INDIAN
ARCHITECTU
HISTORY
• 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
RELIGIO
N
Hinduism
• Main religion of India
• Along with Judaism, the worlds oldest
surviving religion
• From indigenous Dravidians and Aryan
invaders
• Chief gods: Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva
• Belief in reincarnation, the soul comes
back to life in a different body
• Caste system: priests, warriors and
nobles, farmers and traders, laborers and
servants, untouchables
Buddhism
• Many people disliked the way Hindu
society divided people into castes
• Gautama Siddhartha 563 – 483 BC, gave
up his princely life to search for wisdom
• After 6 years of wandering, he found
enlightenment through a deep thinking
process called meditation
• Overcome human weakness including
greed and anger
• Salvation or nirvana
Buddhist Structures
STAMBHA or LATHS
STUPAS
• Buddhist memorial mound erected
to enshrine a relic of Buddha, to
commemorate special events or mark
a sacred spot
• Regarded as symbols of the
universe • Based on the pre-historic
funerary tumulus
• Artificial domical mounds raised on
a platform
• With processional paths, rails,
gateways, crowning umbrella called a
chattri
VIHARAS
• Buddhist monasteries often
excavated from solid rock
• Central pillared chamber or
quadrangle surrounded by
verandah
• Small sleeping cells on the
sides
• In front stood the courtyard
containing the stupa
CHAITYA
WAT
Buddhist Monastery
or temple in
Thailand and
Cambodia
Angkor Wat is
a temple complex in
Cambodia, located on
a site measuring 162.6
hectares
GOMPA
Dechen Choekhor
Mahavihara Monastery
in Kullu
HINDU TEMPLES
Sri Ranganathaswamy
Temple is a Hindu temple
dedicated to Ranganatha (a form
of Vishnu), located in Srirangam,
Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India.
The Meenakshi temple complex of Madurai, mostly built
between 1623 and 1655 CE, a large complex in the
Dravidian architecture of South India, dominated by gopuram
gatehouse towers. The two main shrines are much smaller,
with gold tops.
