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Ancient Architecture of Bharat

TOPICS:Architecturecivilizational rediscoveryColonial ConsciousnessHindu

CivilizationMauryan EraSarasvati-Sindhu civlization

Author: Dauhshanti & Paanchajanyaa November 4, 2017

It is a general misconception among many (including certain Hindus) that the

ancient Bharatiya architecture, infrastructure etc were poor compared to other
contemporary ancient civilizations of the world. In this post we shall set some
things straight.
Before we start, we should give a general idea of ancient Hindu civilization. It
is divided into two main periods : 1) Harappan or Saraswati-Sindhu valley
civilization (SSVC) (mature period starting from proto urban stage around 3500
BCE) and later early historic period, starting from the time of Mahajanapada
states (700-600 BCE or slightly earlier). Between the SSVC and Mahajanapada
period, there is around 1000 years of gap, which was due to the collapse of the
urban SSVC starting from 1900 BCE due to the climate change and drying of
Saraswati river which nourished the civilization. Urbanism later picked up from
the era of Mahajanapdas.

So we must highlight two ancient urban periods, i.e the SSVC one and later early
historic one.

First we highlight the SSVC era. It is a well known fact that the SSVC era saw
sophisticated urbanism, and was one of the earliest urbanized civilization of
the world, contemporary to ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. In fact the area of
SSVC was much larger than Mesopotamia and Egypt. SSVC cities existed from
Afghanistan to Bharatiya state of Gujarat and from Balochistan in western
Pakistan to western Uttar Pradesh state in Bharat. It was the largest
civilization on the planet at the time. Sites of SSVC also had reservoir
system, drainage, toilets, water supply, planned streets & buildings etc, making
it a highly sophisticated ancient civilization.

Remains of Harappan streets, buildings etc.

Harappan reservoirs and drainage system with terracotta pipes from Dholavira.

However, it is true that we dont encounter any large monuments in SSVC, like
contemporary Pyramids of Egypt. But Harappans surely had the capability to build
such structures as evident from large fortifications found in various sites like
Dholavira, Kalibangan, Mohenjo Daro etc.

Large fortification from Dholavira

It is also true that we dont find any grand statues like the Great Sphinx of
Egypt in SSVC. In fact we dont encounter any statue or other monuments at SSVC
at all. There are no remains of any temples or other places of worship, apart
from few ritualistic fire altars recovered from several sites. Even most of the
SSVC art is gleaned from seals, terracottas, few sculptures etc. It is mostly
because the Harappan ideology was different. They concentrated more on building
sophisticated cities as mentioned above, along with intense trade and expansion
of the civilization (is it a wonder why SSVC covered a vast area?) instead of
building monuments. However, the Harappans were surely capable of building
monuments. There are few complexes like from Mundigak, an SSVC site from
Afghanistan which has remains of a pillared monument.

Pillared structure from Mundigak

So the architecture and infrastructure of SSVC was not inferior to its

contemporary civilizations, however the ideology differed.

Now we move on to the early historic period. This period also witnessed intense
urbanization after around 1000 years of hiatus from the SSVC era. Palaces, forts
and other buildings are depicted in the art of this era from various sites like
Sanchi, Bharhut, Mathura etc. Here are a few examples:

This architectural style has pre-Mauryan origins going back to the early
Janapada states, since some coins of early Janapadas depict such buildings
(possibly temples).

Early pre-Mauryan coin of Saurashtra Janapada depicting a building of same

style.

Sites like Amaravati, Mathura, Kaushambi, Pataliputra etc wouldve been filled
with buildings like these in early historic period. Pataliputra is cited by many
as the largest city of the world during that era. However, there are no big
remains of these grand cities like we find ruins of ancient Greece and Rome,
probably because they wouldve been made of perishable objects like wood. This
also probably the reason why we dont have any remains of ancient temples dating
to this period. There are few ruins from ancient sites, which survive to this
day. The large monument at the site of Lauriya is said to be of early or pre
Mauryan origin.

Large brick made structure from Lauriya.

Remains of a large structure at Rajgir (ancient capital of Magadha) along with

walls, also proves existence of massive monuments or buildings during pre
Mauryan era:

Ruins of ancient structure from Rajgir

It is also important to mention that some people argue that arches, domes etc
were brought to Bharat by Muslim invaders. However, as seen from the art of
early historic period, both arches and domes existed during that era, much
before the invasion of Muslims:

Domed tree shrine along with arched doors, depiction from Bharhut (200-100 BCE)

Another domed building, from Sannati-Kanaganahalli, dated around 1st century

BCE-1ST century CE.

Also the Bharatiya architecture of this period saw the use of Torana gateways,
which later influenced architecture of East Asian countries like China, Japan,
Korea etc.

Relief depicting Torana gateway with steps from Mathura, dated to first century
CE.

Japanese Torana (called Torii) gateways with steps, strikingly similar to the
Bharatiya ones.

So not only was Hindu architecture thriving during the early historic period, it
also influenced other regions. If we move on to the medieval era, it was a time
when regional architectural styles evolved and they built wonderful monuments
and temples. In fact, the Angkor Wat built by Khmer Hindus was the largest city
of its times, hosting the largest religious structure ever built.

So whether we look at ancient period or early historic period, Bharatiya

architecture and infrastructure was not inferior to that of contemporary
civilizations.

(All images taken from all around the internet).

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About the Author

Dauhshanti & Paanchajanyaa

@Dauhshanti - A proud Polytheist & Idolater, blessed to be born into the

civilization of Bharata. @paanchajanyaa - Soldier of dharma... Yato dharmas tato
jayah...

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