Architecture of Ancient India. Features architecture of ancient India. Temples of India

India is considered one of the few countries that has preserved traditions not only with regard to clothing, different types of art, but also in architecture. Traditions of Ancient India are preserved almost everywhere. To see this, it is enough to visit any city in this country. Perfect lines seem to be floating in the air of lacy buildings - this can not be found in any other culture. The architecture of Ancient India, of course, is different from what one can contemplate in modern cities. But, nevertheless, it was she who formed the basis of each building, whether it is a modern hotel or a temple.

Architecture of India as part of the country's culture

Ancient Indians represented the universe as something unimaginably large and grandiose. This is what influenced art in general and architecture in particular. Ancient monuments of India, despite the considerable damage, surprise with its scale and color. The inextricable intertwining of the philosophical outlook with the music, which seemed to be frozen in stone, is exactly what is considered a typical Indian architecture. Agree that it is impossible to imagine Ancient India without temples and palace complexes, decorated with sculptures, paintings, high domes and spiers covered with gold.

The architecture of Ancient India is also inextricably linked with the religious trends of this state. Reliefs covering most of the walls of ancient buildings can tell a lot about the worldview of the Indians, as well as reveal the secrets of their past.

Distinctive features of Indian architecture

What is the difference between the architecture of ancient India? Briefly describe its features can be the following words: shape, color and complete harmony of buildings with the surrounding space and their monumentality. The architects paid a lot of attention to the finest details of the decoration: decorations on the walls, ceiling and even on the roof. Thanks to this, the buildings that have survived to this day resemble lace, despite their size. This is especially noticeable if you look at temples and cities from afar or from the air.

Features architecture of Ancient India are also in the sacred sense, embedded in every detail of the building. The majestic temples were built according to a single plan, described in religious literature. But even so, each building is filled with personality. Somewhere the outer inner surfaces of the walls contain sensual bas-relief images, and somewhere around the main motive becomes a kind of story about the daily life of peasants, kings or even gods.

What were they building in India?

Building materials, of which buildings were built in Ancient India, differed according to the area. The northern districts were characterized by the use of stone, brick and wood, and for southern districts - wood and adobe blocks. A little later, the main building material for their construction was limestone and other rocks. Also, cavernous temples that were cut down in a monolithic rock were not uncommon. To date, the architecture of Ancient India is represented by temple complexes made of stone, as the wooden and brick structures are not preserved in its original form.

Ancient Indian cities

To fully understand what the architecture of ancient India was, the discovered remains of the cities of Dholavir, Lotkhal, Kalibangan and Rahilvari allow. The typical ancient Indian planning of these settlements, consisting of 3 parts (citadel or fortress, lower and upper part of the city) is still used quite widely, but on a somewhat different scale. Investigating the places of the ancient cities of India, archeologists could once again be convinced that in this state for many millennia, there was a stratification of society based on the principle of belonging to a particular caste. So, the houses nearest to the citadel belonged to noblemen and were separated from the lower city, where artisans and poor people lived, with a double earthen rampart.

Absolutely different from other cities features had Lotkhal - one of the most important trading cities on the coast of India. The citadel was not located in the center of the city, but at the maximum distance from the coastline, and the border between the upper and lower city passed along a straight, wide street. To avoid flooding of residential houses standing in the immediate vicinity of the water, they were erected on high platforms of unfired bricks.

Temples of India

There is an opinion that those who want to get acquainted with such a phenomenon as the architecture of Ancient India, it is worthwhile to make a pilgrimage to the temples located in this country. And indeed it is. Their style and layout did not change even after 8 millennia from the beginning of their formation. What is their feature? First, this is their layout. Regardless of their location and size, all the temples of India consist of the following premises:

• Sanctuary (garbhabriha) - a low room without windows with a single low passage, in which the statue of the main temple deity is located;
• Vimaana - the tower is domed or spire-shaped, towering above the sanctuary;
• The passage around the sanctuary - pradakshinapatha, through which the visitors of the temple move to make a detour around the main shrine of the temple;
• Mukhamandapa - a small corridor connecting the sanctuary of the temple with its main hall, is used as a place for the storage of religious and religious objects, sacrifices;
• Mandapa - a hall located between the main entrance to the temple and the sanctuary, it is in it parishioners of the church perform religious activities;
• Before the entrance to the temples there are flagstones and statues of mounts of the gods who are worshiped here (from God Vishnu to Garuda, from Shiva - Nandin bull, etc.);
• In the courtyard of the temple, on the same line as the main gate and sanctuary, there is an altar for sacrifices;
• The temple surrounding the temple with towers, in the basement of which are usually located additional gates or shrines of the gods-satellites (Lakshmi, Hanuman, Subramanya, etc.).

To this day, all these canons of erection are strictly observed, and this gives Indian temples the same zest.

The most striking architectural monuments of India

The architectural identity of Indian temple complexes has recently won millions of fans. In order to fully absorb the spirit of ancient India, dormant in giant buildings, it is worth to visit several unique places. They include a complex of three temples in Khajuraho, which differ from others in the abundance of large and small statues of women (apsaras and sura-sundari), which seemed to stand still for a moment, but very soon they would again begin to dance in the dance. To compete with this temple complex can only the snow-white marble Ranakpur, floating on 1444 columns.

The most beautiful and richly decorated ancient Indian temple is located on the western bank of the Ganges. This is the only "golden temple" in India, because almost a ton of the purest precious metal left for its finish. But the most unusual and majestic temple is considered to be Kailasanatha - the temple of Lord Shiva carved into the rock . Despite the fact that when it was erected, builders used primitive tools, decoration and decoration of columns and sculptures amazes with its fineness, accuracy and airiness.