The 

architecture of India is rooted in its history, culture and religion. Among a number of

architectural styles and traditions, the contrasting Hindu temple architecture and Indo-Islamic
architecture are the best known historical styles. Both of these, but especially the former, have a
number of regional styles within them. An early example of town planning was the Harappan
architecture of the Indus Valley Civilisation, whose people lived in cities with baked brick houses,
streets in a grid layout, elaborate drainage systems, water supply systems, granaries, citadels, and
some non-residential buildings. Much other early Indian architecture was in wood, which has not
survived.
Hindu temple architecture is mainly divided into the Dravidian style of the south and the Nagara style
of the north, with other regional styles. Housing styles also vary between regions, partly depending
on the different climates.
The first major Islamic kingdom in India was the Delhi Sultanate, which led to the development
of Indo-Islamic architecture, combining Indian and Islamic features. The rule of the Mughal Empire,
when Mughal architecture evolved, is regarded as the zenith of Indo-Islamic architecture, with
the Taj Mahal being the high point of their contribution. Indo-Islamic architecture influenced
the Rajput and Sikh styles as well.
During the British colonial period, European styles including neoclassical, gothic revival,
and baroque became prevalent across India. The amalgamation of Indo-Islamic and European styles
led to a new style, known as the Indo-Saracenic style. After independence, modernist ideas spread
among Indian architects as a way of progressing from the colonial culture. Le Corbusier, who
designed the city of Chandigarh influenced a generation of architects towards modernism in the 20th
century. The economic reforms of 1991 further bolstered the urban architecture of India as the
country became more integrated with the world's economy. Traditional Vastu Shastra remains
influential in India's architecture during the contemporary era.[1]

Contents

 1Neolithic Period
 2Indus Valley Civilization (2600 BCE – 1900 BCE)
 3600 BCE—250 CE
 4Gupta architecture
 5Temple architecture
o 5.1Nagara Style of Architecture
 5.1.1Early
 5.1.2Later
o 5.2Dravidian Style
o 5.3Vesara Architecture
 6Jain architecture
o 6.1Māru-Gurjara architecture
 7Indo-Islamic architecture
o 7.1Sultanate
 7.1.1Delhi Sultanate
 7.1.2Deccan Sultanates
 7.1.3Bengal Sultanate
 7.1.4Kashmir
 7.1.5Gujarat sultanate
o 7.2Mughal Empire
 8Regional styles
o 8.1Rajput Architecture
o 8.2Sikh Architecture
 8.2.1Gurudwara
o 8.3Maratha Architecture
o 8.4Dzong Architecture
o 8.5Bengal Architecture
 9European colonial architecture
o 9.1British Colonial Era: 1757–1947
 9.1.1Indo-Saracenic
 9.1.2Romanesque-Italianate
 9.1.3Neoclassical
o 9.2Art Deco
o 9.3Assam-type
o 9.4Other Colonial Powers
 10India after independence (1947 onwards)
 11Landscape Architecture
 12Arches
o 12.1Corbel arches
o 12.2True Arch
o 12.3Trabeate style
o 12.4Arcuate style
o 12.5Torana
o 12.6Gavaksha
 13Influence on neighboring Asian countries
o 13.1Influence on Southeast Asia
 13.1.1Vietnam
 13.1.2Indonesia
 13.1.3Cambodia
 13.1.4Thailand
 13.1.5Malaysia
 13.1.6Myanmar
o 13.2Influence in East Asia
 13.2.1Torii, Paifang, Hongsalmun, Sao Ching Cha
 14Foreign Influence on Indian Architecture
o 14.1Hellenistic influence
 14.1.1Pataliputra capital
 14.1.2Pillars of Ashoka
 14.1.2.1Flame palmette
o 14.2Persian influence
 14.2.1Achaemenid influence
 14.2.2Rock cut architecture
 14.2.2.1Masarh Lion
 14.2.3See also
 15Notes
 16References
 17Further reading
 18External links
Neolithic Period[edit]
In South India, the Neolithic began by 6500 BC and lasted until around 1400 BC when
the Megalithic transition period began. South Indian Neolithic is characterized by Ash mounds from
2500 BC in Karnataka region, expanded later to Tamil Nadu.
Neolithic settlements have been found in North-Western part (Such as Kashmir), Southern part
(Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh), North Eastern frontier (Meghalaya), and Eastern part
(Bihar and Odisha) of India.
Neolithic Structures

Megalithic Dolmens in Mallachandram, Tamil Nadu

Stone circle at Junapani, Nagpur

Stone Umbrellas shaped Megalithic burials of Stone Age are situated in Ariyannur, Kerala

Megalithic monument in Karkabhat megalithic burial site near Balod, Chhattisgarh

The earliest clear evidence of the presence of the megalithic urn burials are those dating from
around 1000 BCE, which have been discovered at various places in Tamil Nadu, notably at
Adichanallur, 24 kilometers from Tirunelveli, where archaeologists from the Archaeological Survey of
India unearthed 12 urns containing human skulls, skeletons and bones, husks, grains of charred rice
and Neolithic celts, confirming the presence of the Neolithic period 2800 years ago.
The unearthed antiquities (of art, architecture, customs and rituals) indicate that the prehistoric
people of the Burzahom established contact with Central Asia and South West Asia and also had
links to the Gangetic plains and peninsular India.
The interaction of local and foreign influences is demonstrated by the art, architecture, customs,
rituals and language demonstrated by some engravings on pottery and other artifacts.
Megalithic burials sites have been found scattered all over the subcontinent. The ceramic Neolithic
lasts up to 3300 BCE, blending into the Early Harappan (Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age) period.
One of the earliest Neolithic sites in India is Lahuradewa in the Middle Ganges region and Jhusi near
the confluence of Ganges and Yamuna rivers, both dating to around the 7th millennium BCE.

Indus Valley Civilization (2600 BCE – 1900 BCE)[edit]

Main articles: Ancient Indian architecture and Harappan architecture
The Indus Valley Civilization covered a large area around the Indus River basin and beyond in
late Bronze Age India. In its mature phase, from about 2600 to 1900 BCE, it produced several cities
marked by great uniformity within and between sites, including Harappa, Lothal, and the UNESCO
World Heritage Site Mohenjo-daro.
Planning of Indus valley civilization cities

Layout of Dholavira

Layout of Kalibangan

The drainage system at Lothal

Kalibangan pre-Harappan structures

The civic and town planning and engineering aspects of these are remarkable, but the design of the
buildings is "of a startling utilitarian character". There are granaries, drains, lombadthing, water-
courses and tanks, but neither palaces nor temples have been identified, though cities have a
central raised and fortified "citadel".[2] Mohenjo-daro has wells which may be the predecessors of
the stepwell.[3] As many as 700 wells have been discovered in just one section of the city, leading
scholars to believe that 'cylindrical brick lined wells' were invented by the Indus Valley Civilization.[3]
Architectural decoration is extremely minimal, though there are "narrow pointed niches" inside some
buildings. Most of the art found is in miniature forms like seals, and mainly in terracotta, but there are
very few larger sculptures of figures. In most sites fired mud-brick (not sun-baked as
in Mesopotamia) is used exclusively as the building material, but a few such as Dholavira are in
stone. Most houses have two storeys, and very uniform sizes and plans. The large cities declined
relatively quickly, for unknown reasons, leaving a less sophisticated village culture behind.[4]
After collapse of mature harappan urban period, some cities still remained urban and inhabited. sites
like Bet Dwarka in Gujarat, Kudwala(38.1 ha) in Cholistan and Daimabad (20 Ha) in Maharashtra are
considered urban. Daimabad (2000–1000 BC) developed a fortification wall with bastions in its jorwe
culture period (1400–1000 BC) and had public buildings such as an elliptical temple, an apsidal
temple and shows evidence of planning in the layout of rectangular houses and streets or lanes and
planned streets. The area had rose to 50 hectares in with a population of 10,000 people. A 580
meter long protection wall dated 1500 BC was found at Bet Dwarka which was believed to be
damaged and submerged following sea storm.[5][6]

600 BCE—250 CE[edit]

Further information: Ancient Indian architecture, Buddhist architecture, and Indian rock-cut
architecture

Conjectural reconstruction of the main gate of Kushinagar circa 500 BCE adapted from a relief at Sanchi.
City of Kushinagar in the 5th century BCE according to a 1st century BCE frieze in Sanchi Stupa 1 Southern
Gate.

After the Indus Valley Civilization, there are few traces of Indian architecture, which probably mostly
used wood, or brick which has been recycled, until around the time of the Maurya Empire, from 322
to 185 BCE. From this period for several centuries onwards, much the best remains are of Indian
rock-cut architecture, mostly Buddhist, and there are also a number of Buddhist images that give
very useful information.
Buddhist construction of monastic buildings apparently begins before the death of Buddha, probably
around 400 BCE.[7] This first generation only survives in floor-plans, notably at the Jivakarama
vihara in Bihar.
Walled and moated cities with large gates and multi-storied buildings which consistently
used chaitya arches, no doubt in wood, for roofs and upper structures above more solid storeys are
important features of the architecture during this period. The reliefs of Sanchi, dated to the 1st
centuries BCE-CE, show cities such as Kushinagar or Rajagriha as splendid walled cities, as in
the Royal cortege leaving Rajagriha or War over the Buddha's relics. These views of ancient Indian
cities have been relied on for the understanding of ancient Indian urban architecture.[8]
In the case of the Mauryan capital Pataliputra (near Patna), we have Greek accounts, and that
of Faxian; Megasthenes (a visitor around 300 BCE) mentions 564 towers and 64 gates in the city
walls. Modern excavations have uncovered a "massive palisade of teak beams held together with
iron dowels".[9] A huge apadana-like hall with eighty sandstone columns shows clear influence from
contemporary Achaemenid Persia.[10] The single massive sandstone Pataliputra capital shows
clear Hellenistic features, reaching India via Persia.[11] The famous Ashoka columns show great
sophistication, and a variety of influences in their details. In both these cases a now-vanished Indian
predecessor tradition in wood is likely.[12]
Post-Maha-Janapadas Architecture
The Great Stupa at Sanchi (4th–1st century BCE). The dome-shaped stupa was used in India as a
commemorative monument associated with storing sacred relics.

The Mahabodhi Temple built by Asoka at Bodh Gaya. Relief from Sanchi, 1st century CE

Such a tradition is extremely clear in the case of the earliest-known examples of rock-cut
architecture, the state-sponsored Barabar caves in Bihar, personally dedicated by Ashoka circa 250
BCE. The entrance of the Lomas Rishi Cave there has a sculpted doorway that clearly copies a
wooden style in stone, which is a recurrent feature of rock-cut caves for some time. These artificial
caves exhibit an amazing level of technical proficiency, the extremely hard granite rock being cut in
geometrical fashion and given the Mauryan polish, also found on sculpture.[13][14] Later rock-
cut viharas, occupied by monastic communities, survive, mostly in Western India, and in Bengal the
floor-plans of brick-built equivalents survive. The elaborately decorated facades and "chaitya halls"
of many rock-cut sites are believed to reflect vanished free-standing buildings elsewhere.
The Buddhist stupa, a dome shaped monument, was used in India as a commemorative monument
associated with storing sacred relics.[15] The stupa architecture was adopted in Southeast and East
Asia, where it became prominent as a Buddhist monument used for enshrining sacred relics.
[15]
 Guard rails—consisting of posts, crossbars, and a coping—became a feature of safety
surrounding a stupa.[16] Temples—build on elliptical, circular, quadrilateral, or apsidal plans—were
constructed using brick and timber.[16] The Indian gateway arches, the torana, reached East Asia with
the spread of Buddhism.[17] Some scholars hold that torii derives from the torana gates at the
Buddhist historic site of Sanchi (3rd century BCE – 11th century CE).[18]
Rock-cut stepwells in India date from 200 to 400 CE.[19] Subsequently, the construction of wells at
Dhank (550–625 CE) and stepped ponds at Bhinmal (850–950 CE) took place.[19] Cave temples
became prominent throughout western India, incorporating various unique features to give rise to
cave architecture in places such as Ajanta and Ellora.[16]
A very important development, the emergence of the shikara or temple tower, is today best
evidenced by the Buddhist Mahabodhi Temple. This was already several centuries old when the first
very vertical structure replaced an Ashokan original, apparently around 150–200 CE. The current
brick-built tower, probably a good deal larger, dates to the Gupta period, in the 5th or 6th centuries.[20]
Gupta architecture[edit]

Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh is a Vishnu Hindu temple built during the early 6th century, near the end of the
Gupta period.

For reasons that are not entirely clear, for the most part the Gupta period represented a hiatus
in Indian rock-cut architecture, with the first wave of construction finishing before the empire was
assembled, and the second wave beginning in the late 5th century, after it ended. This is the case,
for example, at the Ajanta Caves, with an early group made by 220 CE at the latest, and a later one
probably all after about 460.[21] Instead, the period has left almost the first surviving free-standing
structures in India, in particular, the beginnings of Hindu temple architecture. As Milo Beach puts it:
"Under the Guptas, India was quick to join the rest of the medieval world in a passion for housing
precious objects in stylized architectural frameworks",[22] the "precious objects" being primarily the
icons of gods.
The most famous remaining monuments in a broadly Gupta style, the caves at Ajanta, Elephanta,
and Ellora (respectively Buddhist, Hindu, and mixed including Jain) were in fact produced under
other dynasties in Central India, and in the case of Ellora after the Gupta period, but primarily reflect
the monumentality and balance of Guptan style. Ajanta contains by far the most significant survivals
of painting from this and the surrounding periods, showing a mature form which had probably had a
long development, mainly in painting palaces.[23] The Hindu Udayagiri Caves actually record
connections with the dynasty and its ministers,[24] and the Dashavatara Temple at Deogarh is a major
temple, one of the earliest to survive, with important sculpture.[25]
Examples of early North Indian Hindu temples that have survived after the Udayagiri
Caves in Madhya Pradesh include those at Tigawa (early 5th century),[26] Sanchi Temple 17 (similar,
but respectively Hindu and Buddhist), Deogarh, Parvati Temple, Nachna (465),[27] Bhitargaon, the
largest Gupta brick temple to survive,[28] and Lakshman Brick Temple, Sirpur (600–625 CE). Gop
Temple in Gujarat (c. 550 or later) is an oddity, with no surviving close comparator.[29]
There are a number of different broad models, which would continue to be the case for more than a
century after the Gupta period, but temples such as Tigawa and Sanchi Temple 17, which are small
but massively built stone prostyle buildings with a sanctuary and a columned porch, show the most
common basic plan that continues today. Both of these have flat roofs over the sanctuary, which
would become uncommon by about the 8th century. The Mahabodhi Temple, Bhitargaon, Deogarh
and Gop already all show high superstructures of different shapes.[30] The Chejarla Kapoteswara
temple demonstrates that free-standing chaitya-hall temples with barrel roofs continued to be built,
probably with many smaller examples in wood.[31]
 

A tetrastyle prostyle Gupta period temple at Sanchi besides the Apsidal hall with Maurya foundation,

an example of Buddhist architecture. 5th century CE.
 


The Hindu Tigawa Temple, early 5th century.

 


The current structure of the Mahabodhi Temple dates to the Gupta era, 5th century CE. Marking the
location where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment.
 


Vishnu temple in Eran, 5th-6th century.

 
 

The Buddhagupta pillar at Eran (c.476–495 CE).

Temple architecture[edit]
Main article: Hindu temple architecture

The rock-cut Shore Temple of the temples in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, 700–728. Showing the
typical dravida form of tower.

The basic elements of the Hindu temple remain the same across all periods and styles. The most
essential feature is the inner sanctuary, the garbha griha or womb-chamber, where the
primary Murti or cult image of a deity is housed in a simple bare cell. Around this chamber there are
often other structures and buildings, in the largest cases covering several acres. On the exterior, the
garbhagriha is crowned by a tower-like shikhara, also called the vimana in the south.[32] The shrine
building may include an ambulatory for parikrama (circumambulation), one or more mandapas or
congregation halls, and sometimes an antarala antechamber and porch between garbhagriha and
mandapa.
Temple architectural styles

Kandariya Mahadeva Temple, Nagara Style

 Brihadisvara Temple, Dravida Style

Lingaraja Temple, Kalinga Style

Nageshswara Temple, Vesara Style

There may be further shrines or other buildings, connected or detached, in large temples, together
with other small temples in the compound.[33] The whole temple compound is usually enclosed by a
wall, and the temple itself, or sometimes the whole compound, is often raised on
a plinth (adhiṣṭhāna). Large areas of the structure are often decorated with carving, including
figurative images of deities and other religious figures. Beyond these basic but crucial similarities,
the visible stylistic forms of the temple vary greatly and have a very complicated development.[34]
By about the 7th century CE most main features of the Hindu temple were established along with
theoretical texts on temple architecture and building methods.[35] Already three styles of temple were
identified in these: nagara, dravida and vesara, though these were not yet associated with regions of
India, and the original meanings may not fully align with modern uses of the terms.[34] In Karnataka,
the group of 7th and 8th-century temples at Pattadakal famously mixes forms later associated with
both north and south,[36] as does that at Aihole, which still includes apsidal chaitya hall-type plans.[37]

Hindu Temple basic floor design.

For most modern writers, nagara refers to north Indian styles, most easily recognised by a high and
curving shikhara over the sanctuary, dravida or Dravidian architecture is the broad South Indian
style, where the superstructure over the sanctuary is not usually extremely high, and has a straight
profile, rising in series of terraces to form a sort of decorated pyramid (today often dwarfed in larger
temples by the far larger gopuram outer gateways, a much later development).[38] The ancient
term vesara is also used by some modern writers, to describe a temple style with characteristics of
both the northern and southern traditions. These come from the Deccan and other fairly central parts
of India. There is some disagreement among those who use the term, as to the exact period and
styles it represents, and other writers prefer to avoid it; temples some describe as vesara are mostly
assigned to the northern tradition by those, but are regarded as a kind of northern dravida by others.
[39]

Nagara Style of Architecture[edit]

Early[edit]
There are hardly any remains of Hindu temples before the Gupta dynasty in the 4th century CE; no
doubt there were earlier structures in timber-based architecture. The rock-cut Udayagiri Caves are
among the most important early sites.[40] The earliest preserved Hindu temples are simple cell-like
stone temples, some rock-cut and others structural, as at Sanchi.[41] By the 6th or 7th century, these
evolved into high shikhara stone superstructures. However, there is inscriptional evidence such as
the ancient Gangadhara inscription from about 424 CE, states Meister, that towering temples existed
before this time and these were possibly made from more perishable material. These temples have
not survived.[41][27]

The ninth century temple in Barakar shows a tall curving shikhara crowned by a large amalaka and is an
example of the early Pala style. It is similar to contemporaneous temples of Odisha.

Examples of early major North Indian temples that have survived after the Udayagiri
Caves in Madhya Pradesh include Deogarh, Parvati Temple, Nachna (465 CE),[27] Lalitpur District (c.
525 CE), Lakshman Brick Temple, Sirpur (600–625 CE); Rajiv Lochan temple, Rajim (7th-century
CE).[42]
No pre-7th century CE South Indian style stone temples have survived. Examples of early major
South Indian temples that have survived, some in ruins, include the diverse styles at
Mahabalipuram, from the 7th and 8th centuries. However, according to Meister, the Mahabalipuram
temples are "monolithic models of a variety of formal structures all of which already can be said to
typify a developed "Tamil Architecture" (South Indian) order". They suggest a tradition and a
knowledge base existed in South India by the time of the early Chalukya and Pallava era when these
were built. Other examples are found in Aihole and Pattadakal.[42][43]
From between about the 7th and 13th centuries a large number of temples and their ruins have
survived (though far fewer than once existed). Many regional styles developed, very often following
political divisions, as large temples were typically built with royal patronage. In the north, Muslim
invasions from the 11th century onwards reduced the building of temples, and saw the loss of many
existing ones.[35] The south also witnessed Hindu-Muslim conflict that affected the temples, but the
region was relatively less affected than the north.[44] In the late 14th century, the Hindu Vijayanagara
Empire came to power and controlled much of South India. During this period, the distinctive very
tall gopuram gatehouse actually a late development, from the 12th century or later, typically added to
older large temples.[35]
Later[edit]
North Indian temples showed increased elevation of the wall and elaborate spire by the 10th century.
[45]
 On the shikara, the oldest form, called latina, with wide shallow projections running up the sides,
developed alternative forms with many smaller "spirelets" (urushringa). Two varieties of these are
called sekhari, where the sub-spires extend vertically, and bhumija, where individual sub-spires are
arrayed in rows and columns.

Drawing of a pancharatha (5 ratha) plan of subsidiary shrines of Brahmeswara Temple

Richly decorated temples—including the complex at Khajuraho—were constructed in Central India.

[45]
 Examples include the Lingaraja Temple at Bhubaneshwar in Odisha, Sun Temple at Konark in
Odisha, Brihadeeswarar Temple at Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. Indian traders brought Indian
architecture to South east Asia through various trade routes.[46]
Styles called vesara include the early Badami Chalukya Architecture, Western Chalukya
architecture, and finally Hoysala architecture. Other regional styles include those
of Bengal, Kashmir and other Himalayan areas, Karnataka, Kalinga architecture, and Māru-Gurjara
architecture.
Hoysala architecture is the distinctive building style developed under the rule of the Hoysala
Empire in the region historically known as Karnata, today's Karnataka, India, between the 11th and
the 14th centuries.[47] Large and small temples built during this era remain as examples of the
Hoysala architectural style, including the Chennakesava Temple at Belur, the Hoysaleswara
temple at Halebidu, and the Kesava Temple at Somanathapura. Other examples of fine Hoysala
craftmanship are the temples at Belavadi, Amrithapura, and Nuggehalli. Study of the Hoysala
architectural style has revealed a negligible Indo-Aryan influence while the impact of Southern Indian
style is more distinct.[48] A feature of Hoysala temple architecture is its attention to detail and skilled
craftsmanship. The temples of Belur and Halebidu are proposed UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
[49]
 Approximately 100 Hoysala temples survive today.[50]

Dravidian Style[edit]
Main article: Dravidian Architecture
Dravidian Architectural Elements

Single storey gopura (Dravidian architecture)

 Two storey gopura (Dravidian architecture)

Pillar elements (shared by Nagara and Dravidian)

Athisthana architectural elements of a Hindu temple

Entablature elements

A vimana with mandapam elements (Dravidian architecture)

Dravidian style or the South Indian temple style is an architectural idiom in Hindu temple

architecture that emerged in the southern part of the Indian subcontinent or South India and in Sri
Lanka, reaching its final form by the sixteenth century. It is seen in Hindu temples, and the most
distinctive difference from north Indian styles is the use of a shorter and more pyramidal tower over
the garbhagriha or sanctuary called a vimana, where the north has taller towers, usually bending
inwards as they rise, called shikharas. However, for modern visitors to larger temples the dominating
feature is the high gopura or gatehouse at the edge of the compound; large temples have several,
dwarfing the vimana; these are a much more recent development. There are numerous other distinct
features such as the dwarapalakas – twin guardians at the main entrance and the inner sanctum of
the temple and goshtams – deities carved in niches on the outer side walls of the garbhagriha.
Mayamata and Manasara shilpa texts estimated to be in circulation by 5th to 7th century AD, is a
guidebook on Dravidian style of Vastu Shastra design, construction, sculpture and joinery technique.
[51][52]
 Isanasivagurudeva paddhati is another text from the 9th century describing the art of building in
India in south and central India.[51][53]
From 300 BCE – 300 CE, the greatest accomplishments of the kingdoms of the early
Chola, Chera and the Pandyan kingdoms included brick shrines to
deities Kartikeya, Shiva, Amman and Vishnu. Several of these have been unearthed
near Adichanallur, Kaveripoompuharpattinam and Mahabalipuram, and the construction plans of
these sites of worship were shared to some detail in various poems of Sangam literature.
The architecture of the rock-cut temples, particularly the rathas, became a model for south Indian
temples.[54] Architectural features, particularly the sculptures, were widely adopted in South India.
[55]
 Descendants of the sculptors of the shrines are artisans in contemporary Mahabalipuram.[56]
South Indian Temples

Vijaynagara Empire

Badami Chalukya

Chola thalassocracy
 Pandya Dynasty

The Badami Chalukyas also called the Early Chalukyas, ruled from Badami, Karnataka in the period
543 – 753 CE and spawned the Vesara style called Badami Chalukya Architecture. The finest
examples of their art are seen in Pattadakal, Aihole and Badami in northern Karnataka. Over 150
temples remain in the Malaprabha basin.
The Rashtrakuta contributions to art and architecture are reflected in the splendid rock-cut shrines at
Ellora and Elephanta, situated in present-day Maharashtra. It is said that they altogether constructed
34 rock-cut shrines, but most extensive and sumptuous of them all is the Kailasanatha temple
at Ellora. The temple is a splendid achievement of Dravidian art. The walls of the temple have
marvellous sculptures from Hindu mythology including Ravana, Shiva and Parvathi while the ceilings
have paintings. These projects spread into South India from the Deccan. The architectural style used
was partly Dravidian. They do not contain any of the shikharas common to the Nagara style and
were built on the same lines as the Virupaksha temple at Pattadakal in Karnataka.[57]
Vijayanagara architecture of the period (1336–1565 CE) was a notable building style evolved by
the Vijayanagar empire that ruled most of South India from their capital at Vijayanagara on the banks
of the Tungabhadra River in present-day Karnataka.[58] The architecture of the temples built during
the reign of the Vijayanagara empire had elements of political authority.[59] This resulted in the
creation of a distinctive imperial style of architecture which featured prominently not only in temples
but also in administrative structures across the deccan.[60] The Vijayanagara style is a combination of
the Chalukya, Hoysala, Pandya and Chola styles which evolved earlier in the centuries when these
empires ruled and is characterised by a return to the simplistic and serene art of the past.[61] The
South Indian temple consists essentially of a square-chambered sanctuary topped by a
superstructure, tower, or spire and an attached pillared porch or hall (maṇḍapa or maṇṭapam),
enclosed by a peristyle of cells within a rectangular court. The external walls of the temple are
segmented by pilasters and carry niches housing sculpture. The superstructure or tower above the
sanctuary is of the kūṭina type and consists of an arrangement of gradually receding stories in a
pyramidal shape. Each story is delineated by a parapet of miniature shrines, square at the corners
and rectangular with barrel-vault roofs at the centre.
The Warangal Fort, Thousand Pillar Temple, and Ramappa Temple are examples of Kakatiya
architecture.[62]

Vesara Architecture[edit]
The style adopted in the region that today lies in the modern states of Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh (Deccan) which served in its geographical position as buffer between north and south, that
architectural style has mix of both the Nagara and Dravidian temple styles.[63] While some scholars
consider the buildings in this region as being distinctly either nagara or dravida, a hybridised style
that seems to have become popular after the mid-seventh century, is known in some ancient texts
as vesara. In the southern part of the Deccan, i.e., in the region of Karnataka is where some of the
most experimental hybrid styles of vesara architecture are to be found.
Vesara style
 Durga temple at Aihole showing Chaitya style

Kailasa Temple, Ellora

Pattadakkal Temple, Karnataka

Lad Khan temple is one of the oldest Hindu temples.

An important temple is Papnath temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple is one of the best early
examples of the South Indian tradition. By contrast other eastern Chalukyan Temples, like
the Mahakuta, five kilometres from Badami, and the Swarga Brahma temple at Alampur show a
greater assimilation of northern styles from Odisha and Rajasthan. At the same time the Durga
temple at Aihole is unique having an even earlier style of an apsidal shrine which is reminiscent
of Buddhist chaitya halls and is surrounded by a veranda of a later kind, with a shikhara that is
stylistically like a nagara one. Finally, mention must be made of the Lad Khan temple at Aihole in
Karnataka. This seems to be inspired by the wooden-roofed temples of the hills, except that it is
constructed out of stone.[64]
Historians agree that the vesara style originated in what is today Karnataka. According to some, the
style was started by the Chalukyas of Badami (500-753AD) whose Early Chalukya or Badami
Chalukya architecture built temples in a style that mixed some features of the nagara and
the dravida styles, for example using both the northern shikhara and southern vimana type of
superstructure over the sanctum in different temples of similar date, as at Pattadakal. However,
Adam Hardy and others regard this style as essentially a form of Dravida. This style was further
refined by the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta (750-983AD) in sites such as Ellora.
Though there is clearly a good deal of continuity with the Badami or Early Chalukya style,[65] other
writers only date the start of Vesara to the later Western Chalukyas of Kalyani (983–1195 AD),[66] in
sites such as Lakkundi, Dambal, Itagi, and Gadag,[67] and continued by the Hoysala empire (1000–
1330 AD).
The Hoysala temples at Belur, Halebidu and Somnathpura are leading examples of the Vesara style.
[68]
 These temples are now proposed as a UNESCO world heritage site.

Jain architecture[edit]

Palitana Jain Temples

Jain Temple complex, Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh, before 862

Main article: Jain temple

Further information: Māru-Gurjara architecture
Jain temple architecture is generally close to Hindu temple architecture, and in ancient times
Buddhist religious architecture. Normally the same builders and carvers worked for all religions, and
regional and period styles are generally similar. The basic layout of a Hindu and most Jain temples
has consisted of a small garbhagriha or sanctuary for the main murti or cult images, over which the
high superstructure rises, then one or more larger mandapa halls.
The earliest survivals of Jain architecture are part of the Indian rock-cut architecture tradition, initially
shared with Buddhism, and by the end of the classical period with Hinduism. Very often numbers of
rock-cut Jain temples and monasteries share a site with those of the other religions, as
at Udayagiri, Bava Pyara, Ellora, Aihole, Badami, and Kalugumalai. The Ellora Caves are a late site,
which contains temples of all three religions, as the earlier Buddhist ones give way to later Hindu
excavations.
There is considerable similarity between the styles of the different religions, but often the Jains
placed large figures of one or more of the 24 tirthankaras in the open air rather than inside the
shrine. These statues later began to be very large, normally standing nude figures in
the kayotsarga meditation position (which is similar to standing at attention). Examples include
the Gopachal rock cut Jain monuments and the Siddhachal Caves, with groups of statues, and a
number of single figures including the 12th-century Gommateshwara statue, and the modern Statue
of Vasupujya and, largest of all at 108 feet (32.9 meters) tall, the Statue of Ahimsa.
The main buildings of the largest Dilwara temples are surrounded by "cloister" screens
of devakulikā shrines, and are fairly plain on the outer walls of these; in the case of the Vimal Vasahi
this screen was a later addition, around the time of the second temple.[69] Surrounding the main
temple with a curtain of shrines was to become a distinctive feature of the Jain temples of West
India, still employed in some modern temples.[70]
Mostly funded by private individuals or groups, and catering to a smaller population, Jain temples
tend to be at the small or middle end of the range of sizes, but at pilgrimage sites they may cluster in
large groups – there are altogether several hundred at Palitana, tightly packed within several high-
walled compounds called "tuks" or "tonks".[71] Temple charitable trusts, such as the very large Anandji
Kalyanji Trust, founded in the 17th century and now maintaining 1,200 temples, play a very
important role in funding temple building and maintenance.

Māru-Gurjara architecture[edit]

Temple ceiling of Ranakpur Jain Temple, Rajasthan

Regional differences in Hindu temples are largely reflected in Jain ones, except that Māru-Gurjara
architecture or the "Solanki style" has become to some extent a pan-Indian, indeed pan-global Jain
style. This is a particular temple style from Gujarat and Rajasthan (both regions with a strong Jain
presence) that originated in both Hindu and Jain temples around 1000, but became enduringly
popular with Jain patrons, spreading to other parts of India and the global Jain diaspora of the last
century. It has remained in use, in somewhat modified form, to the present day, indeed also
becoming popular again for some Hindu temples in the last century. The style is seen in the groups
of pilgrimage temples at Dilwara on Mount Abu, Taranga, Girnar and Palitana.[72]
Interiors are more lavishly decorated, with elaborate carving on most surfaces. In particular, Jain
temples often have small low domes carved on the inside with a highly intricate rosette design.
Another distinctive feature is "flying" arch-like elements between pillars, touching the horizontal
beam above in the centre, and elaborately carved. These have no structural function, and are purely
decorative. The style developed large pillared halls, many open at the sides, with Jain temples often
having one closed and two pillared halls in sequence on the main axis leading to the shrine.
The Māru-Gurjara style did not represent a radical break with earlier styles. The previous styles in
north-west India, and the group of Jain temples of Khajuraho, forming part of the famous Khajuraho
Group of Monuments are very largely in the same style as their Hindu companions, which were
mostly built between 950 and 1050. They share many features with the Māru-Gurjara style: high
plinths with many decorated bands on the walls, lavish figurative and decorative carving, balconies
looking out on multiple sides, ceiling rosettes, and others, but at Khajuraho the great height of the
shikharas is given more emphasis. There are similarities with the contemporary Hoysala architecture
from much further south. In both of these styles architecture is treated sculpturally.