HIS 272

History of Architecture-I
COURSE TUTOR: AR. NEETI LAMICHHANE
PART B: 1- EARLY CIVILIZATION, INDUS & VEDIC PERIOD

Hindu architecture: Vedic period. (B.C. 1500 – 800)

 Origin
• Aryan movement through Mesopotamia, Persia, Bactria, Baluchistan -
-Indus Valley.
• Being Nomadic they did not care about living in towns and destroyed
the settlements existing there
• Rich pastures, forests and agricultural land brought more Aryans in
due course.
Aryan VILLAGES ON BANKS OF RIVERS
• Better economy led to stability and social organization
• Nomads become agricultural.
 Vedic culture/period : origin

• This culture provides the materials for building construction

when man’s efforts were made in response to a need
• Produced the elementary type of forest dwelling
• The Vedic culture gives a much deeper meaning to the word
“tradition”
• Tradition
Rituals
Knowledge Vedas & Upanishads
Experiences
• Each contributor built on what the previous
had done, cumulating in a systematic exposition
of the structure of pure consciousness

• The techniques sustained the tradition and

gave it substance through making the
experience available
Vedic civilization centered around the discovery of
pure consciousness and gave a monumental
depiction of this structure of eternal
consciousness.
• Bamboo and thatch houses: Circular plan- Conical/
Domical roof
•Rectangular one-room buildings with bamboo barrel
vaults
• arrangement around open courts.
• Fenced in villages with gateways to protect from wild
animals
• this feature was later adopted for toranas of the
Buddhists
Vedic culture
Vaastu-Purush-Mandala

• During this period, man's primary concern was to define

himself in relation with the
Society
Nature
Environment
Universe
Cosmos

• Circle was supposed to represent cosmos

• Buildings were the models of the cosmos
Vaastu-Purush-Mandala
Vaastu-Purush-Mandala

• The Vaastu-Purusha-Mandala is a model of the universe that

provides a few fundamentals for designing

• The Mandala is metaphoric expression of the plan

• Exhibiting the connection between people, built structures

& nature

• Vaastu means built environment seen in relation with

nature
Architectural Style

• Vaastushastra provided guidelines for planning villages &

building

• Structures are in complete harmony with the cosmic forces

• They harmonized with Panchamahabutas

Prithivi (Earth)
Aakash (Space)
Vaayu (Air)
Jal (Water)
Agni (Fire)
Architectural Style

• Palaces of Kings & Noble men, designed on the basis of this

principles

• Kings palace used to be a square plan

• Structure of 162 ft side on a four Hasta (6ft) grid

• Width of brick masonry wall used to be 1/16 of the span of

the rooms

• Pillars- 14 inches wide at the base

10 inches at the capital
Architectural Style

• Minister, royal priests, astrologers & physicians were also

provided residential accommodation in a square planned
structure

• Brahmins, Kshatriyas , Vaishyas & Shudras had their

residential units in square planned structures
Architectural Style

Plan,Vardhmaan Vaastu, Residential Unit

 Aryan Settlement Pattern
Timber posts
and head

Bamboo
threaded
through
Group of holes in
Houses post
Fencing Element
Fence

Gateway
Vedic Village
• No temples in early days: early Vedic
Devas: The sky father - Jupiter,
Surya - sun god,
Agni- fire god,
Indra- rain god.
Prominence of Sacrifices in ritual /religious
practice: The Vedas
Fire altars / Sacrificial altars
Mixing of Aryan and Dravidian traditions led to
development of Hinduism
Sybolism of Circle and Square
Circle: Growth and movement
Square: Order, finality,
perfection
Priests dominance 'Village
Sabhas' -elected chiefs -Kings
by 800 BC -Bisnu incarnate
Kingdoms of Kashi, Koshala
and Magadha, Republic of
Vrijs
Town Planning
• Large towns develop as trading centers/
capital
• Kashi, Kaushambi (near Allahabad), Rajgir
(Rajgriha capital of Magadha) Ayodhya, Sravasti,
Tilaurakot (capital of the Sakyas) etc.
• No physical remains, built over and over again
• Towns in grid pattern
• Kautilya /Chanakya wrote the summary:
Arthasastra
Town planning

Towards the middle of the first millennium B.C., the

social system of the community was expanded and
town arose at certain important centre.

• The structural feature of village reproduced on a larger

scale.

• Because of the rival group the towns and cities were

strongly fortified.

• Within the city enclosure the buildings were almost

entirely of wood.
Town planning

• The Vedic civilization then entered on an era of

timber construction.

• The timber age appears to have been a long one

within the early inhabitants of India.

• In the Rig – Veda the carpenter is recorded as

holding the place of honor among all artizans.
Vedic Culture: Town planning

An architect named Maha-Govinda have been

responsible for the layout of several capitals of the
northern India in the fifth century B.C.
• These cities were rectangular in plan

• Divided into four quarters by two main thoroughfares

intersecting at right angles leading to a city gate.

• Four quarters-
citadel and royal apartment,
residences of the upper class,
middle class and
traders with their workshops.
Building art

• Although the long intervals of two thousand years

separate, the Vedic palaces and Mughals have some
similarities-
 Inner courtyard within the citadel
 large central window for the darshan
 A wing for royal ladies with garden
 Assembly hall and court for justice
 Music gallery, arena for wrestling displays
• Difference is the Mughals palaces were made of marble
whereas the Vedic era was had not advanced beyond
wooden construction.
Boundary wall
Caste system and House forms