Architecture of India  
North Indian Style Evolves
The North Indian or Indo-Aryan Style (A.D. 800 onwards)

Temple building in India, by the Mediaeval Age, had gradually crystallized into two main streams – the north Indian or Indo-Aryan, and the Dravidian in south India.  The north Indian style was manifested over a large geographical area, from Gujarat in the west to Orissa in the East.  These disparate developments often were the basis of regional schools of art and architecture, and were the intermediate steps in the continuing process of the evolution of the Hindu Temple.  We shall discuss some representative examples. 

Osian – Descendant of the Guptas

The picturesque village of Osian, near modern Jodhpur in Rajasthan, was the capital of the Pratiharas in the eighth century.  The only remnants now of its former glory are a handful of small stone temples. 

The shikhara, which was the main feature of the Gupta temple at Deogarh, was now the logical culmination of a plan that included all the basic features of the later temples at Khajuraho and Bhubhaneswar.  Two are raised on high plinth, like the temples at Khajuraho, but their shikharas are like the early Orissan examples.  The builders at Osian added a mandapa or open assembly hall for devotees to congregate.  Another feature was a rectangular wall around the temple, at each corner of which was a subsidiary shrine.   

Teli-ka-Mandir at Gwalior

This temple in the fort at Gwalior is unique.  The name, of course, literally means Oil-man’s temple.  In its conception it resembles more a shrine than a temple, as it consists of a sanctuary only – there is neither mandapa nor pillared pavilions that make up the composition of a full temple. But it is distinguished by the fact that it was the last attempt to cap a Hindu temple by a barrel-vaulted roof of Buddhist origin.  This gives the temple a silhouette which is quite original, to say the least.  Though this form was subsequently discarded by the north Indian architect, echoes of this, as we shall see later, were the basis for the formal composition of South Indian temple gateways.

– Continued Next Page

Top | Architecture of India  

Recommend This Page!

Analysis | Architecture | Astrology | Ayurveda | Book Reviews | Buddhism | Cartoons | Cinema | Computing | Culture | Dances
Environment | Fables | Family Matters | Festivals | Hinduism | Health | History | Home Remedies | Humor | Individuality | Jagoji
Literary Shelf | Memoirs | Musings | Opinion | Parenting | Perspective | Photo Essays | Places | Ramblings
Random Thoughts | Recipes | Sikhism | Society | Spirituality | Stories | Teens | Travelogues | Vastu | Vithika | Women

Home | Hindi | Bolography | BoloKids | Kabir | Poetry | Quotes | Workshop | Writers | Contribute | Search | Contact

Boloji.com is owned and managed by Boloji Media Inc
Privacy Policy | Disclaimer
No part of this Internet site may be reproduced without prior written permission of the copyright holder.