Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c38.12

c38.12

This mode of building, although superior to what may be termed folk-architecture, never rose to classical heights, but it possesses a freshness and spontaneity, and makes an appeal as it is a reflection of certain racial characteristics. The population being largely rural there are no outstanding monuments in this mode, but there are a number of temples of moderate proportions most of which display formations common to all These temples are designed on the principle of a main structure, square in plan, its walls vertical, but the lines and planes which in most buildings are ordinarily horizontal, in this type are carried across its front in a series of parallel curves, bent in the form of a bow Such a distinctive application of curves specially affects the form of the roof and its cornice or eave, which, in contour, are parabolic, and clearly inherited from a bamboo framework given this shape in order to throw off heavy monsoon rain. Huts with thatched roofs built on similar lines are common in most parts of Bengal, and the somewhat indeterminate curved effect of the upper portions conveys the impression of a people bending before the elements, of yielding to them rather than defying them in view of their relentless power As an instance of the persistence of this tradition in the building art of Bengal, the principle of the curve is reproduced in modern roofs of corrugated iron, a material which, in spite of its intractable nature, is forced to follow the shape of the bent bamboo.