History and Theory of Architecture 3

AAR2234

Week 2
Indian Architecture 1

Assoc. Professor Dr Mizanur Rashid

Locations…

http://www.pbs.org/thestoryofindia/timeline/1/
Major Historical Phases…

- Aryan Invasion/ Vedic era. (1500 BC- 600 BC)

- Emergence of Buddhism. ( 600 BC)
-The Mauryans.. (300BC-100BC)
-Hindu - The Kushanas and Sungas. (100BC-300AD)
-The Gupta Kings. (300-600AD)
-Buddhist -The Hindu Dynasties in the South. (450-600AD)
-Muslim -The Palas in the East. (600-1100AD)
-Muslim Invasion. (1100AD)
-Colonial -Delhi Sultanate (1100-1500 AD)
-The Mughals.(1500-1700AD)
-British Invasion (1700 AD)
-Colonial Era (1800- 2000AD)
Trade routes…

India was connected with the rest of the world through two major trade routes; the Silk Route and
the Spice Route.
Aryan Immigration and Vedic Age …

Layout of an ideal Vedic town and design of houses appropriate to the different castes as
visualized by the Aryan town planers in their famous treaties Arthashshthra.
Prince Siddhartha of Shakya (600BCE)…

Gautama is thought to have been born in Lumbini, in modern day Nepal

and raised in the small kingdom or principality of Kapilvastu. At the time
of his birth, the area was at, or beyond, the boundary of Vedic civilization,
the dominant culture of northern India at the time. It is possible that his
mother tongue was not an Indo-Aryan language.

The Four Noble Truths: that suffering is an ingrained part of existence; that the origin of suffering is craving
for sensuality, acquisition of identity, and annihilation; that suffering can be ended; and that following the
Noble Eightfold Path is the means to accomplish this.
The Noble Eightfold Path: right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood,
right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
Major Phases 0f Buddhim…

- Buddha started preaching by himself

- Very strict Monastic Order
-No Iconography
- Long and difficult way to get Nirvana ( the
only way is the Monastic Life)
-After The Death of Buddha.
-Buddha was considered as Godhead and
-Hynayana worshipped.
-Mahayana -Concept of Bodhisatva emerged
-Short cut path for Nirvana. ( any body
-Tantryana other than Monks can get Nirvana by
following certain ritual)
-Became more Ritualistic.
-Strongly influenced by local Hindu
practice. ( borrowed different Godheads
from Hindu belief)
-Esoteric practice, dependant on
Symbolism, Magic, Necromancy etc.
The Mauryan (320-185 BCE)…

The Maurya Empire when it was first founded by Ashoka the Great extended into Kalinga during the Kalinga
Chandragupta Maurya circa 320 BCE, after conquering the War circa 265 BCE, and established superiority over the
Nanda Empire when he was only about 20 years old. southern kingdoms.
Ahimsa of Asoka the Great (273-232 BCE) …

Although the annexation of Kalinga was completed, Ashoka embraced the teachings of Gautama Buddha,
and renounced war and violence. For a monarch in ancient times, this was an historic feat. Ashoka
implemented principles of ahimsa by banning hunting and violent sports activity and ending indentured and
forced labor (While he maintained a large and powerful army, to keep the peace and maintain authority, He
expanded friendly relations with states across Asia and Europe, and he sponsored Buddhist missions. He
undertook a massive public works building campaign across the country. Over 40 years of peace, harmony
and prosperity made Ashoka one of the most successful and famous monarchs in Indian history.
Buddhism under royal Patronage…

The Ashokan Stupa at Vaishali was a transformation of the irregular humble mound of rubble into a sacred
hemispherical tumuli by the royal builders.
Buddhism under Royal Patronage…

The largest , “ Heavenly dome “ at Sanchi ( 200 BCE) which has a diameter of 36.5 metres and rises to a height of
more than 16 meters.
The Greek Kushanas and the Larger vehicle…

Remains of Mahayana Buddhist

stupas in Swat valley in Pakistan , (
Historically known as Gandhara)
Stupa for larger vehicle…

http://www.pbs.org/thestoryofindia/timeline/
1/

The Buddhist builder was

encouraged to elongate his Stupa
into a vertical monument so that
it would be distinguished from the
gently rolling Gandhara
countryside
Rock cut Architecture/ cave Monasteries…
Rock cut Architecture/ cave Monasteries…
Rock cut Architecture/ cave Monasteries…
Rock cut Architecture/ cave Monasteries…
Rock cut Architecture/ cave Monasteries…
Stupa: The Buddhist Religious edifice per excellence…

Harmika or
Finials

Anda or
Dome

Medhi or
Drum, and
Base

the evolution of this cult as well as the form of stupa have some kind of correlation
with the change of the Buddhist religious beliefs, practice and rituals. Thus every
change in the formal expression in its architecture is associated with some change in
religious belief either by the influence of existing local themes or by incorporation of
some new ideas within the religion.
Stupa: The Buddhist Religious edifice per excellence…
Stupa ( 2nd Century BC-3rd Century AD)…

Early stupas with large hemispherical dome

Stupa ( 2nd-4th Century AD)…

Stupas with square base and multiple terraces

Stupa (4th-7th Century AD)…

Early stupas with large hemispherical dome

Attempts of achieving vertical height in different stupas

Stupa (7th -12th Century AD)…

Conjectural restoration of cruciform

stupa in Bengal from 8th Century.

Different stupas in Tibet and Pagan

Evolution of Stupa…
Vihara …

Nalanda Maha Vihara Sitakot Vihara Sompur Maha Vihara

From Casual Shelter to Conscious Place…

-As the loose group of monks to gradually formed

settled Sangha through time, two things can be
observed.
1)The idea of local „orders‟ associated with
particular place that gives the Sangha an identity.
2)The observance of Patimokkha, the fortnightly
recital of the rules of discipline and training of the
particular order that strengthen the monk‟s
attachment with that particular Monastery. Through time, Viharas has
transformed from the casual
shelter of the wandering monks
-Thus the concern for a clearly defined location that protect them from the
and boundary for the residence of a certain order adverse weather to an
came in front. institution. As the Sangha
developed itself as a social unit
- Place became phenomenal and defining it parallel to traditional household,
through the architectural space became an Vihara, became parallel to the
traditional dwelling
integral part of the designing and construction of
the Vihara.

Court yard Cells as basic dwelling unit

like hut

Court yard Court yard as the inner

core, for private activities
like Patimokkha.
Vihara; The presence of type…

-The conception and realization of sacred religious

architecture here is actually originated through a
process that is primarily motivated and determined by
the internal conditions. These include the existing
social and religious need, climate, technology as well
as the trans historical form that has long been evolved
in this region.

Primitive Mundic Hut in Bengal Early Vihara in Bengal Thus

- Identifying the presence of a „type‟ that recurs

through changes in dynasties, social environments,
religious schools and technologies become important .

As

- This is the „type‟ that works, as Quatremèrre defines,

Primitive Badaga Village in Andhra Early Vihara in Nagarjun Konda
as an operative principle for creation and the single
most important factor in the development of mature
architecture. It explains the reason behind architecture
and logic of its form, through changes in conditions,
and creates a deep bond with the past “when man, for
the first time, confronted the problem of architecture
and identified it in a form”.[i] Hence, it has the
capacity to reveal how the primitive dwelling gradually
Row Houses in Western Ghat Early Rock Cut Vihara in Ajanta
developed into a metaphorical and symbolic
architecture like Vihara.
Although the Buddhist monuments of the past have been
considered as high art, but as architecture they work in a [i] Rafael Moneo, “On Typology” , in Opposition 13, 1978.
vernacular mode.
Mahavihara…

Problem of Numbers:
-As the religion became popular more people became
interested in the Vihara. From the 2nd-3rd century
Viharas were developed as a full-fledged institutions
and served as a center not only for religious education
but also for secular education. [ Keay, 1967]

-Therefore more pupils, even who did not want to be

monk, came to the Vihara to spent several years in Vasu Vihara (5th C)
pursuit for secular knowledge.
The traditional courtyard
planning again worked as a
-This resulted into a increase of number of monks,
most appropriate solution
need for more structures as residence, place of for this newer problem. The
worship and ancillary facilities. courtyard that was the
symbolic centre of the early
-The idea of Maha Vihara, a Vihara complex that viharas now became the
worked as administrative as well as learning centre physical centre of the whole
complex as well.
within region emerged. ( A parallel to the modern
universities). Itakhola Mura Vihara (6th-9thC)

-This gave the rise of new problem- the problem of

number and scale. How organized all this facilities
within complex at the same time implying a sense of
space and boundary.

Rupvan Vihara (7th -12th C)

Vihara as Microcosm…

Traditional
Dwelling

Vihara

Vihara Complex

Courtyard still remain as centre of the

microcosm.
Comparison of the conceptual sections.

Gradually, as the Buddhist religious

practice put more emphasis on ritual and
rites, the religious symbolism played an
important role in designing the Vihara
complex. The Vihara itself now became a
„Mandala‟- a symbol of cosmos.
However, like the traditional dwelling,
courtyard still remain the centre of the
microcosm, the Mandala. The symbolic
value of the courtyard is accentuated by
the careful placement of the central
Sompur Mahvihara Vajradhatu Mandala
shrine or stupa.
A simple visual comparison between the lay out of Sompur Mahaviahara and Vajradhatu
Mandala
A Study of the Vihara Archetype in Medieval Bengal : On the Basis of Archaeological Remains

Buddha has instructed five types of shelter to be adopted as abode for the Monks. These are Vihara, Adhyojoga, Prasada , Hamya and
Guha ( Vinya Pitaka). However, the idea of these five types of shelter was actually a vague description of all the available dwelling forms in
the vernacular context of Magadha. When Buddhism began to spread in Bengal, such associative ideas started to be crystallized by the
internal conditions of an area to develop a distinctive monastic model.

The religious theme at the superficial level

The vernacular idioms of traditional dwelling as vehicle

Trends of religious beliefs , rituals and rites, and associated meaning .

Later
Mahavihara

Early Vihara

The integration local cultural forces became important in the vernacular nature of the local built
environment that relies on limited range of models both at the level of overall layout and individual
architectural element. Repeated use of certain vernacular form with minor alteration for monastic
Traditional
purpose gradually implied some religious association to that form and thus the vernacular idioms were House
transformed into a more meaningful Buddhist monastic model through time.
Study Plan…

When?

Where?

Why ?

How?

1. Sanchi Stupa.
2. Rock Cut Monasteries/ Temples in Ajanta
3. Transformation / Evolution of Stupa form.
4. Mahavihra/ Buddhist Universities in Eastern India.