Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c9.10

c9.10

The timber used by the early Indian carpenters and builders was teak, carefully trimmed into the required shape with an adze. Not a large variety of joints were employed, most of them being of a simple but effective order and the workmen knew their application thoroughly; where these required to be pinned, bamboo pegs were inserted. The foundations were prepared by means of beams laid in the manner already described in the construction of the city walls and to these the uprights, such as the pillars, were tenoned. Most interesting is the construction of the vaulted roof, as it is worked out on somewhat the same principle as the arch braced timber roof of the Gothic builders of Europe evolved many centuries later. In the Indian method the structural membering of the vault was supplemented by a series of curved wooden ribs or groins placed in close order, the whole system anticipating a solution of the problem of arching a space in a most satisfactory and at the same time artistic manner. The flat roofed edifices were planned and executed in an equally workmanlike fashion, with pillars supporting the wooden girders, above which were beams and joists placed and jointed in correct position to carry the requisite weight.