History of Architecture and Culture – II

Unit 4
Temple Architecture – Southern India
Lecture 1

Brief History of South India

First, let us look at the various dynasties that ruled south India, to
understand the history behind them. There were three major dynasties
that ruled them; the Chalukyas, the Pallavas and the Pandavas.

If you look at the map, the Chalukyas dominated along the Central
portion of the Indian subcontinent. So, they ruled parts of Andhra
Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, uptil Maharashtra as well. So almost the
central parts of India were dominated by the Chalukyan dynasty. The
Pallavas domination existed during the 7th Century, they ruled parts of
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The Pandyan Empire ruled
major portions of Tamil Nadu extending to Andhra Pradesh and even
parts of Sri Lanka.

It was these three major dynasties that fought against each other to
capture control over the entire South India. South India was mostly
facing battles between these three major empires, it was either Pandyas/
Pallavas or Pallavas and the Chalukyas. Though, these three were
fighting amongst themselves, they also contributed toward temple
Architecture, to a major extent. So, during the 7th century, in Tamil
Nadu, a movement started, which was called the Bhakti movement.

The Bhakti movement refers to the theistic devotional trend that

emerged in medieval Hinduism. Bhakti is actually a Sanskrit word
which means undivided devotion to only one idol. So when you focus all
your attention on something, that is known as; Bhakti. This Bhakti
movement gained strength during the 7th Century, basically originated
from Tamil south India (now parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala) and
spread northwards. What is the basic principle of this moment is that,
they started worshipping one particular idol be it Shiva or Vishnu. There
were mainly two groups, shaivites and vaishnavites and the major
worshipping happened between these two idols. So, this movement
started gaining strength mainly to challenge the rising influence of
Jainism and Hinduism. So, as opposed to the Vedic civilization, during
the Vedic times and there was a domination of the class system, caste
system. However, during this revival period, irrespective of your caste or
gender, the idol was open to worship by everyone.

There are poets or these were saints known as Saiva Nayanars and the
Vaisnava Alvars. If you visit a shiva temple, you would find statues like
these along the pradakshina patha. Their efforts ultimately spread bhakti
poetry and ideas throughout India by the 12th - 18th Century CE. The
image on the right are statues of 12 Alvars that you can find in the
Vishnu temple and the image on the right are 63 Nayanars that you can
find in the Shiva temple along the pradakshina patha. Those 12 statues
are depictions of people who were deeply involved in the bhakti
movement, poets and who spread Hinduism. It was through literature
and songs, poems that people spread the Bhakti movement to a large
extent.

How did Bhakti Movement impact architecture?

Initially there was a worshipping philosophy of worshiping shrines, idols

and various elements of nature. But now, every energy was focussed on
one idol and irrespective of one’s caste, creed or gender, he was open to
worship as he pleased. So what happened was the idol was becoming
more close to the public, more approachable. So, this demanded various
rituals, to be performed in the temple which in turn demanded more
space and organisation of space in the temple architecture. What
happened was, they started having processions of idols, and the chariot
festivals brought the temple closer to the people. All these found their
place in the conceptualisation of temple but were directly connected
with the execution of the structure. The idol was thereby becoming more
accessible to the public. So, this directly impacted the architecture of the
temple also. So, what began as a very monolithic temple structure in the
early stages, started to develop into huge complexes. In the initial
lectures, we saw about the rock cut architecture, in which there were no
circumambulatory passages, worshipping happened in one direction. In
the later stages, huge circumambulatory passages were built around the
temples which symbolically represented that we human beings are
exposed to huge worldly things. So, when a worshipper goes around a
pradakshina patha, he has the sense or gets an idea of other celestial
objects. So this was the symbolical representation. The temple complex,
itself started to expand in size as there was demand for space to perform
various rituals and ceremonies. This was one of the main reasons why
rock cut architecture was evolved into temple architecture.

If you look at the South Indian temple architecture, it actually began,

from the rule of the Pallavas in the 7th Century A.D. They are the ones
who laid the foundation for temple architecture in South India and then
it continued to develop during the 9th to 10th Century, during which the
Chola Empire was at their peak. (900 - 1150 A.D.) Then later the
Chalukya and the Hoysala came into power and then the Pandyas again
came to power, Period (1100 A.D. to 1350 A.D.) The later period saw
the rise Vijayanagar kings and Nayak kings. So this is the chronology in
which the temple architecture evolved in South India from the Pallavas
to the Nayaks.

If you see the South Indian temples, they were not only meant for
worship but also, public gatherings. They were meants for huge
gathering where people used to come and talk about / discuss various
political purposes or even educational purposes. They were centres for
music, dance and drama. They had schools and colleges attached where
free secular and religious instruction were given as per the Agama
Shastras, they maintained people of various crafts and occupations as
temple staff to serve the needs of the community. Temples were given
multi-dimensional functionalities. Therefore, this also impacted the
architecture of the temple it was not only meant for worship but also for
other public activities where people came to gather. And this later
evolved into the development of temple towns itself. What became as a
single monolithic structure gradually grew into a town. Temple became
a part of a city planning itself. It clearly shows that temple was not just a
religious factor but infact it was part of the city planning itself. In that
level, a temple was an integral part of the social life of the people. So
now, the need for more idols came into picture and so, because of this,
the architects used this need to develop various kinds of architecture.
They did it so well, that even surpassed the Buddhist architecture.

The Saiva the Vaishnava (Brahmanical) structures initiated from the

Gupta period evolved a style of directly comprehending with the
sculpturally oriented rock-cut architecture under the Chalukyas and the
Pallavas. The Hindu architects exploited the function of the architecture
to house several other idols by creating various expressions. The form of
the temple in the rock-cut architecture style was potentially used with
the available material. The Hindu rock-cut architecture thereby,
superseded the Buddhist architecture in form, function, constructional
techniques and the size of operation.

Basically Hindu temples are of three types namely; Nagara - this style is
mainly practiced in the north; the Dravidian - is a southern style and is
found in the south and the Vesara - also known as a hybrid style, seen
mostly in Deccan, the central parts of India. The main difference can be
found in the form of a tower i.e Shikara/ Gopuram, you can see how it
varies in these three styles. These are the three types of Hindu temple.

Pallava’s Contribution to Hindu Temple Architecture

Let us start with how Pallavas contributed to Hindu architecture.
Most important features of the Pallava architecture:
It was during the 7th century when the Pallavas ruled, they were not
only good rulers but their kings were also very appreciative of art and
architecture.

The Pallava Architecture shows the transition from the Rock cut
architecture to the stone built temples. The earliest temples of the
Pallava Rock cut temples of the 7th century AD, while the later
examples are of structural temples built in 8th and 9th Century. The rock
cut reliefs of the Pallavas are the earliest surviving royal portraits after
the Kushana images.

The Pallava kings are known to be the greatest patrons of art, music,
architecture, dance and literature. There was this King called
Mahendravarman who appreciated art, was into poetry and a playwright
himself. He encouraged the development of architecture to a great
extent. This is one example of the Pallava architecture very initial stages.
This is the shore temple at Mahabalipuram.
Pancha Rathas (also known as Pandava Rathas) is a monument complex
at Mahabalipuram. Pancha Rathas is an example of monolithic Indian
rock - cut architecture. Dating from the late 7th Century, it is attributed
to the reign of King Mahendravarman and his son Narasimhavarman
(630-68 A.D; also called Mamalla, or great warrior) of the Pallava
Kingdom. An innovation of Narasimhavarman, the structures are
without any precedent in Indian architecture.

The temples which are different in forms, plans, elevations were

cautiously cut out from a huge rock, sloping from south to north. These
individual 'rathas' are named after Pandava brothers Yudhisthira
(Dharmaraja); Arjuna, Bhima, Nakula and Sahadeva of the epic
Mahabharata and their wife Draupadi. Besides these rathas, the
sculptures of an elephant (the vehicle of Indra), lion (the vehicle of
Durga) and Nandi bull (the vehicle of Shiva) are structurally displayed.
Though these temples are named after the Pandava brother, they are not
in any way related to Mahabharata.

You see the plan, of Pancha Rathas; these are the five Rathas that are
located; Draupadi Ratha, Arjuna Ratha, Bhima Ratha, Dharmaraja ratha
and Nakula Sahadeva Ratha. All these structures are carved out of a
single rock itself. They are all monolithic structures, apart from these
five temple, there are other sculptures of a lion, elephant and a bull over
here. These five temple are named after the characters from
Mahabharata about the Pandavas. Though, they are named after them,
there is no relation between this particular temple and Mahabharatha.
You can see the orientation in this particular plan. If you see, the the
Draupadi Ratha and the Arjuna ratha are squarish in plan. The
Dharmaraja is also squarish in plan. The Bhima ratha is an elongated
rectangle and the Nakula Sahadeva ratha is an apsidal in nature. If you
see all these, all the rathas are facing the west are the Arjuna and
Draupadi rathas which are dedicated to Shiva and Durga respectively.
Only the Nakula Sahadeva ratha is facing the southern direction and
alongside this ratha, there is the sculpture of the Elephant. Here, towards
the north you have the sculpture of the lion and towards the east, you
have the sculpture of the bull.

Let us see about the Rathas one by one. First is the Draupadi Ratha, you
can see in the image, it is replicating the typical hut like structure as we
have seen in our olden days. Draupadi is named after the wife of the
pandavas. You can see, it is a simple squarish structure, which has a
small base plinth. You can see it is submerged in the sand. You can take
a closer look. So, even the base of the structure is carved and decorated.
So, outside the entrance you have two statues of Durga. Above the door,
there are carvings to denote the archway. So even the roof of the shrine
is more like a hut shaped roof. Inside the shrine also, there is one idol of
Durga. So, it is a very simple structure.

Next is the, Arjuna Ratha, again it is squarish in plan but if you see the
roof structure of the shrine it is very different from what we saw in the
Draupadi Ratha. It is a pyramidal structure and it is topped by an
octagonal dome shaped structure. If you see this shrine, this serves as a
model to various Hindu temples that develop later. If you find any Hindu
temple that is located in South India, the Dravidian style of Hindu
temples, you will see that they all have pyramidical kind of Gopurams
i.e. towers, topped by an octagonal dome. This was probably the first
model that was developed by the Pallavas. This house is a shrine of
Shiva, with pyramidical roof structure.
This is a Bhima Ratha. The Bhima Ratha as we already saw in the plan,
is a rectangular structure with a barrel vaulted roof. It has four columned
porch in the facade has seated lions carved in front of the pillars. The
lower part of the structure is unfinished. If you see the column, it is a
typical Dravidian order developed during the Pallava times i.e. it has a
lion base, above which the column is built. This is an early form of the
Dravidian pillar with a lion base column. In Draupadi Ratha, we saw
that the base of the shrine was decorated but here the base seems
unfinished. It has two stepped roofing with an elongated barrel wall roof
on the top. You can see the elevation here.

Next, is the Dharmaraja ratha. This is the largest shrine of all the five
shrines. It is square in plan and it is similar to Arjuna Ratha where we
saw it was pyramidal in nature with an octagonal door. It was similar to
that. The exterior of the roofing structure is adorned with sculptures,
faces, even false windows. You can see how the pyramidical roof is
constructed in different layers, topped with the octagonal dome. So, in
every corner of shrines, there are sculptures of idols located. However,
in this particular shrine, in one corner there is an idol of King
Mahendravarman himself, also known as King Mamalla. You can see in
the picture here. Also there is a shrine of, a sculpture of
'Ardhanarishwara' means half man and half woman) on the walls of the
Dharmaraja ratha with perfectly balanced carvings of the masculine and
feminine creatures is considered to be one of the finest specimens of
early Pallava plastic art. It is said to be one of the finest sculptures of the
Pallava period.

Finally, the Nakula Sahadeva Ratha, it is a very simple elongated plan

with an apsidal ending. In contrast to the other rathas which all face the
western direction. This Ratha faces the south direction. This image you
can see the various stages of evolution of Dravidian order. The
Dravidian order is nothing but how the columns have evolved through
various stages. So, initially, there was no particular base, just a simple
column with a simple capital and then there was development of bracket
like structure above the capital and then the lion base we saw in the
rathas, this was developed during the Pallava period. Slowly, they
started expanding the length of the pillars and the height of the lion
increased. This is actually a predecessor to the Yalli like structure which
we will see in our later lectures of the nayak styles.

Now, we will one more example of the Pallava rock-cut architecture is

the; Kailasanatha Temple, Kanchipuram.

The great Kailasanatha temple was built by the ruler Rajasimha (A.D
700 - 728) at the beginning of the 8th Century, this is the first structural
temple built in South India. Apart from the shrines and the rathas we
saw in Mamallapuram are more like models that were built to exhibit by
the king which can be later replicated into larger scales of temples. This
Kailasanatha temple is a proper temple structure that was built for the
first time in South India. In this image, you can see the plan of the
temple. As any temple, the garbhagriha faces the eastern direction. This
is how you approach the temple. There is a huge mandapa in front of the
garbhagriha which is the pillared hall. Again, it leads to another
mandapa with the pillared hall. The garbhagriha is topped by a tower
which is a four-storeyed pyramidal tower. In all these pillared halls, the
pillars have exclusive carvings of Yallis and other figures. So, this is the
image of the temple, as you can see how the pillars have evolved from
the short lion base to the figure called the Yali. You can see here, how
the column has evolved. This temple again has a pyramidal roof
structure which is a step pyramidical structure, again this octagonal
dome with the finial on top. This is the mandapa in the front. This is the
first type of temple structure that was built. If you see later temples that
were built, even during the Chola period namely; the tanjore
Brihadeshwara temple, this also seemed to be inspired by this
Kailasanatha temple and even some instances of instances of
Calligraphy is found here. Outside the garbhagriha and the mandapa,
you have this circumambulatory passage in the exterior and along this
temple wall, there are various shrines placed for other idols. Usually
there are Gopurams at the entrance and over the Garbhagriha. Here you
can see the image of the entrance, the Gopurams or the garbhagriha and
these are the images of shrines that are around the temple.