Architecture of India    
Rajput Architecture – 2
The Beginning of a National Identity

Orchha

At Orchha there are three palaces of note – the Ramji Mandir of Raja Rudra Pratap (1501-31), the Raj Mahal of Madhukar (1554-91), and the Jahangir Mahal of Bir Singh Deo. These last two were built on an island in the river Betwa.

Raj Mahal

Jahangir Mahal

All three palaces, built in the time when the Mughal influence had begun, have square courts - like most Muslim buildings – surrounded by living quarters. Arches and domes mingle with beams and columns.

The fusion experiment at Orchha culminated in Bir Singh’s Govind Mahal at Datia. In plan the Govind Mahal distinctly follows the Muslim concept of a central court, with a symmetrical disposition of elements around it. The four corners culminate in domes which set off the larger one crowning the central royal quarters.

However, perhaps the most surprising creation at Orchha is the giant Chaturbhuja temple.

More than its size, the architectural plan is surprising, resembling more a cathedral, being a cross in plan. The other astonishing thing is the large interior space, quite unusual for a temple where the interiors tend to be closed and cramped.

This trend of fusion was to be evident in Muslim architecture of the period as well.

The history of the Indian subcontinent is best studied in this way – as a product of diverse influences, each of which leaves its own mark, rather than a narrow division into Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Muslim etc. For none of these developed in isolation, but were rather a product of the volatile political process around them.

So if architecture can define a nation, it is at this period in history that we witness a remarkable change – a sort of rapprochement between Hindu and Muslim – at least in the domain of architecture. For craftsmen do not know any religion except for what feels good to build, and what pleases the eye.    

– Ashish Nangia
March 16, 2003

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