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International Journal of Social Science Tomorrow Vol. 1 No. 3

ISSN: 2277-6168 May|2012 www.ijsst.com Page |1

Evolution of Temple Architecture in Northern India

AnHistorical Process

Dr. Sahabuddin Ahmed, Associate Professor, Karimganj College, Karimganj, Assam

AbstractNorthern Indian temple architecture passed through different process of experiment. It has been pointed out, in

the paper, the history of origin, evolution, shape, style and development of North Indian temple architecture.The archaeological remains of the temples to the pre-Maurya period have been discovered but they are toofragmentary to draw a complete idea. However, the Maurya period witnessed the same and gives us a clear idea.

Actual North Indian temple architecture started with the establishment of the Gupta Empire. The Gupta rulers

patronages and encouraged the architectural activities. At this stage, a new architectural style emerged. In the 6 thcentury A.D. the Gupta period ended, but their style of architecture lasted for another century and by this time,

the temples of this region had already been conceived by the Gupta style. After that, the Dravidian and Indo-Arian style was established. In the period from 750 to 1100 A.D., the Orissan and Khajoraho templearchitectural style developed in the region. In these styles, the essential elements of the plan present in all

temples.

Keywords: Architecture, Temple, Hellenic influence, Nuclii, Homogenous.

1. IntroductionAmong the different manifestation of Indian Architecture, surely, the highest achievement is reached in theTemple, where God is believed to reside in and as such, it is known by such terms as Devalaya, Shivalaya,Devasthan,DeulandDouletc, all derived from the different names of the Deity. Having its starting point at avery remote past this architectural development passed through different process of experiment and so, it so, it

evolved bearing many ideas. At present, the different parts of a temple resemble different parts of a human body


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with the deity inside as its soul. Whenever we think of a model temple, a sanctum with its massive walls, darkinterior and with a pyramidal spire called Sikhra surrounded by a building complex appears before our eyes.This type of architecture with the majestic height and liquefied proportions, varied forms and exquisite wealth ofcarvings, effective distributions of light and shades, and above all, in its plastically modeled mass (Saraswati,

1957) definitely has its origin, history of evolution, attainment of modern shape and style and development ofdifferent variations.

2.

Essential Features of a Northern Indian TempleA temple comprises of a number of essential parts, the names of with may vary locally but theessential parts remain almost same throughout the length and breadth of the country. Throughout the greater partof the country, the sanctuary as a whole is known as Vimana of which the upper or pyramidal portion or taperingportion is called Sikhra. Inside the Vimana is a small and generally dark chamber orcella called Garbhagriha

for the reception of the divine symbol. This Garbhagriha or womb house is entered by a doorway on its innerand usually eastern side. In front of the door way is a pillared hall, or a mandap actually a pavilion, for theassembly of the devotees. Some of the earlier temples indicate that the mandapa was a defaced building isolated

from the sanctuary by a definite open space. A little later, it became the custom to unite the two buildings, thisforming an intermediate chamber, or vestibule called Antarala. Lead up to the main hall ormandapa is a porchorardhamandapa while there may be a transact on each side of the central hall, known as theMahamandapa.

In some parts of the country, it became a practice to enclose the temple building with in a rectangular courtyard

by means of a continuous range of cells, facing inwards, the whole forming a substantial containing walls, andthus ensuing seclusion.

Around the shrine is a circumambulatory path called Pradakshine patha for enabling the devotees tocircumambulate the shrine that is an essential part of worshipping. The Pradakshina patha consists of anenclosed cloister.

3. Origin and Antiquity of the Temple ArchitectureThe temple architecture is a logical outcome of the introduction of idolatry. When different gods of the HinduPantheon emerged in their anthropomorphic forms and the devotees began to worship them in these forms, altars

were required to place the image; sheds were required to roof them and so on and so forth. Thus, an idea of anabode of God appeared before the people of ancient India. The Indus valley finds include some images supposedto be the objects of worships, but no trace of temple has hitherto been discovered. In the Vedic-age, somereferences of temples are found in the Rig-Veda but it is not possible for us to ascertain with precision what

their architectural forms were. Moreover, the Vedic tradition wholly given through yajnas or sacrifices hadhardly any scope for the image and its temple. In the epics the hermiting of the ascetics and great teachers areprofusely mentioned, but no temple of an image of God is referred to during the Mauryan age. Asoka issued the

rock edicts, pillar-edicts and made caves carved out, but no temple was erected. However, during this periodsome images of semi-divine beings like yakshas andyakshins supposed to be the village deities were curved bythe sculptors, which suggest the beginning of the image making or iconography. In the Sunga and the Kushanaperiods, the anthropomorphic forms of the Vedic Gods along with some non-Aryan Gods began to appear.However, it is undeniable that when the idolatry began the main theme of religion, the temple architecture aroseas a sheer necessity.

Again, the temple architecture is associated with a religion, which is pre-Vedic, there is the possibility of itsbeing such an antiquity when the question of Hellenic influence is a sheer absurdity. There might be someimpetus from the source as referred by Percy Brown as the art of iconography was renovated with the advent of

the Kushanas.

As no archaeological remains of a temple is available before the Guptas, it stands on the way of scholarship toascertain the antiquity of the temple architecture. As it is already stated, the beginning of the temple architecture

is to be traced back to the beginning of the iconography. Idolatry, totemism etc. were the prevalent religioussystem among the pre-Vedic population of India as it is revealed by the Harappan finds.

In other words, the non-Aryan folk religion, which was prevalent among the original inhabitants of India, wasrecognised in the early classical age and with the development of Mahayana Buddhism under the Kushanas, theimpetus came to renovate the art of anthropomorphism of the Vedic and non-Aryan gods and goddesses. In

addition, with this began the temple architecture, which is prevalent at our time. The date of this surely goesback to the Kushana period in the 1

stcentury A.D.


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However, the archaeological remains of the pre-Gupta period are absent. The sculptures of some temple typeson the reliefs in great stupa at Sanchi, Amaravati, Bodhigaya and Mathuta etc. are quite suggestive of theexistence of such temples during the Maurya as the Sunga periods.

Again, from different literary sources, we have the reference ofyaksha holy steads, which can be testified from

the reliefs and mentioned below:

Raised stone slab with or without symbol carved on it or placed above it. Raised stone slab with or without symbol under an umbrella. Raised stone slab enclosed by a railing. Raised stone slab inside a pillared Pavilion enclosed by a railing. Raised stone slab housed inside a building complex.Here it is obvious that the first and second types have hardly any architectural form. In addition, in earlier stagesthe railing etc. of the other forms were mostly of wood and bamboo works.

The part played by a railing as an element for protecting and making a holy spot from the outer world is also

deducible from the ancient Indian coins as the tribal coins bear the railing as demarcating object of worship.Thus, the antiquity of the temple architecture goes back to the pre-Gupta periods.

4. The Earliest Structural TemplesFrom the Maurya period onwards we have a continuous architectural traditions largely associated withBuddhistic and Jaina creeds upto the advent of the Guptas. The archaeological remains of the temples so fardiscovered ascribed to the pre-Gupta periods are grouped here as the earliest remains.

The evidence of the earliest remains has been recovered through excavations, but they are too fragmentary togive a complete idea as to their form. A circular brick and timber shrine of the Maurya period (3

rdcentury B.C.)

was excavated at Barat in the Jainpur District of Rajasthan. The whole structure was subsequently enclosed within a rectangular compound containing an open ground for the assembly in front of the entrance.

The second example of Maurya temple is the temple 40 at Sanchi. It was a stone temple on an apsidal plan,enclosed by an ambulatory. Temple 18 at Sanchi also was an apsidal stone temple probably dating from the 2

nd

century B.C. The present remains of the apsidal temple with its stably pillars and pilasters date from about the

7th

century A.D. though the temple remained in use until the medieval period.

Two other temples of a comparable date existed, one at Nagrl in the Udaipur district of Rajasthana and the otherat Besnagar near Sanchi in central India. Both of them were elliptical on plan and were made of timber, but their

remains are too scrappy to yield and an idea of their elevation and design.

Examples next in date of the apsidal plan came from Nagarjini Kunda. Recently a few more apsidal shrinessacred to the Buddhist as well as Saiva sect, have been unearthed in addition to temples with large hypostylemandapas dedicated to the worship ofSiva andKartikeya. They belong to a period of 2nd and 3rd century A.D.

5. Temple Architecture in the Gupta PeriodActually, the present state of temple architecture in India finds its beginning in the Gupta period. After passing ashort barren period towards the third century A.D. Indian architecture found its revitalized starting with theestablishment of the Gupta Empire as the personal patronage and encouragement of the Gupta rulers created an

atmosphere favourable to a revival of all famous of human activities spiritual and material. In the art of building,

two progressive movements of fundamental significance are discernible, one relating to its aesthetic character,and the other to structural procedure (Brown, 1956) . At this formative stage of architecture, a renewedarchitectural style known as temple architecture emerged.

The temple so far been constructed with perishable materials in the Gupta period, appeared as a sanctum ofstone. It was a small chamber, square in plan, its interior wall perfectly plain and without any other openingexcept the doorway within was placed the effigy of God. However, the outer side of the doorway was richly

carved and in front of this was usually a shallow porch, in the later Gupta examples enlarged into a pillaredportico.

The Gupta building dated from the 4th

to 6th

centuries possess some specific characteristics, which are

The shape of the pillars and capitals The treatment of the inner columniation The system of continuing the architrave as a string course round the entire building and The design of the doorway.


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The principal examples of this type are found in a temple at Tigawa in the Jubbulpore District of MadhyaPradesh.

However, of slightly later period, the Siva temple at Brabmara and the Parvati temple at Nachana are much

common in feature. But the early Gupta style reached its culminating in a superb little structure at Deogorh inMadhya Pradesh.

The Gupta period though ended in the sixth century A.D. but the Gupta style of architecture lasted for another

century while the Gupta temples were being built in central and Northern India, a brisk building activity wasbeing preserved in a part of the Deccan with principal centres at the early Chahuyan sites of Aihole, Badami,Maha Kefeswara and pattadekal in Mysore. This movement started about the 5 th century A.D. and lasted upto

the 8th

century A.D. and initiated several significant temples, which later developed. The temples of this regionexhibit that the Gupta style had already been conceived.

6. Evolution of Temple Architecture in Post Gupta PeriodLatter half of the 7th century began to assume a prescribed form. In the 8th century, the temple style was

established on two orders, the nuclii of which had been established during the preceding centuries. Fergussontermed one of them as the Dravidian and the other as Indo-Aryan (Fergusson, 1910), which has also been giventhe nomenclatures of the Bessara and the Nagara styles. Though, the temples of Northern and central India came

under the purview of the Indo-Aryan style and those of the Deccan of the Dravidian style. However, in the

Geographical aspect a separating line between the two regions occupied by the two models cannot definitely bedrawn, as there are the instances of the Indo-Aryan style and the Deccan and vise-versa.

The north Indian style of temple architecture of this finished stage is well illustrated by the temples in stone ofthe Orissan style,which though mainly constructed at Bhubaneswar and Puri attends to the district of Bihar andBengat on the basis of chronology. The Orissan temples can be divided into three groups and the earliest group,

which was constructed during the period from 750 to 900 A.D., is represented well by the Parashurameswaratemple at Bhubaneswar. The second group of temples built during the period from 900 to 1100 A.D. includesMuktesvara, Lingaraja, Brahmaneswara and Rameswara at Bhubaneswar and Puri. The third group includes

Ananda Vasudeva, Siddeswara, Kedareswara, Ganeswara, Meheswara, Sari Deul, Someswara and Rajarai atBhubaneswar.

Again, Khajoraho situated in District Chatarpur of Madhya Pradesh has the distinction of possession one of the

most compact and homogenous group of Indo-Aryan or Northern temples, built under the patronage of theChandalla rulers. Except for a few number, all the temples of Khajoraho pertain to a cognate style and aremanifestation of a distinctive and consented architectural movement, differing only in details of expression.

They are compact and lofty temples without any enclosure wall and are erected on a height platform terrace,which elevates the structure of a size, which is by no means very large. The essential elements of the plan viz. aporch, a hall, a vestibule and a sanctum one present in all temples.

However, the Khojoraho temple has pronouncedly individual feature. The sanctum is Sapta-ratha, the Sikharadivided into 7 segments showing two series of mouldings. Among the Khajoraho temple, the Kandaiya

Mahadeva is the largest and loftiest temple. These temples were built of sandstone and professedly curved witherotic sculptures.

Dr. Sahabuddin Ahmed

Associate ProfessorKarimganj College

Karimganj

Post & District- Karimganj, AssamIndia, Pin788710

Reference Agrawal, P. K. (1968). Gupta temple Architecture. Varanasi. Brown, P. (1956).Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu period). Bombay. Coomarswami , A. K. (1923).Introduction to Indian Art. Madras. E.B., H. (1978).Indian Architecture through . New Delhi. Fergusson, G. (1910).History of Indian Architecture (revised ed.). (J. Burgess, Ed.) Krishna Deva-Tempes of North Tripura. (1969). New Delhi. Ranjan, K. (1972). Soundara, Indian temple style. New Delhi. Rowland, B. (1959). The Artad Architecture of India . Great Britain. Saraswati, S. K. (1957).A survey of Indian sculpture . Calcutta.

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