Structure:

• Introduction: (upto 30 words) Write briefly about different temple architectural styles
• Body: (upto 100 words) elaborate the various styles of temple architecture used in different temples in a timeline.
• Conclusion: (upto 30 words) Conclude by pointing out the importance of temples.

Supporting Points:

• In different parts of the country, distinct architectural style of temples was result of geographical, ethnic and historical diversities.
• Two broad orders of temples in the country are known as Nagara in the north and Dravida in the south.
• At times, the Vesara style of temples is also found as an independent style, created through the selective mixing of the Nagara and Dravida orders.
• As temples grew more complex, more surfaces were created for sculpture by adding more and more rhythmically projecting, symmetrical walls and niches, without breaking away from the fundamental plan of the shrine.

Kadamba Temples and Architecture:

• Kadamba architecture was a style of temple architecture founded by Mayurasharma in 4th century AD in Karnataka Kadambas created new style of architecture which was the basis of the Hoysalas style of architecture, developed original school of sculpture, was the forerunner of series of South Indian sculptors. Many temples at Aihole, Badami and Hampi are built in Kadamba architectural style.
• The most prominent feature of their architecture, basic as it was is their Shikara called Kadamba Shikara. The Shikara is pyramid shaped and rises in steps without any decoration with a Stupika or Kalasha at the top. This style of Shikara are used several centuries later in the Doddagaddavalli Hoysala temple and the Mahakuta temples in Hampi.
• Some of their temples also use perforated screen windows. It has also been pointed out that in architecture and sculpture, the Kadambas contributed to the foundation of the later Chalukya-Hoysala style.

The Ganga architecture:

• The Western Ganga style of architecture was influenced by the Pallava and Badami Chalukya architectural features, in addition to indigenous Jain features. The Ganga pillars with a conventional lion at the base and a circular shaft of the pillar on its head, the stepped Vimana of the shrine with horizontal mouldings and square pillars were features inherited from the Pallavas. These features are also found in structures built by their subordinates, the Banas and Nolambas.
• The monolith of Gomateshwara commissioned by Chavundaraya is considered the high point of the Ganga sculptural contribution in ancient Karnataka. Carved from fine-grained white granite, the image stands on a lotus.

Temple architecture of Chalukyas of Badami:

• The Badami Chalukya era (7th and 8th century) was an important period in the development of South Indian architecture. Their style of architecture is called “Chalukyan architecture” or “Karnata Dravida architecture”.
• Nearly a hundred monuments built by them, rock cut (cave) as well as structural, and are found in the Malaprabha river basin in modern Bagalkot district of northern Karnataka. The building material they used was reddish-golden Sandstone found locally. Though they ruled a vast empire, the Chalukyan workshops concentrated most of their temple building activity in a relatively small area within the Chalukyan heartland – Aihole, Badami, Pattadakal and Mahakuta in modern Karnataka state.

Salient Features:

• These temples are a mixture of Northern and Dravida style of temple architecture and represent a transition as well as experimentation in the temple architecture.
• The temples are located on the banks of River Tungabhadra and Malprabaha in Karnataka and Alampur in Andhra Pradesh , which is near Kurnool. The largest temple of Chalukyas of Badami is Virupaksha Temple, whose complex encloses 30 sub shrines and a large Nandi mandapa. This was also earliest example of Shiva temples, which have a Nandi pavilion in front of the temple.

Architecture of Rashtrakuta:

• The art and architecture of the Rashtrakutas were found at Ellora and Elephanta.
• At Ellora, the most remarkable temple is the Kailasa temple.
• It was excavated during the reign of Krishna I.
• It is carved out of a massive block of rock 200 feet long, and 100 feet in breadth and height.
• The temple consists of four parts – the main shrine, the entrance gateway, an intermediate shrine for Nandi and mandapa surrounding the courtyard.

Temple architecture of Chalukyas of Badami:

• The major improvement over the previous Badami Chalukya temple was the “Architectural Articulation” or ornamentation on the outer walls of the shrine. The presence of Figure sculpture such as Heroes of Ramayana and Mahabharata and loving couples (Mithuna) was additional structure of these temples at the earliest period.
• The Western Chalukyan Temples are either Ekakuta (one mandapa of one shrine) or Dvikuta (a common hall attached to two shrines). The style has characters of both the Northern as well as Dravidian temple architecture. This combination of both of these styles is known as Vesara Style, also Central Indian Style, which is represented by the Hoyasala Temples.
• Most of the temples of the Western Chalukyas are dedicated to Shiva, some of them dedicated to Vishnu and Jain Tirthankaras also. The Hoysalas architecture was clearly influenced by the Western Chalukyan Architecture
• These temples are show a transition from the Nagara to Dravida style and create a new style called Karnatadravida

Architecture of Hoysalas:

• The Hoysala rulers were influenced by the Western Chalukyan architecture and employed their craftsmen as well. Soapstone, which allows fine detailing and clarity, also helped in this predilection
• A cuboid cell, the garbha griha (sanctum sanctorum) houses a centrally placed murti (enshrined icon) on a pitha (pedestal). The shikhara (superstructure), rises over garbha griha and together with the sanctum they form the vimana (or mulaprasada) of a temple.
• A ribbed stone, amalaka, is placed atop the shikhara with a kalash at its finial.
• An intermediate antarala (vestibule) joins the garbha griha to an expansive pillared mandapa (porch) in front, chiefly facing east (or north).
• The temple may be approached via entrances with gigantic gopurams (ornate entrance towers) towering over each doorway. In the prakaram (temple courtyard) several minor shrines and outbuildings often abound.
• The vimanas are either stellate, semi–stellate or orthogonal in plan. The intricately carved banded plinths, a distinguishing characteristic of the Hoysala temples, comprise a series of horizontal courses that run as rectangular strips with narrow recesses between them.
• Also, the temples themselves are sometimes built on a raised platform or jagati which is used for the purpose of a pradakshinapatha (circumambulation).

Architecture of Vijayanagara:

• Architecturally, Vijayanagara synthesises the centuries-old dravida temple architecture with Islamic styles demonstrated by the neighbouring sultanates. Their sculpture too, although fundamentally derived from, and consciously seeking to recreate Chola ideals, occasionally shows the presence of foreigners. • The large number and prominence of pillars and piers and the complicated manner.
• The horse was the most common animal to be depicted on the pillars.
• They have a mandapam or open pavilion with a raised platform, generally meant for seating the deity on special occasions. These temples also have a kalyana mandapam with elaborately carved pillars.
• In the Vijayanagar temples the central part was occupied by the garbhagriha-the sanctum cell where the presiding deity was installed. Amman shrine was meant for the consort of the god.
• The Raya Gopurams, towers in commemoration of the visit of emperors in different corners of the empire, are also important examples of architecture of the period.

Significance:

By studying the evolution of temple architecture, we are able to learn much about the kind of society that made these objects. Through them we can surmise what their buildings were like, what types of clothes they wore and above all we can use the art material to reconstruct the history of their religions. These religions, as we have seen were many and diverse and constantly changing. Temples also became a space for many other art forms, such as music and dance and, from the tenth century onwards, temples became large landowners as kings and feudal lords gave them land for their maintenance once and upkeep, and performed an administrative role as well.