These three schools have given rise to about forty-five basic varieties of

temples types. They too have their many variations ; and thus the styles
of temple architecture in India are quite diverse and virtually unlimited .

Among the many traditions inherited (parampara) in India, the tradition

of Vishwakarma is unique. The mode of transmission of knowledge of
this community is both oral and practical; and its theories construct a
holistic universe of thought and understanding. The rigor and discipline
required to create objects that defy time and persist beyond generations
of artists, has imbued this tradition with tremendous sense of purpose,
and zeal to maintain the purity and sensitivity of its traditions; and to
carry it forward . This has enabled them to protect the purity of the art
and skills without falling prey to the market and its dynamics.

****
It is virtually impossible to state when the custom of building stylized
temples took hold in our country.

The Rig Veda is centered on home and worship at home.There is not

much emphasis on temple worship. The term employed in Grihya
sutras(Ashvalayana -1.12.1; and parashara -3.11.10) to denote a temple
was Chaithya , which literally means, piling up ; as piling up of the fire
alter , agni_chiti from bricks (as in agni-chayana).This perhaps
suggests that chaitya implied piling up bricks to form a shrine. This is
consistent with the view that the earliest temples were relatively simple
piled brick structures.

The use of the term Chaithya to denote a place of worship appears to

have been in vogue for quite a long period after the Vedic age . In
Mahabharata, the Rishi Lomaharsha mentions to Yudhistira that the
tirtha on the Archika hill is a place where there are chaithyas for the 33
gods (MBh 3.125).He also advises Pandavas to visit the Chaithyas on the
banks of the Narmada (MBh 3.121).

Mahabharata often refers to Chaithyas as being close to Yupas

(chaithyupa nikata bhumi); Yupa being the spot where a major yajna was
performed. It is possible that small shrines were erected on the Yupa
site to commemorate the Yajna.

Ramayana too mentions that Meghanada, the son of Ravana, tried to

perform a Yajna in a temple located in the Nikhumba grove.

Zarathustra demands from Ahur Mazda Tell me,] can I uproot the idol
from this assembly that set up by the angras and the karpanas? At
another time, the Emperor Xerxes, a follower of Zarathustra declares I
destroyed this temple of daevas.

The Buddhist and Jain texts mention of a certain chaithya of Devi Shasti,
consort of Kumara, at Vishala. Jain texts, in particular, mention the
chaithyas of Skanda in Savasthi; of Shulapani (Rudra) and of Yakshini
Purnabhadra.

Therefore by about six hundred BC, the chiathyas were quite common.
They were perhaps small -sized constructions (usually of brick)
surrounded by groves of ashvattha or audumbara trees.

The Maurya period described in the Artha-shastra, had chaithyas for a

number of Devis and Devas, such as Indra, kumara, Rudra, and Aparajita
etc. A description of the chaitya of goddess kaumari suggests that it had
multiple Avaranas, one enclosing the other and the outer Avarana
having a circular arch. By the time of the Mauryas, the chaithyas
appeared to have steadily gained importance, and become an integral
aspect of city life. However, there is nothing to suggest that they were
large structures like the classical Hindu temples that were to follow later.

By about first century BC , the Buddhist places of congregation either as

caves carved into rocks or as free standing structures , came to be
known as Chaithya_grihas. These were patterned after the shrines of
Vishnu, with the form of the fire altar being placed on the raised platform
in the apse of the chaithya hall. The term chaithya later came to
increasingly associated with the Buddhist stupas or places of worship.

It was perhaps during the period of the Imperial Guptas that a Hindu
temple came to be regularly addressed as Devalaya, the abode of Gods.
The oldest of the surviving structural shrines date back to the third or
even fourth century A.D .They are made of bricks.

Some of the them might perhaps been temporary structures, erected on

occasions of community-worship. The canonical concept of pavilion
(mantapa) suggests that they might have been pavilions to
accommodate those who gathered to participate in the worship ritual. It
is only later that structures tended to be permanent bigger.

The earliest temples in north and central India which have survived the
vagaries of time belong to the Gupta period, 320-650 A. D. ; such as the
temples at Sanchi, Tigawa (near Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh), Bhumara
(in Madhya Pradesh), Nachna (Rajasthan) and Deogarh (near Jhansi,
Uttar Pradesh).They consist of a square, dark sanctum with a small,
pillared porch in front, both covered with flat roofs. The brick temple at
Bhitargaon ; and the Vishnu temple at Deogarh, built entirely of stone ,
both , have a square sanctum, but instead of a flat roof there is a
pyramidal superstructure (sikhara).
The school of architecture in South India seems to have evolved from
the earliest Buddhist shrines which were both rock-cut and structural.
The later rock-cut temples which belong to 5th or 6th century A.D. were
mostly Brahmanical or Jain, patronized by three great ruling dynasties
of the south, namely the Pallavas of Kanchi in the east, the Calukyas of
Badami in the 8th century A.D, the Rastrakutas of Malkhed came to power
and they made great contributions to the development of south Indian
temple architecture. The Kailasanatha temple at Ellora belongs to this
period.

The next thousand years (from600 to 1600 A.D.) witnessed a

phenomenal growth in temple architecture. The first in the series of
Southern or Dravidian architecture was initiated by the Pallavas (600-
900A.D.) The rock-cut temples at Mahabalipuram (of the ratha type) and
the structural temples like the shore temple at Mahabalipuram and the
Kailasanatha and Vaikuntha Perumal temples in Kancheepuram (700-800
A.D.) are the best representations of the Pallava style. The Kailasanatha
(dating a little later than the Shore Temple), with its stately
superstructure and subsidiary shrines attached to the walls is a great
contraction. Another splendid temple at Kanchipuram is the Vaikuntha
Perumal (mid-8th century), which has an interesting arrangement of
three sanctums, one above the other, encased within the body of the
superstructure. The Talapurisvara temple at Panamalai is another
excellent example. The Pallavas laid the foundations of the Dravidian
school which blossomed during the Cholas, the Pandyas, the
Vijayanagar kings and the Nayaks.

Most important of a large number of unpretentious and beautiful

shrines that dot the Tamil countryside are the Vijayalaya Colisvara
temple at Narttamalai (mid-9th century), with its circular sanctum,
spherical cupola, and massive, plain walls; the twin shrines called
Agastyisvara and Colisvara, at Kilaiyur (late 9th century); and the
splendid group of two temples (originally three) known as the
Muvarkovil, at Kodumbalur (c. 875).
The Vijayalaya Colisvara temple, with its first and second thala (base) of
the vimanam square in shape, the third in circular (vasara) and the griva
and Sikhira also in circular shape; is a forerunner of the magnificent
temple at Gangaikondacholapuram built by Rajendra Chola. The vimana
is a fine mixture of Nagara and Vesara styles.

These simple beginnings led rapidly (in about a century) to grandeur

and style. The temples, now built of stone, were huge, more complex
and ornate with sculptures. Dravidian architecture reached its glory
during the Chola period (900-1200 A.D.). Among the most magnificent of
the Chola temples is the Brhadishvara temple at Tanjore with its 66
metre high vimana, the tallest of its kind. The later Pandyans who
succeeded the Cholas improved on the Cholas by introducing elaborate
ornamentation and huge sculptural images, many-pillared halls, new
annexes to the shrine and towers (gopurams) on the gateways. The
mighty temple complexes of Madurai and Srirangam set a pattern for the
Vijayanagar builders (1350-1565 A.D.) who followed the Dravidian
tradition. The Pampapati Virupaksha and Vitthala temples in Hampi are
standing examples of this period. The Nayaks of Madurai who
succeeded the Vijayanagar kings (1600-1750 A.D.) made the Dravidian
temple complex even more elaborate by making the gopurams very tall
and ornate and adding pillared corridors within the temple long
compound.
The Hoysalas (1100-1300A.D.) who ruled the Kannada country improved
on the Chalukyan style by building extremely ornate, finely chiseled,
intricately sculptured temples mounted on star shaped pedestals. The
Hoysala temples are noted for the delicately carved sculptures in the
walls, depressed ceilings, lathe-turned pillars in a variety of fanciful
shapes ; and fully sculptured vimanas. The exterior is almost totally
covered with sculpture, the walls decorated with several bands of
ornamental motifs and a narrative relief.Among the more famous of
these temples, which are classified under the Vesara style, arethe twin
Hoysalesvara temple at Halebid, the Chenna Kesava temple at Belur
(1117), the Amrtesvara temple at Amritpur (1196), and the Kesava
(trikuta) temple at Somnathpur (1268),

In the north, the major developments in Hindu temple architecture were

in Orissa (750-1250 A.D.) and Central India (950-1050 A.D.) as also
Rajasthan (10th and 11thCentury A.D.) and Gujarat (11th-13th Century A.D.).
The temples of Lingaraja (Bhubaneswar), Jagannatha (Puri) and Surya
(Konarak) represent the Kalinga-nagara style. The greatest centre of this
school is the ancient city of Bhubaneswar, which has almost 100
examples of the style, both great and small, ranging from the 7th to the
13th century. The most magnificent structure, however, is the great
Lingaraja temple (11th century), an achievement of Kalinga architecture
in full flower.

The most famous of all Kalinga temples, however, is the colossal

building at Konarak, built by the Chandellas, dedicated to Surya, the sun
god. The temple and its accompanying hall are conceived in the form of
a great chariot drawn by horses.
Following the collapse of the Mauryan dynasty after the death of Ashoka, several dynasties
followed which made significant contributions to the sculptural and architectural traditions of
India. These were the Sunga and Kushan dynasties in the North, and the Satavahan in the
South. The influence of these dynasties is seen from the 2nd century B.C. through the 3rd
century A.D., in which the figurative element of Indian sculpture flourished with an increase in
naturalism and heights of symbolic expression, in addition to architectural advances in stone
construction of temples, prayer halls (chaitya) and monasteries (vihara).

Chada Yakshi (Chanda Yakshi) Bharhut, 2nd century BCE. Indiam Museum Kolkata

Buddhist patrons of the Sungha dynasty renovated parts of the Sanchi and Bharhut stupas,
which were originally constructed during the Mauryan Empire. They introduced toranas or
gateways to the stupas, and there is even an inscription declaring that a particular torana was
erected during the Sunga dynasty. Interestingly, the torannas show an influence from Hellenistic
Greece.
Stupa No. 3 at Sanchi.

A large number of stupas were constructed by the Satavahana dynasty, including the
Bhattiprolu stupa, where the earliest evidence of the Brahmi script was found. This script is
believed to be the predecessor of modern Thai, Burmese, Javanese and Balinese scripts, in
addition to the Indian Telugu and Tamil scripts. (Salomon 1998 pg. 40)
The mound of Bhattiprolu.
The Bhattiprolu script.

Of particular interest to me was an illustration, said to be of a statue of a Greek soldier on a

Vedika pillar at Bharhut, Madhya Pradesh from the Sunga period c. 100-80 BCE. The image
was taken from a book called "Early India: A Concise History" by D.N. Jha, a Professor of
History at the University of Delhi. (Jha 2004)
This image invigorated a question I have had for some time: Did the Greeks have an influence
on the sculptural traditions of India? Or was it the opposite? As a sculptor, I'm extremely
interested in historical systems of proportions that are used for designing sculptures of the
human figure.The modern day rules of thumb have varied by declaring that a figure may be
seven to eight heads tall, with seven and a half being the convention that many artists use
today. The most developed ancient systems of proportion that I know of are that of
Polykleitos' Canon, and the divine system explained within the Hindu Vastu Shilpa Shastra,
which can be applied to both architecture and sculpture.