Indian Art & Architecture

Last updated: Jun 30, 2020

Indian Architecture can broadly be categorized into the following time phases :

  1. HARAPPAN

    • Buildings - Rectangular grids, 90°, Burnt mud bricks, Raised citadel & Lower town, Public baths (eg. the Great Bath of Moh’daro), Drainage sys. with Cesspits, Dockyard@Lothal
    • Sculptures
      • Seals Steatite stone, Pictographic script-Right to Left(like Devnagri), Animals(except Cow), mainly used for commercial purposes- eg. Pashupati & Unicorn Seals.
      • Sculpture Bronze(Dancing girl), Terracotta(Mother goddess), Sandstone(Torso), Steatite stone(Priest)
      • Pottery Wheel-made R&B pottery

  2. MAURYAN & Sungas

    • Stupas Burial mounds, Image, Stupa core made of unburnt bricks eg, Sanchi & Bharhut stupas in MP
    • Viharas (where monks lived) & Chaityas (where monks prayed)
    • Ashokan Pillars Free standing, monolithic, chunar sandstone, Shaft+ Capital+ Abacus+ Animal-figure

  3. POST-MAURYAN (Sculptures)

    • Gandhara,Mathura & Amravati schools - The complete table given in Nitin Singhania Chap.1 is important to know.

  4. GUPTA (Painted Caves)

    • Ajanta Early Gupta, on steep mt.slope ∴ courtyards absent, near Aurangabad, murals using fresco method (on moist surface), paintings outlined in red color (blue color absent), on Buddhism, 29 caves (24 dev. during Mahayana phase), Cave 16(The dying princess), Cave 26(The temptation of Buddha)
    • Ellora Later Gupta+ post-Gupta, on gentle mt.slope ∴ courtyards present, Cave 14(Ravan ki khai), Cave 16(Kailash temple)
    • Bagh 9 Buddhist caves @Bagh River in M.P.
    • Nasik 23 Hinayana Buddhist caves, no images of Buddha, throne & footprints of Buddha present, also called ‘Pandav Leni’
    • Udayagiri Hindu+Jain caves near Vidisha (MP) containing the famous Varaha-avatar relief-sculpture

  5. POST-GUPTA (Temples)

    • Nagara in North India, image, Sub-schools : Odisa,Khajuraho & Solanki
    • Pallava 4 stages: 1 Mahendra (rock-cut) 2 Narasimha (rathas eg.Pancharatha @Mahabalipuram) 3 Rajsimha (structural eg.Shore Temples @Mahabalipuram, Kailasanathar temple @Kanchipuram) 4 Nandivarman (smaller temples)
    • Dravidian/Chola image
    • Nayaka/Madurai By Nayaka rulers(1529-1736) of T.N., Prakarns(huge corridors), largest gopurams, eg. modified Meenakshi temple
    • Vesara by Chalukyas in Karnataka(7th cen.CE), Nagara+Dravidian hybrid
    • Hoysala by Hoysalas in Karnataka(12th-13th ce.CE), Stellate/Panchayatan star based ground plan : Multiple shrines around a central pillared hall, Upraised platform (Jagati), egs. : Chennakeshava temple @Belur, Hoysaleshwar temple @Halebidu
    • Vijaynagar esp.@Hampi,Karnataka, Gopurams on all sides, Multiple mandapas(central one called kalyan mandap), secular bldgs.
    • Pala in Bengal, by Pala+Sena(so Hindu+Buddhist features), curved roof(Bangla roof), terracotta bricks, curving shikhara with large amalaka, eg. Vishnupur temples, Siddheswar Mahadev temple @Barakar

  6. INDO-ISLAMIC

    Also called Indo-Saracenic, Arcuade (cf.trabeat), Minars, Domes, Tombs, Mortars, Calligraphy, Arabesque method, symmetry, jaali works, use of water, Charbagh garden style, pietra-dura (parchin-kari) tech.,foresightening method

    • Delhi Sultanate Mamluk(remodelling Hindu structures), Khilji(Seljuk style, mortar), Tughlaq(battar ie. sloping walls, crisis period of architec.), Lodi (double domes)
    • Provincial Sultanates
      • BENGAL SCHOOL : Qadam Rasul Mosque @Gaur, Adina mosque @Pandua
      • JAUNPUR SCHOOL : Sharqi rulers’ style, avoided minars, eg. Atala mosque
      • BIJAPUR SCHOOL : by Adil Shah, Bulbous dome, 3-arched facade, Cornices, Iron Clamps, eg. Gol Gumbaj
      • MALWA/PATHAN SCHOOL : in Mandu city(M.P.), eco-friendly ∵ large windows,bauli reservoirs,battars, eg.Rani Roopmati pavilion @Mandu
    • Mughals Iwans, red sandstone+marble, chattris, bulbous domes, Quran Inscr.(Persian+Arabic), Ref

  7. INDO-EUROPEAN

    • Portuguese Iberian style : patio-houses & baroque curches, eg. St.Cathedral(Goa)
    • French Cartesian grids & Anonymous architecture, eg. churches in Puducherry
    • British
      • PRE-1911 : Gothic/Victorian style, thin walls, large windows, crucified ground plans for churches, rg. Victoria memorial,Gateway of India
      • POST-1911 : Neo-Roman style, Lutyens & Baker made Delhi the ‘Rome of Hindustan’, anonymous architec.,circular bldgs.,Upturned dome, eg. Rastrapati Bhawan

  8. POST-INDEPENDENCE

    • Le Corbusier(designed Chandigarh)
    • Laurie Baker(‘Architect of the poor’, mass housing in Kerala, eco-friendly local materials, ventilation+thermal comfort, filler slab construction)