Development

Tombs
-The general pattern of the tomb architecture is consisted of a domed chamber (h
ujra),
a cenotaph in its centre with a mihrab on the western wall and the real grave in
the underground chamber.
-End of 12th century to begininning of 13th century:the arches themselves were n
ot true arches, but corbelled arches, which were
made piling up materials horizontally
-Mid 13th cent. to mid 14th cent.:builders in Delhi mastered the true arch techn
ique, i.e. True Arch Style,
which is observed in Balban's Tomb. Also, a canopy tomb with a dome built on a
square plan surrounded by thick walls, and a
12-pillared type tomb that employs post and beam construction with a true arch s
tyle dome.
-Late 14th cent.:characterised by monumental entrance facades
-End of 14th cent. to mid 16th cent.square base resting on low plinth and small
ornamental columns with fine hemispheric dome on a high octaagonal drum
square building surrounded by a verandah opened with archways
--the Mughals added a new dimension by introducing gardens all around the tomb.
The Mughal tombs are generally placed at the centre of a huge garden complex, th
e latter being sub-divided into square compartments,
the style is known as char-bagh. the Mughals also built large gardens in various
levels and terraces on the char-bagh pattern
Use of double dome,a recessed archway inside a rectangular fronton, and parklike
surroundings in Humayun's Tomb
Taj Mahal rests in the middle of a large square plinth and has four almost ident
ical facades, each with a large arch-shaped doorway.
It is topped by a large double dome and a finial
Nagara Architecture
Orissa-development took place in orissa from 7th to 13th cent. AD
-Three most important:Muktesvara Temple, Rajarani Temple and Lingaraj Temple
-Muktesvara temple has low enclosure wall embellished with sculptured niches.Has
5 storeyed Sikhara.
-Rajarani Temple's sikhara is clustered by turrets
-Lingaraj Temple consists of a sanctum,dancing hall, offering hall
-Sun Temple at Konark consisted of a sanctum with a lofty curvillinear sikhara,
a jagamohan and a detached elaborately carved platform
Central India-Kandariya Mahadev Temple at Khajuraho. Known for its erotic sculpt
ures.Grand sikhara is intricately ornamented
Rajputana and Gujarat-free use of columns, carved with richness,strut brackets a
nd exquisite marble sealing
marvels of stone chiselling and minutely carved doorframes,niches,pillars,archit
raves and ceilings
Dravidian Architecture
-From early cave temples that were carved from sandstone hills, the architectura
l design of South Indian temples
slowly evolved to rock cut temples and finally, standalone structural temples th
at grew larger,
both in terms of the area of the complexes as well as the height of the towers o
r vimanas.
-Aihole, Badami and Pattadakkal:Cave temples
-Mahabalipuram:chariot or ratha style
oldest monolithic rock-cut structure
shore temple made from stone:pyramid shaped tower with 5 stories and a dome

-Kanchipuram:Kailashnath Temple has larger dimensions, a pillared hall, a vestib

ule and an inner sanctum,
around which nine smaller shrines are located
-Thanjavur:larger both in terms of the height of the gopuram or entrance gateway
s as well as the size of the complex.
Brihadeeswara temple
-Madurai:Meenakshi temple- presence of twelve gopurams or towers
-Srirangam: largest functioning temple complex
-Rameswaram:Ramanathaswamy Temple has the longest corridor among all Indian temp
les
-Hampi: Virupaksha Temple, with its entrance tower that predates the foundation
of the empire
-Belur and Halebid:renowned for the sculptures that adorn the temples from the f
loor to the ceiling
Gopurams
-Gopurams are towers found at the entrances provided at the walls encircling the
temple complex.
-Small temples may have only one Gopuram and larger ones would have more.
-Earliest Dravidian temples did not have Gopurams
-Then had gopurams very smaller in comparison to the vimanas:Chola King temples
-During Padiya dynasty rule, gopurams developed into bigger structures than vima
nas
-during Vijayanagara rule and later under Nayakkar rule big temples had many and
very tall gate houses