History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c31.1

v1.c31.1

A connected history of temple architecture in India commences from the Gupta period (c. 4th-6th centuries A.D.) when temples of brick or dressed stone started being constructed on the logical principles of structural architecture. The early Gupta shrines were flat-roofed structures comprising a square sanctum and a small pillared porch. An elaboration of the plan by addition of maṇḍapa(s) and covered ambulatory and of the elevation by addition of śikharas (spires) over the sanctum and the maṇḍapas was effected gradually. As the centuries rolled by, the temple developed complex forms both horizontally and vertically together with regional accents which manifested themselves quite early but matured slowly and became quite distinctive by the 10th century A.D. As India has a rich wealth of good building stones and a network of rivers to facilitate their easy transport from the quarries, the stone temples far exceeded those of bricks. We shall, therefore, talk here mainly of stone temples which best represent the flowers of evolved temple architecture.