The art and architecture of India - Buddhist, Hindu, Jain (Art Ebook)

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sources mentioning temple architecture we find
that the sanctuaries are classified as nagara,
dravida, and vesara. Geographically, these
types are assigned respectively to northern India
from the Himalayas to the Vindhyas, to
southern India from the Krishna River to
Cape Comorin, and to central India from the
Vindhyas to the Krishna River. Although actually
the differences in these types extend to the
orders and the smallest details of ornament, for
purposes of clarity
we may differentiate them
by their most salient feature; namely, the treatment
of the spire or superstructure.
The first type, or nagara, sometimes known
as Indo-Aryan, is generally conceded to be not
only the earliest but the most important temple
form. Its dominant feature is the spire or sikhara,
which in many later examples forms the
entire roof of the sanctuary proper. It is conical
and convex in form and is usually crowned by
a vase-shaped member or kalasa.
Whereas the profile of the nagara temple is
always convex and curvilinear with an emphasis
on the continuous verticality of the spire, the
effect of the dravida type of temple is that of a
tower ascending in a series of horizontal terraces.
In the architecture of Dravidian India
the term sikhara is applied only to the topmost
major member of the edifice, a round, square,
hexagonal, or octagonal dome-shaped feature.
This crowning member is repeated on the corners
of the successive levels of the structures. In
Dravidian architecture the emphasis is both
symbolical and structural. It is on the successive
terraces or bhumis, each one of which, in a hieratic
scale, is assigned to a different divinity.
The third type of temple building, the vesara,
is, as we have already seen, largely restricted
to western India and the Deccan. This type
of building with its barrel roof is obviously
derived from the old Buddhist type of chaityahall,
and, although it survived in comparatively
late monuments, never enjoyed the widespread
popularity of the nagara and dravida types.
Throughout the later period of Indian architecture
it is not possible to make any division of
styles on any sectarian basis. Buddhists, Jains,
and Hindus all used the same style with slight
modifications of structure to meet their ritualistic
needs. In the same way Dravidian types of
buildings are known in northern India and the
Indo-Aryan type is found in the south, so that
actually it is better to think of the three types in
the same way that we think of the Greek orders,
designated by geographical names, without implying
any geographical limitation to their
usage. In describing later Indian temples there
is a certain number of terms that must be used
for convenience. The sanctuary as a whole is
known as the vimana; the spire is known as the
sikhara ; the actual cella for the cult image is the
garbha griha. The sanctum proper is preceded
by one or more porches or mandapas dedicated
to the performance of music and dances in
honour of the gods.
Stone continues to be the principal building
material throughout the later periods of Indian
architecture. Usually the masonry is dry, and
iron dowels were employed to hold the blocks
together, although there are occasional notices
of the use of resinous lacquer and other materials
as a cement. Brick, both in combination
with stone and separately, is universally employed
as a building medium. The use of brick
goes back to the making of altars and tombs in
Vedic times, so that a certain sanctity became
attached to it as a particularly appropriate fabric
for the building of sacred edifices. Needless to
say, the most complicated rituals were employed
in the setting of both stone and brick foundations
in conformity with the magic ground-plan or
mandala of the shrine. In some cases plaster
was used for ornament in addition to carved
stone and terracotta, and it should be noted
that many of the great shrines, like the Kailasa
at Ellura, were originally painted white to
stress their symbolic relationship to the sacred
snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas. 7