The document summarizes the key differences between Dravidian and Nagara styles of Hindu temples in India. Dravidian temples, more common in South India, emphasize horizontality with one or more stories and a stepped pyramidal tower. Nagara temples of North India emphasize verticality with a tall spire and suppression of horizontal lines. Some examples of architectural features described include the Kailasanatha Temple at Ellora, Brihadeeswarar Temple at Thanjavur, and Kandariya Mahadeva Temple at Khajuraho.

1. Dravidian (South) and
Nagara (North) Style
Temples
BY-
AAMOD KUMAR KARMAKSH 2012UAR1771
ARUN KUMAR
2012UAR1677
NAVEEN SONKARIA
2012UAR1732

3. Hinduism
• Polytheistic religion (worship many gods and
goddesses)
• Goal is to achieve moksa--by praying,
worshipping (darsana) and giving offering to gods
• Each god has a female companion and rides on
vehicle such as bull (Nandi), lion, goose; each
holds some attributes (Siva: tridents and Vishnu:
conch shell and wheel)

4. Triad
• Brahma-God of Creator
• Vishnu-God of Preserver (has many incarnations
such as Rama and Krishna)
• Shiva-God of Destroyer (also the protector of
animals)
• Devi-goddess (e.g., Laksmi (“Good Fortune”) and
Parvati); symbolizing beauty, benevolent, and
wealth as well as power and wrath

5. 3.25 Shiva as Nataraja, Lord of the Dance, Chola, 11-12th C

8. Vastu-purusa mandala
• A myth explains the symbolic diagram (mandala): the
gods in seeking to impose order on chaos, forced the
primeval man, Purusa, into a square grid, the vastu-purusa
mandala, whose basic unit is the square pada
• Hindu temple is the dwelling of the gods. It is based on the
grid systems of 64 (8x8) and 81 (9x9) squares.
• Square is the prefect shape for the ground plan.
• Priests perform ritual of consecrations which connect
between sexual rites and fertility in Hindu architecture.

9. Hindu temples
• The temple is a holy site (tirtha), where they practitioners can perform
circumambulation (pradaksina). They also perform the pious act of
gazing at the deity (darsan) and offering prayers, flowers and food
(puja). The temple is never a meeting place for a congregation, but it
came to be a focal point of the community.
• The heart of the temple is the dark hall called garbha grha (womb
hall), where the most important icon is placed. It is the most important
area.
• Pillared halls (mandapa) and porticos were added to the garbha grha,
which was surmounted with a tower (sikhara)--center of the universe
(axis mundi).

10. Vastu-purusa mandala

11. Media and ornaments
• Many varieties: wood, brick, terracotta, and
variety of stone (e.g., schist, chlorite,
marble)
• Temples required to be heavily ornamented
(things lacking in ornament were
considered imperfect or incomplete.
• Motifs: narrative reliefs, animal motifs,
floral and vegetation motifs.

14. DRAVIDIAN
ARCHITECTURE
• Stone used as medium for funerary monuments
• Religion developments, particularly bhakti cult, played an
important role
• Early phases of architecture consisted of rock-cut
monuments
• Later phase is dominated by structural buildings; Gopuras
became larger than the main building
• The emphasis is on horizontality lines; one or more stories,
topped with stepped-pyramidal shikhara and a mushroom
cap

15. Mamallapuram
• Large remains of Pallava period, 7th
century
• Most of the monuments are rock-cut, carved
out of the boulders and cliffs in the area.
• Descent of Ganges River or Arjuna Penance
• Rathas
• Kailasanatha temple (Ellora 16)

16. The Descent of Ganges
• Mid-7th century, Mamalla I at Mamallapuram
• 30 meters in length; 50 meters in height
• Contains animals and other objects
• Approximately life-size scale
• Sculptures were done in realistic manner

17. 3.20 The Descent of the Ganges (or the Penence of Arjuna)
Mamallapuram. Pallava period, 7th century

18. 3.20 The Descent of the Ganges (or the Penence of Arjuna)
Mamallapuram. Pallava period, 7th century

21. Rathas, Mamallapuram
• Mid 7th C, Mamalla I period
• Consists of five free-standing rock-cut
structures: Draupadi (dedicated to Durga),
Arjuna, Bhima (to Vishnu), Dharmaraja,
and Nakula-Sahadeva; three free-standing
animals: lions, bull, and elephant

22. 3.21 Rathas, Mamallapuram. Pallava period, mid-7th century

24. 3.21 Rathas, Mamallapuram. Pallava period, mid-7th century

27. 3.21 Dharmaraja Ratha

30. Buddhist Art
• Read Fisher, Buddhist Art and Architecture,
chapter: pp. 11-64.
• Important figures: 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 32, 33,
37, 38, 40, 42, 43, 44

31. Kailasanatha temple, Ellora 16
• World Heritage site
• Built during the reign of King Krisna I of the
Ratchatrakuta Dynasty, 757-773
• **Free standing rock-cut architecture**
• Main building: exterior richly carved with niches, high
reliefs, windows as well as images of deities, mithunas and
the other figures; main subjects are Saivite
• Nandi Shrine: solid
• Built in rectangular format

33. 3.22 Kailasanath temple, Ellora, Rashtrakuta dynasty, c. 760-800

34. 3.22 Kailasanath temple, Ellora, Rashtrakuta dynasty, c. 760-800

43. Rajareshvara Temple (Great
Temple) at Thanjuvar (Tanjore)
• Chola period (9th-13th centuries)
• Centered at Thanjuvar (Tanjore)
• Rajarajeshvara or Brihadevara temple to Shiva at
Thanjavur (Tanjore), c. 1000 CE
• Temples made of bricks and stone (for base)
• Rectangular enclosure
• Large gateways (Gopuras)
• Niches: 30 representations of Siva in his
Tripuramtaka (Destroyer of three Cities)

45. 3.24 Rajarajeshvara or Brihadevara temple to Shiva at Thanjavur (Tanjore), c. 1000 CE

46. 3.24 Rajarajeshvara or Brihadevara temple to Shiva at Thanjavur (Tanjore), c. 1000 CE

52. Minakshi Temple at Madurai
• Nayak period (16th-18th centuries)
• Dual shrines dedicated to Siva (known locally as
Sundaresvara, “Handsome One,” and Minakshi “Fish-Eyed
One”
• Hall of thousand pillars
• Gopuras (gate): S was built by a wealthy landowner (197
feet) is covered with over 1500 plaster figures of gods and
demons

53. 3.35 Minaksi-Sundareshvara temple, Madurai, 17th century

55. 3.35 Minaksi-Sundareshvara temple, Madurai, 17th century

57. Nagara
• Refers to art in the regions of Bengal, Orissa, NE, and NC, Delhi and
Gujarat region.
• Used stone such as Chlorite, sandstone and white marble
• Temple emphasis is primarily on vertically; horizontality is
suppressed.
• High base emphasis the vertically of the whole
• The porch and congregational halls are called mandapa, which in the
S style was clearly separated with the tower over the shrine.
• Sikhara is the tallest structure, symbolizing the center of the universe;
often rose around 24-30 meters (79-98 ft) some reached over 60 m
(196 ft).
Amalaka is a capstone.

58. Nagara
• Amalaka-the finial in a shape of a turban
• Torana-Gate
• There are 2 main type-sited in the N style:
Khajuraho and Bhuvanesvara

60. 3.26-27 Kandariya Mahadeva temple, Khajuraho, 1000 CE

65. 3.28 Vishnu and Laksmi, Parsvanatha temple, c. 1000

67. Exterior Wall, Kandariya Mahadeva temple

70. THANK YOU