Indian
Architecture
Indian Architecture
▪ Architecture of the Indian subcontinent
▪ Characterized by Hindu and Buddhist
monuments
▪ Structures sometimes share the same site,
have rhythmic stratified motifs, and profuse
carved ornamentation, often combining the
religious and the sensuous.
Mauryan Dynasty
The Great Stupa at Sanchi, oldest
existing stupa in India.
■ Ancient Indian people who
united northern India and
established an empire 320
BC.
■ Architecture shows the
cultural influence of Persia and
the first use of dressed stone
(stone worked to desired
shape and smoothed on the
face).
The site of Sanchi. (Comprises a group of Buddhist monuments - monolithic pillars, palaces, temples and
monasteries. It is the oldest Buddhist sanctuary in existence and was a major Buddhist centre in India.)
Gupta Dynasty
▪ Court was the center of classical Indian
art and literature
▪ Pallava, Hindu state established in southern
India, which contributed to the expansion of
Indian culture into Southeast Asia.
▪ Dravidian, style of Indian architecture in the
Pallava
period,
Kiva
■ Large underground or partly
underground chamber used
by the men for religious
ceremonies or councils.
Buddhism
Believing that if a person releases their
attachment to desire and the self, they can
attain Nirvana. This is a state of liberation and
freedom from suffering.
Buddhist Structures
Stambha
Also lats; a freestanding memorial
pillar bearing carved inscriptions,
religious emblems, or a statue.
Stupa
Dhamek Stupa.
■ A Buddhist memorial
mound to enshrine a relic
of Buddha.
■ Ceylon, dagoba; Tibet and Nepal,
chorten.
■ Dome-shaped mound on a
platform, crowned by a
chattri, surrounded by an
ambulatory (stone vedika),
with four toranas.
Parts of a Buddhist
Stupa
▪ Torana, elaborately carved, ceremonial
gateway in Indian Buddhist and Hindu
architecture with two or three lintels
between two posts.
▪ Vedika, railing enclosing the stupa.
▪ Chattri, umbrella-shaped finial symbolizing
dignity, composed of a stone disc on a
vertical pole.
▪ Medhi, a shallow berm ringing the base of the
hemispherical mound.
Plan and elevation of a Buddhist stupa.
Other Buddhist
Structures
▪ Vihara, monastery often excavated
from solid rock.
▪ Chaitya, shrine carved out of solid
rock on a hillside; form of an
aisled basilica with a stupa at one
end.
▪ Wat, buddhist monastery or temple in
Thailand or Cambodia.
▪ Gompa, Tibetan Buddhist
monastery or nunnery.
Hinduism
Belief in a Supreme Being and adherence to
certain concepts such as Truth, dharma,
karma, reincarnation, and belief in the
authority of the Vedas (sacred scriptures).
Hindu Temples
Mandira
Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple.
■ A hindu temple.
■ Rath, a monolithic,
freestanding Hindu temple
cut out of solid rock.
■ Vimana, sanctuary of a
Hindu temple in which a
deity is enshrined.
■ Shaivite temples (for Shiva)
face east.
■ Vaishnavite (for Vishnu)
temples face west.
Lingnam, a phallus, the symbol
of the god Shiva in Hindu
architecture.
Garbha griha, womb chamber;
the dark innermost sanctuary
where the statue of the deity is
placed.
Amalaka, bulbous stone finial of
a
sikhara.
Sikhara, tower usually tapered
convexly and capped by an
amalaka
.
Gopuram, monumentally, usually
ornate gateway tower.
Mandapa, large, porch-like hall
Parts of a Hindu mandira. and used for religious dancing
and music.
Shore Temple. (One of the oldest freestanding Hindu temple.)
