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Temple Architecture in South India
Just as the Nagara school of architecture with the different sub#schools emerged in
the northern part of India, a distinct style of
temple architecture emerged in peninsular India as well.
Temple architecture in South India began under the Pallava ruler
Mahendravarman. The temples developed during the Pallava
dynasty reflected the stylistic taste of the individual rulers and can be
classified into four stages chronologically.
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1. Mahendra group:
This was the first stage of Pallava temple architecture.
The temples built under Mahendravarman were
basically rock-cut temples. Under him, the temples
were known as mandapas, unlike the Nagara style in
which the mandapas meant only the assembly hall.
2. Narasimha group:
This represented the second stage of the development
of temple architecture in South India. The rock-cut
temples were decorated by intricate sculptures. Under
Narasimhavarman, the mandapas were now divided
into separate rathas. The biggest one was called the
Dharmaraja ratha while the smallest one was called
the Draupadi ratha. The design of a temple in the
Dravidian style of architecture is a successor of the
Dharmaraja ratha.
Fig. 1.27: The Pancha-rathas, i.e., 5 temples at Mahaballipuram, Tamil Nadu.
3. Rajsimha group:
Rajsimhavarman led the third stage of temple
development. Under him, development of real
structural temples was started in the place of rock-cut
temples.
Example: Shore temple at Mahabalipuram,
Kailashnath temple at Kanchipuram, etc.
4. Nandivarman group:
This was the fourth stage of temple development
during the Pallava dynasty. The temples built under
him were smaller in size. The features were almost
similar to the Dravidian style of temple architecture.
After the decline of Pallava dynasty, temple
architecture acquired a new style under the Chola
kingdom, known as the Dravidian style of temple
1.
2.
3.
4.
architecture. This marked a new era in the
development of temples in the Southern India. In the
later periods, three other styles – Vesara style, Nayaka
style and Vijaynagar style – also emerged in this
region.
ARCHITECTURE AT MAHABALIPURAM
The ancient port city of Mamallapuram under Pallava dynasty in
Tamil Nadu, flourished with a number of marvelous architecture.
These seventh century Pallava sites have been declared as UNESCO
World Heritage Site in 1984 by the name “Group of Monuments at
Mahabalipuram”.
They include:
Ratha temples or Pancha Ratha: Also known as Pandava
Rathas, they are the earliest rock cut temples in India, comprising
of Dharmaraja Ratha, Bhima Ratha, Arjuna Ratha, Nakula
and Sahadeva Ratha, and Draupadi Ratha, dated around 7th
century AD. Dharmaraja Ratha is the largest structure among the
five.
Rock-cut caves: which include Varaha Cave Temple, Krishna
Cave Temple, Panchapandava Cave Temple, and the
Mahishasuramardini Mandapa (Bas-relief of Goddess Durga
killing Mahishasura).
Open Air Rock Reliefs: which include Descent of the Ganges
which is also known as Arjuna’s Penance or Bhagiratha’s
Penance carved on two huge boulders. It narrates the story of
descent of River Ganga on earth from heaven by the efforts of
Bhagiratha.
Shore Temple complex: which includes which has two small
and one large temple enclosed within a two tier compound wall
studded with images of Nandi, the vahana of Shiva. The temple is
predominantly dedicated to Lord Shiva with a sculpture of
Anantashayana Vishnu in one of the three temples within the
complex.
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•
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Fig. 1.28: (1) Descent of the Ganges or Arjuna’s Penance, (2) Shore
Temple Complex
Chola Art
Dravidian Style of Temple Architecture
Under the patronage of the Chola rulers, hundreds of
temples were built in South India. It was a continuation
of the previous Pallava architecture, with some
variations. This is what came to be known as the
Dravidian style of temple architecture. The features of
the Dravidian style or chola style are:
Unlike the Nagara temples, the Dravidian temples were
surrounded by high boundary walls.
The front wall had a high entrance gateway known as the
gopuram.
The temple premise was laid out in the panchayatan style
with a principal temple and four subsidiary shrines.
In the Dravidian style, the spire is in the form of a stepped
pyramid that rises up linearly rather than curved. It is known
as vimana.
The crowning element is shaped in the form of an octagon
and is known as shikhara. It is similar to the kalash of the
Nagara temple, but not spherical.
There is only one vimana in the Dravidian archit

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Temple Architecture in South India

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