE COUNTRIES LATER ON GOT SEPARATED BY POLITICAL
BOUNDARIES BUT, STILL SHARE A COMMON CULTURAL HERITAGE. THE DIVERSITY OF
INDIAN CULTURE IS REPRESENTED IN ITS ARCHITECTURE. INDIAN ARCHITECTURE COM-
PRISES A BLEND OF ANCIENT AND VARIED NATIVE TRADITIONS, WITH BUILDING TYPES,
FORMS AND TECHNOLOGIES FROM WEST, CENTRAL ASIA, AND EUROPE.

THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT:

• TIMBER • MUDBRICK ARCHITECTURE

INDIAN ARCHITECTURE HAS INFLUENCED THE SURROUNDING REGIONS OF THE

WORLD, ESPECIALLY EASTERN ASIA, DUE TO THE SPREAD OF IDEAS WITH BUDDHISM. A
NUMBER OF INDIAN ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES SUCH AS THE STUPA (TEMPLE MOUND),
SIKHARA (TEMPLE SPIRE), PAGODA (TEMPLE TOWER), TORANA (AND TEMPLE GATE), HAVE
BECOME FAMOUS SYMBOLS OF HINDU- BUDDHIST CULTURE, USED EXTENSIVELY IN EAST
ASIA AND SOUTH-EAST ASIA. EARLY INDIAN ARCHITECTURE IS THE STORY OF HOW
POWERFUL AND POPULAR RELIGIONS CELEBRATED THEIR BELIEFS THROUGH MONU-
MENTAL DESIGN.
 STUPA GLOBAL VIPASSANA PAGODA

GEOGRAPHICAL INFLUENCES
A LARGE TRIANGULAR PENINSULA OF SOUTHERN ASIA HAVING A TERRITORY
FIFTEEN TIMES THE SIZE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

INDIA’S PRESENT-DAY RELIEF FEATURES

HAVE BEEN SUPERIMPOSED ON THREE BASIC
STRUCTURAL UNITS:

• THE HIMALAYAS IN THE NORTH

• THE DECCAN (PLATEAU REGION) IN THE SOUTH
•
• THE INDO-GANGETIC PLAIN (LYING OVER THE
SUBSIDENCE ZONE) BETWEEN THE TWO.

INDIA CAN BE DIVIDED INTO FIVE

PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS.
1. THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS
2. INDO GANGETIC PLAINS
3. THE PENINSULAR PLATEAUS
4. THE ISLANDS
5. THE COASTAL PLAINS

GEOLOGICAL INFLUENCES
• THE EXCELLENT BUILDING STONE IN THE CENTER OF THE PENINSULA
• BEING A HILL COUNTRY, THE FAMOUS PINK MARBLE OF RAJPUTANA, USED IN THE
BUILDINGS AT DELHI AND AGRA, THE "TRAP " AND GRANITE OF THE DECCAN, THE
SANDSTONE OF CERTAIN DISTRICTS, AND THE VOLCANIC POTSTONE OF HULLABID, ALL
CONTRIBUTED TO DEVELOP THOSE CHARACTERISTICS WHICH ARE PECULIAR TO THE
DIFFERENT LOCALITIES.

• ROCK-CUT "CHAITYAS“ (BUDDHISTS) WERE PRODUCED IN THE ACTUAL GEOLOGICAL

FORMATION; FOR THEY WERE CARVED IN THE HORIZONTAL STRATA OF THE LIVING ROCK,
WHERE IT RISES SHEER FROM THE GROUND IN PERPENDICULAR CLIFFS.

• AT MAHAVELLIPORE AND ELLORA, THE DRAVIDIAN ROCK-CUT TEMPLES, KNOWN AS "

RATHS," WERE HEWN OUT OF THE AMYGDALOIDAL TRAP FORMATIONS.

THE ROCK-CUT SHORE TEMPLE OF THE TEMPLES IN MAHABALIPURAM, TAMIL NADU

• TEAK, THE PRINCIPAL TIMBER OF THE

COUNTRY, IS FOUND ON THE EASTERN AND
WESTERN GHATS, AND IN THE HIMALAYAS
WHILE BESIDES EBONY AND BAMBOO THERE
ARE THE PALMS, WHICH GROW MOSTLY ON
THE LOWLANDS OF THE COAST, AND SUPPLY
FOOD, DRINK, CLOTHING, AND BUILDING
MATERIAL TO THE NATIVES.

RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES
RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES ON INDIAN ARCHITECTURE MAY BE TRACED BACK TO PRE-HISTO-
RIC PERIODS, BEGINNING WITH THE HINDUS. THE RISE OF ISLAM, THE RELIGION THAT
ARRIVED TO INDIA AS A RESULT OF MULTIPLE INVASIONS, ALSO HAD A PROFOUND IMPACT
ON THE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNS OF INDIAN ARTISANS. ALONG WITH BUDDHIST, JAIN,
AND PARSI TYPES OF BUILDING, INDIAN ARCHITECTURE HAS ACQUIRED CERTAIN
CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRISTIAN ART.

HISTORICAL INFLUENCES
● THIRD GREAT CIVILIZATION TO
EMERGE IN A FERTILE RIVER VALLEY
● INDUS RIVER 2500 BC, PRESENT-DAY
PAKISTAN AND NORTHWEST INDIA
● MAJOR CITIES WERE MOHENJO DARO
AND HARAPPA
● EACH CITY WAS RULED BY
PRIEST-KINGS, CITADELS ATOP THE
CITY LASTED ONLY 800 YEARS
● 1500 BC ARYANS FROM THE NORTH
MOVED INTO INDIA
● SET-UP 16 SEPARATE KINGDOMS ALL OVER. MOST POWERFUL, THE MAGADHA
KINGDOM, CONQUERED ALL OTHER KINGDOMS
● ESTABLISHED THE MAURYAN EMPIRE IN 300 BC UNDER KING ASHOKA
● SUCCESSIVE MILITARY AND ECONOMIC INCUR-
SIONS BROUGHT ART AND ARCHITECTURE: ARYAN, PER- SIAN, GRECO-ROMAN,
SASSANIAN, MUSLIM, PORTU- GUESE, FRENCH, ENGLISH

LINKS:
● MESOPOTAMIAN CULTURES (2500 TO 1500 BC)
● CENTRAL ASIA (VIA MOUNTAIN PAS SES IN THE NORTH)
● PERSIA AND GRECO-ROMAN WESTERN ASIA (VIA BALOCHISTAN)

SOCIAL INFLUENCES
THE PEOPLE OF INDIA CONSIST OF:

(A) THE NON-ARYAN TRIBES OR ABORIGINES

(B) THE ARYAN OR SANSKRIT-SPEAKING RACE, WHICH INCLUDES BRAHMINS AND RAJPUTS
(C) HINDUS, A MIXED POPULATION FORMED OF THE ABOVE
(D) MAHOMETAN INVADERS.

THESE RACES HAVE REALLY NEVER AMALGAMATED, BUT HAVE BECOME MIXED IN
VARYING DEGREES, AND HAVE ALWAYS REMAINED SUBJECT TO THE UNCHANGING
CONDITIONS WHICH CHARACTERIZE THE EAST. THE CHIEF DIVIDING LINES ARE THOSE OF
RELIGION AND CASTE, RATHER THAN OF RACE AND LANGUAGE, AND THIS HAS NATURALLY
PRODUCED AN ARCHITECTURE WHICH SHOWS LITTLE PROGRESSIVE DEVELOPMENT;
WHILE THERE IS DIVERSITY AND ABSENCE OF UNITY BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT STYLES IN
THIS VAST PENINSULA. THE TENURE OF LAND BY FEUDAL PRINCES PRODUCED ENOR-
MOUS REVENUES WHICH WERE LARGELY SPENT IN THE ERECTION OF RELIGIOUS MONU-
MENTS FOR SELF-GRATIFICATION.

THE EPIC POEMS KNOWN AS THE " MAHABHARATA " OR CHRONICLES OF THE DELHI
KINGS UP TO B.C. 1200, AND THE " RAMAYANA," OR STORY OF THE ARYAN ADVANCE INTO
SOUTHERN INDIA ABOUT B.C. 1000, ARE WORKS BY THE BRAHMANS THAT MAY BE COM-
PARED TO HOMER'S "ILIAD" AND VIRGIL'S "AENEID", SIR W. HUNTER'S "BRIEF HISTORY OF
THE INDIAN PEOPLES" FORMS AN EXCELLENT RESUME OF INDIAN ART AND LIFE.

POLITICAL
1500 BC ARYANS FROM THE NORTH MOVED INTO INDIA
SET-UP 16 SEPARATE KINGDOMS ALL OVER. THE MOST
POWERFUL, THE MAGADHA KINGDOM, CONQUERED ALL
OTHER KINGDOMS. ESTABLISHED THE MAURYAN EMPIRE IN
300 BC UNDER KING ASHOKA. THE IMPORTANCE OF KING
ASHOKA (233 AC), WITH REGARD TO THE POLITICAL UNIFI-
CATION OF INDIA AND THE EMERGENCE OF BUDDHISM AS A
RELIGION THERE, IS UNDENIABLE. WITH RESPECT TO
ARCHITECTURE, THE BUDDHIST PERIOD, WHICH RESULTED
FROM RELIGIOUS STRATIFICATION, IS ALSO KNOWN AS THE
FIRST DISTINCTIVE ARCHITECTURAL MODEL OF INDIAN
ARCHITECTURE.

CLIMATIC
INDIA LIES MOSTLY WITHIN THE TROPICS, AND TWO PRINCIPAL SEASONS, WET AND
DRY, DIVIDE THE YEAR. HERE, AS IN EGYPT, ASSYRIA, AND PERSIA, FLAT TERRACED
ROOFS FOR COOLNESS, EXERCISE, AND SLEEPING ARE THE RULE. THE USE OF THE
GREAT FAN, OR PUNKAH, IS AN INDICATION OF THE INTENSE HEAT, WHICH INFLUENCED
THE SIZE AND TREATMENT OF ARCHITECTURAL OPENINGS; THUS THE PIERCED SCREEN
OR LATTICE WINDOW, WHICH IS SO CHARACTERISTIC A FEATURE OF INDIAN AS OF ALL
EASTERN ART, WAS DESIGNED TO EXCLUDE THE LIGHT AND HEAT CAUSED BY THE
CONSTANT SUNSHINE. CANALS, RESERVOIRS, AND TANKS, WHICH ARE CONSPICUOUS IN
CONNECTION WITH THE PLANS OF BOTH TEMPLES AND PALACES, WERE NECESSARY FOR
IRRIGATION AND WATER-STORAGE DURING THE DRY SEASON.
ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS
SYMBOLIC LAYERS

• THE TOWERS OF HINDU TEMPLES TELL STORIES AS THEY RISE SKYWARDS

• EACH HAS ITS OWN DISTINCTIVE “HANDWRITING” AND DEPICTS THE CONCERNS OF
LOCAL CULTS AS WELL AS UNIVERSAL THEMES.

ANIMAL STATUARY

• TO HINDUS, ALL LIFE IS SACRED AND DESERVING

OF REPRESENTATION.

• MOST OF THE TEMPLES SHOW FINE SCULPTURES

AND CARVINGS OF ANIMALS
 FIGURATIVE DECORATIONS

• FOR HINDUS, THE CARVING OF SACRED IMAGES AND FIGURINES WAS AN ART FORM IN
ITSELF, REQUIRING YEARS OF DISCIPLINED TRAINING.

CAVE TEMPLES
 IN THE LOW-LYING PLAINS OF BENGAL, THE
ALLUVIAL SOIL WAS THE ONLY MATERIAL
AVAILABLE FOR BUILDING, WHICH, MADE
INTO BRICKS, WAS USED EXTENSIVELY IN
THIS DISTRICT. TERRA-COTTA SEEMS TO
HAVE BEEN EMPLOYED IN EARLY TIMES,
AND THE EASE WITH WHICH PLASTIC CLAY
WAS PRESSED INTO MOLDS MAY BE RES-
PONSIBLE FOR SOME OF THE EXUBERANCE
OF ORNAMENT IN LATER PERIODS. LIME
FOR BUILDING WAS OBTAINED BY BURNING
LIMESTONE, SHELLS, AND KANKAR, A NO-
DULAR FORM OF IMPURE LIME FOUND IN
RIVER VALLEYS.