History

VEDIC VILLAGE

Indus valley civilization existed at around 3000 BC

Indus people mainly traders or town dwellers

Town planning and building construction was well developed

Introduction

Indian architecture has its belongings from Vedic culture

Vedic people Nomadic tribe (RESULT OF INTENSE

MIGRATION were of country Lvg from forests and fields Rudimentary structures of reeds and

bamboo thatches with leaves

Settlement development

People started living in clearances in forests Surrounded their little collection of huts or grama with

special kind of fence or palisade Fence took the form of bamboo railing the up rig

posts supported the horizontal bars or suchi Suchi threaded trough the holes in the uprights Entrances of particular trend were devised Projecting a Particular section of bamboo fence at

right angles and placing a gateway in advance Cattles passed to and fro through these gramadwaras Characteristic Buddhist archway toranas derived from

these gramadwaras( Emblem of protection , protecting field, or anything sacred

)(gone far east tori of Japan , and in China)

Dwelling units

The huts within the dwelling units were of various shapes Circular plan predominated and building material wood Huts were of beehive pattern made with circular band of

bamboo held with bands of withes and covered with either domical roof of leaves or grass

Later circular plan got elongated and became oval and subsequently rectangular

Barrel vault roof formed on a frame of bend bamboos covered with tatch

To maintain the barrel shape of the roof, a thong or string, perhaps of animal hide, was stretched across the end of the bamboo. 

Clusters of these huts formed a courtyard, much like huts in Indian villages even today.

The better-off citizens roofed them with planks of wood or tiles, and used unbaked bricks for the walls.

Better class houses unbaked bricks were used for walls and the doorways were double headed openings with double doors

City-states and Timber Construction

With the conversion of the early Vedic people into agriculturalists, a growing rivalry for precious fertile land was inevitable.

Groups of small villages banded together, and small 'cities' began to take shape.

A palisade wall inevitably protected these and the buildings within were also made almost entirely of wood.

The Vedic carpenters developed skill in timber construction of a very high standard. It is not surprising, therefore, that in later ages timber construction techniques were employed even though the material of construction was radically different - i.e. stone.

Cities of the Vedic period were rectangular in plan and divided into four quarters by two main thoroughfares intersecting at right angles, each leading to a city gate.

One of these quarters contained the citadel and another housed the residential area.

A third quarter was reserved for the merchants, and the last for tradesmen who could display their wares.

RISE OF BUDDHISM

Introduction

By 500 BC, Vedic society was slowly stratifying into a rigid class system of the familiar four Varnas which exist in some form in Indian society even today - the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras.

Priestly class were gradually assuming dominance over society with a tenacious grasp over tedious rituals that controlled every aspect of life.

This added a superfluous complication to the busy life of an increasingly urban social fabric. two major reformers, Gautama and Mahavira, made an impact on this scene when, almost contemporaneously founded new doctrines based

loosely on existing Hindu precepts but denying the role of the priests as media between Man and God.

In fact, Buddhism held that only the soul was of import - God was a metaphysical construct of Man's mind. Buddhism was destined to have mass appeal worldwide.

Received the patronage of the mercantile class, and later, of a king who would provide vital support - Ashoka the Great.

Ashoka proclaimed Buddhism as the state religion and spread its message to the four corners of the land through state-funded monasteries, grants, and his famous rock-edicts, which dot the face of modern Orissa and central India.  

However, every religion needs an icon, and Buddhism was singularly unsuccessful in providing a God to worship.

The next thing to a God was the Buddha himself, and his relics, or his (purported) mortal remains, scattered at various sites, became the objects of reverence and magnets for (religious) pilgrimage.

This is a story of how these pilgrimage points evolved into Buddhist centers of learning and penance.

The Buddhist Stupa

Many shrines of all sizes, shapes and denominations were constructed.

Need not be masonry structures - a stone, a tree, a mountain or even an animal will suffice.

A variety of natural objects have been conferred divinity because of their association - real or imagined - with a mythological event, or with the 'relics' of some historical/mythological figure.

During Ashoka's time, the first Buddhist 'shrines' were mere piles of stone or rubble containing relics of the Buddha.

Became necessary to 'upgrade' these structures, in conformity with Buddhism's rising status.

As is common with ancient structures the world over - for structural reasons it was necessary to have a wide base, tapering towards the top.

The form chosen for the Buddhist Stupa was that of a sphere - as much for the shape's metaphysical associations as for the fact that it was an antipode to the square/rectangular form of Hindu temples.

According to Satish Grover, "The embryo of the most powerful architectural form of Buddhism, the famous Stupa, thus emerged for the first time under the architectural patronage of Ashoka".

Sanchi - The Center of the Heavens

After Ashoka, by 200 B.C., the royal patronage enjoyed by Buddhism was on the wane.

Gradually, under a succession of kings, Brahmanism regained the prestige it used to enjoy.

Under the circumstances, Buddhist monks retired from urban conglomerates to secluded spots, where they built their places of worship and in general led a life of penance and meditation.

However, assistance from the mercantile class, who had little interest in Brahmanism, was still available, and thus the Buddhist monks could, over the years, transform their humble centers into truly magnificent works of art.

The foremost among these centers was Sanchi, near modern Bhopal. Here craftsmen labored for over a hundred years to make Sanchi a point of

pilgrimage for devoted Buddhists and scholars from all over Asia for centuries.

The magnificent ruin still attracts a large number of tourists today.

Sanchi - The Center of the Heavens

The Symbolism of Sanchi

The Sanchi Stupa basically is a dome, surmounted by a finial or 'harmika', with a circumambulatory path around it, delineated by a railing or 'vedika'.

As mentioned earlier, the spherical shape of the Stupa was a structural culmination of rubble masonry piled up, and also had metaphysical connotations with the apparent shape of the universe.

The harmika on top represented the Bodhi Tree under which the Buddha first gained enlightenment. And the path around provided a passage for monks who could circle the Stupa, chanting endlessly.

Minor Deities of the Great Stupa

A structure as large as Sanchi Stupa attracted large numbers of monks for penance and meditation. In addition, there were a large number of visitors who made a pilgrimage to this, the most holy site of the Buddhists.

A natural consequence was the gradual development of a large complex of buildings around the Stupa. These were typified by the vihara and the chaitya.

The vihara evolved from the humble cave dwellings of the monks. In plan, it essentially consisted of a large number of cubicles around a large central courtyard. In

stark contrast to the Stupa, the viharas were models of austerity, with drab exteriors and bare interiors.

This is actually not surprising - monks are not supposed to enjoy the pleasures and comforts of urban life!

The vihara was basically an extension of the urban dwelling with its open-to-sky courtyard and rooms around.

The courtyard served as a community space, while the cells provided sufficient privacy for effective meditation.

Chaitya halls

Chaitya hall evolved due to the fact that the Sanchi Stupa was an outdoor structure - not permitting use in inclement weather.

Hence the evolution of the chaitya as a sort of indoor Stupa.

The author surmises that the chaitya served the purpose of a 'minor deity', so often found in large Hindu temples, where niches hold images of 'lesser' gods.

The Buddhist monks, still a part of predominantly Hindu society, expressed this subconscious desire by building a number of chaitya halls around the main Stupa.

chaitya hall architecture reveals the same determinants as in Vedic village architecture - the barrel vaulted roof, the horseshoe-shaped entrance, railings

echoing the palisade walls outside Aryan villages.

Craftsman, unfamiliar with the structural properties of stone, reverted to tried and tested forms with which he was comfortable - reproducing them in stone instead of wood involved far greater effort.

Conclusion

Although Buddhism finally waned in the land of its birth, yet it was destined to spread throughout Asia on the basis of the simplicity of its message and the humaneness of its teachings.

However, the fertile land of the Gangetic plain was its progenitor.

The formal and metaphysical principles evolved at Sanchi in India inspired countless generations of Buddhist architecture throughout South-East Asia.

Sanchi, Nalanda, and Bodh Gaya are today world-famous, with countless Buddhists the world over making the pilgrimage to India to see the land where the Buddha gave his first sermon and set rolling the Dharma Chakra, or the Wheel of Truth.

THE EVOLUTION OF TEMPLE

The Gupta Age (AD 350 - 650)

After the reign of Ashoka the Great, there was an interregnum of relative anarchy, with the collapse of two powerful dynasties, the Kushanas (236 AD) in the north, and the Andhras (225 AD) in the south

Buddhism too suffered from a lack of political patronage during this period, leading to its slow decline, despite the valiant efforts of its monks.

It was no different in India - the age that followed has been described as the greatest intellectual awakening in the sub-continent.

A large part of the country came under the political control of the Gupta dynasty, which reached its zenith around 400 AD. The culture of the Guptas and their innate Brahmanism gave a fillip to the arts, and in the field of architecture fundamental progress was made.

Architecturally, we may discern a new sensibility, a break from the mere copying of forms carrying over from wood construction, to a new sensitivity in the handling and use of stone.

This is the first time that the use of dressed stone masonry is made, a major step in the evolution of building construction. With this, a radically different type of architecture began to evolve.

Hitherto, it seems that all Brahminical shrines were impermanent.

Stone reliefs on the Stupas in Bharhut and Sanchi depict non-Buddhist rituals being held in the open, with merely a shed for shelter, '…formed of posts and beams covered with reeds and mats'.1

However, with time, Indian deities gradually became anthropomorphic and needed to be housed in some more permanent abode.

Thus we see the Indian temple passing through various stages, corresponding to the need - clearings in forests, a reed hut, and finally a sanctuary of first wood and then of brick.

Eventually, by the Gupta period, a garba-griha of stone evolved. Although the final form of the temple itself is small and unimpressive compared to the

juggernauts that followed in the mediaeval age, yet they contained the nucleus of the architecture to follow. We can best illustrate the point by discussing a few seminal examples.

The early Gupta Age reached its zenith with the construction of a superb little Shiva Temple at Deogarh, in Jhansi district. This temple is remarkable for a number of reasons. First and foremost, an effort is seen to augment the grandeur of the shrine by a raised structure above the garba-griha, discarding the hitherto-used flat roof. Thus the upper part of the sanctum assumes a pyramidal shape, which when built would have been at least 40 feet (unfortunately, not much of the temple survives). Placing the whole structure on a pedestal, thus adding five feet more, further increases the appearance of height. The second noteworthy point is the portico - which does not face only in one direction. Instead there are four, one in each direction. There is also the usual carved exuberance on the pillars.

Developments in the South

Almost contemporaneously, another similar movement was taking place in the south under the vigorous direction of the Chalukyas (AD 450 to 650). The main effort of this dynasty was at Aihole, in Bijapur district. Here we find almost 70 Brahminical shrines and temples, all in stone. Similar to the Gupta examples, the temples at Aihole for the most part are flat-roofed (we will discuss the noteworthy exception). The chief difference from the Gupta temples is in the presence of a pillared hall or mandapa in front of the temple - this represents a noteworthy step forward in temple design. We shall discuss two chief examples.

The Ladh Khan temple is noteworthy, as it does not seem to have been originally intended for use as a shrine, but instead was probably the village assembly hall. This is borne out by the fact that it fulfils very few of the conditions necessary for a ritualistic Brahminical temple.

From Modest Hut to Mighty Sculpture - The Beginnings of Poetry in Stone

The first example is that of a modest structure at Tigawa, near modern Jabalpur.

This has all the main characteristics of early Hindu temples - an inner garba-griha surrounded by an ambulatory path or cella, an outer portico with columns in the front, and above all, a flat roof of stone.

This temple is notable for the vitality of the carving on its outer columns. There is indeed a certain crudeness in its construction, an over-use of stone, far more than structurally necessary.

This may be attributed to the mason's unfamiliarity with the new material.

However, there is no concealing the vitality and sheer exuberance of the sculpture, nor the signs that this was done in an age of plenty, with optimism and security writ large.

Of the numerous similar examples, this is undoubtedly the finest.

To convert it into a temple, the openings between the external columns were filled in with masonry, and a place for the shrine created by the addition of a closed chamber at the far end of the hall. The roof was created of massive blocks of masonry, grooved at the edges. The whole structure gives an appearance of ponderous strength and elemental beauty, part of which again may be attributed to the unfamiliarity of the mason with stone.

In stark contrast, but illustrating yet another architectural principle in its formative stage, is the Durga temple, also at Aihole. This is an example of the form of a Buddhist Chaitya hall, adapted to suit the Brahminical ritual.

The apsidal hall has a small tower over its end to give the appearance of height.

It is interesting to note that in both cases, the temples at Aihole were adapted from existing communal buildings. However, in the process, the shrines became forerunners to the mighty temples to follow by providing, as a precedent, the early forms of the mandapa or Hall of Worship.

These humble shrines were the beginnings of the movement which would result in the rise of magnificent structures all over the country. It can be safely said that the lineage of the mighty cathedrals at Khajuraho, Dilwara and Lingaraja can be traced to these tentative experiments with the magic of stone.