Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c39.36

c39.36

This sense of aesthetic agreement between the works of man and those of nature, as illustrated by such architectural achievements, introduces the subject of the relation of a building to its environment. Different surroundings ordinarily call for different methods of architectural treatment, and, as at Martand, a site encircled by majestic ranges of mountains demands a composition having features of a special order for it to be in harmony with conditions of such exceptional grandeur. In these circumstances a structural conception formed of a powerful central pile, and supported by lines of mass so devised as to emphasize the quality of horizontality, appears to be the motive principle on which to proceed The built-up forceful formation in the centre suggests by its volume the immense bulk of the adjacent mountains, while the implied parallelism with the ground conveys the impression of security and peace The Kashmiri builders, sub-consciously perhaps, appear to have conformed to these principles for some such ideal seems to underlie their temple compositions. That those concerned had the genius, and the requisite imagination and capacity to attain this ideal, is proved by the superb manner in which these monuments accord with the surrounding landscape.