Indian Temple Architecture

Related civilization: India.

Date: third century b.c.e.-seventh century c.e.

Locale: India

Indian Temple Architecture

The temple is the most visible and significant aspect of Indian architecture in that it represents the values of the culture. It is a living place of worship and the residence of the deity. Indian temple builders of all periods created some of the most impressive and original religious structures in the world. The temple is thought of as a tirtha, or place where spiritual transformation and release take place.

Defining and adorning sacred space with architectural forms has a long history on the subcontinent, but little is known about the earliest phase because the first structures were made of impermanent materials such as wood and brick. It was not until the time of the Buddhist king Aśoka that creation of permanent architecture in stone began. The earliest monuments are rock-cut caves in the Barabar Hills of Bihār state. Particularly important is the Lomas Ṛṣi cave, with its elaborate decoration surrounding the door that imitates contemporary, indigenous, freestanding wooden architecture. Timbers and bolts, although of no practical purpose, were precisely imitated in stone. Lomas Ṛṣi is the first surviving example of the characteristic ogee, or bentwood arch, a ubiquitous element in all Indian architecture.

It was during the Śuṅga Dynasty (185–72 b.c.e.) that Buddhist religious architecture was established. Many sites were located along the major trade routes and were probably funded by Buddhist merchants. For example, the Western Ghats of Maharashtra is home to Buddhist establishments at Bhaja and Pitalkhora. At both sites, excavations into the rock included great apsidal halls or caityas (sanctuaries) and adjoining vihāras (monasteries). Care was taken to render the ogee and interior rafters as they would occur in wooden buildings. Stone latticework, false balconies, and semidivine beings decorate the caityas’ exterior. The monastic quarters have elaborate sculpted displays that introduce repetitions of the ogee, latticework, guardian sculptures, and auspicious symbols.

Also important among the Buddhist sacred architectural monuments were the decorated stupas housing the relics of important Buddhist teachers. The typical stupa is a hemispherical dome resting on a solid drum, surrounded by a balustrade. The stupa at Bharhut with its richly ornamented railing was an early example of the stupa type that was developed further in the later Great Stupa at Sanchi, the elaborate stupas of the southern Andhradesha school, the host of stupas in the Gandhāran region raised during the Kushān period, the Buddhist monuments of Central Asia, and ultimately, the lofty pagodas of the Far East.

It was the very powerful and influential Gupta Dynasty of north India that encouraged Hindu experimentation in stone. Through the dynasty’s direct patronage, temple builders of the fifth century c.e. developed the components for freestanding structural stone temples. The basic elements included a maṇḍapa (porch or assembly hall), a garbha gṛha (cella) that housed the image or symbol of the deity, a śikhara (spire) symbolizing the mountain abode of the deity, an āmalaka (crowning, decorative member on the spire), and a covered pathway for circumambulation and, eventually, the integration of sculpture. The earliest of the freestanding temples is the very small, flat-roofed Temple 17 at Sanchi (fifth century c.e.). Within a century, as seen in the Dashavatara temple at Deogarh (c. 525 c.e.), the northern style Hindu temple with its decorated pyramidal tower, icon panels allocated to particular places on temple walls, and elaborate rich decoration had evolved fully. It is clear that temple construction from that point on was based on a precise system of proportions and correlated measurements. It was during the Gupta period that the Mahābodhi temple at Bodhgaya was constructed over the original structure raised by Aśoka. The temple as it stands in modern times with its massive pyramidal tower is the product of several renovations of later centuries, and thus, the original Gupta structure is not fully known.

Located to the south of the Gupta kingdom was the Vākāṭaka Dynasty. The Vākāṭakas had political ties with the Guptas, and therefore, the artistic currents from the north were very influential; there are strong affinities between Gupta and Vākāṭaka art. Under the patronage of King Hariṣeṇa, twenty-four Buddhist caves at Ajanta were excavated side by side in the cliff above a river. Dating to the last quarter of the fifth century c.e. are two large caityas and twenty-two vihāras, most of which include chapels with images of important Mahāyāna deities. The Ajanta caves are famous for their robust yet delicately rendered sculptures, elaborate architectural ornamentation, and the spectacular paintings that are the sole surviving examples of Indian painting of this early period.

The great creative activity that was begun by Hariṣeṇa was continued by the dynasty’s successors in the region. The Kalacuri Dynasty took control of the western Deccan in the sixth century c.e. A powerful artistic and religious force, their artisans introduced new elements into cave-temple planning. The Kalacuris excavated some of the most memorable cave temples in India, dedicated to the Pāśupati sect of Śiva. Particularly stunning is the colossal Śiva temple on Elephanta Island in Mumbai harbor. The rather plain exterior of the cave hardly prepares visitors for the grand scale of the majestically decorated interior. Gigantic in scale, the pillars with their bulbous cushion capitals, the huge sculpted relief panels, and mighty guardians flanking entrances to the cella imbue the viewer with a deep awareness of the meaning of the sacred. Equally impressive are the Kalacuri cave temples at Ellora that house many of India’s most magnificent religious icons. The sculptors realized in the images a perfect balance between the earthly and the divine, the sensual and the spiritual.

The western Cālukyas located in Mysore state in the south began an active campaign of constructing religious monuments in stone soon after they came to power. The earliest examples date to the sixth century c.e.; they include four caves located at their capital at Badami and the Ravaṇa Phadi cave at nearby Aihole. The caves, excavated under royal auspices, all demonstrate highly evolved iconographical programs combined with splendid craftsmanship. The early Cālukyan sculptural and architectural styles reveal close links with the Kalacuri artistic productions farther to the north.

It was the very dynamic and inventive Pallava Dynasty of Tamil Nādu in south India that experimented with stone architecture and created the distinctive southern style architecture, or the so-called Dravida style. King Mahendravarman I (r. c. 600-630) was the first Pallava to excavate a cave temple in the region. The temple at Mandagapattu was carved in extremely hard granite, a fact noted with pride in an inscription. Dedicated to the Hindu triad of deities, Brahmā, Vishnu (Viṣṇu), and Śiva, it consisted of a pillared verandah (maṇḍapa) and a cella at the rear. The successful completion of the cave encouraged the king to undertake nine other excavations, most located in the region surrounding the capital city at Kanchipuram.

Mahendravarman I’s successors continued the traditions of rock-cut temples. Narasiṃhavarman I (630-668 c.e.) was an outstanding patron and innovator. At the seaport city called Mahabalipuram, he had his artisans sculpt monolithic temples from boulders located near the shore. Called the Rathas, the exquisite temples serve as astonishing examples of the various types of southern style constructions. The largest of these, the Dharmarāja Ratha, has the characteristic tiered roof with each story being separated by a balustrade consisting of miniature shrines, the typical lion-based pillars, the massive and embellished octagonal crowning stone on top, and superb icons in the slender southern figural style. The Rathas were the first great southern freestanding temples.

Those grand builders of Indian temples and the craftspeople who decorated the walls belonged to guilds that carefully worked out the designs and methods of construction while working in collaboration with the priests. Together they determined the forms and styles of the temples that eventually were set down in canons called the Śilpa-śāstra and the Āgamas, in which every last detail was codified for posterity.

Bibliography

Huntington, Susan L. The Art of Ancient India. New York: Weatherhill, 1985.

Meister, Michael, ed. Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1983.