Dravidian Architecture
Dravidian architecture
Dravidian architecture was an architectural idiom that emerged in the Southern part of the Indian subcontinent or South India. It consists primarily of temples with pyramid shaped towers and are constructed of sandstone, soapstone or granite. Mentioned as one of three styles of temple building in the ancient book Vastu shastra, the majority of the existing structures are located in the Southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, and Andhra pradesh. Various kingdoms and empires such as the Cholas, the Chera, the Pandyas, the Pallavas, theGangas, the Rashtrakutas, the Chalukyas, the Hoysalas, and Vijayanagara Empire among others have made substantial contribution to the evolution of Dravidian architecture. This styled architecture can also be found in parts of North India, Northeastern and central Sri Lanka, Maldives, and various parts of Southeast Asia. Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Prambanan in Indonesia were built based on Dravidaarchitecture.
Composition and structure[edit]
Chola style temples consist almost invariably of the three following parts, arranged in differing manners, but differing in themselves only according to the age in which they were executed:[1]
1. The porches or Mandapams, which always cover and precede the door leading to the cell.
2. Gate-pyramids, Gopurams, which are the principal features in the quadrangular enclosures that surround the more notable temples.Gopurams are very common in dravidian temples.
3. Pillard halls (Chaultris or Chawadis) are used for many purposes and are the invariable accompaniments of these temples.
Besides these, a temple always contains tanks or wells for water – to be used for sacred purposes or the convenience of the priests – dwellings for all the grades of the priesthood are attached to it, and other buildings for state or convenience.[1]
Influence from different periods[edit]
In Southern India seven kingdoms and empires
Dravidian architecture was an architectural idiom that emerged in the Southern part of the Indian subcontinent or South India. It consists primarily of temples with pyramid shaped towers and are constructed of sandstone, soapstone or granite. Mentioned as one of three styles of temple building in the ancient book Vastu shastra, the majority of the existing structures are located in the Southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, and Andhra pradesh. Various kingdoms and empires such as the Cholas, the Chera, the Pandyas, the Pallavas, theGangas, the Rashtrakutas, the Chalukyas, the Hoysalas, and Vijayanagara Empire among others have made substantial contribution to the evolution of Dravidian architecture. This styled architecture can also be found in parts of North India, Northeastern and central Sri Lanka, Maldives, and various parts of Southeast Asia. Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Prambanan in Indonesia were built based on Dravidaarchitecture.
Composition and structure[edit]
Chola style temples consist almost invariably of the three following parts, arranged in differing manners, but differing in themselves only according to the age in which they were executed:[1]
1. The porches or Mandapams, which always cover and precede the door leading to the cell.
2. Gate-pyramids, Gopurams, which are the principal features in the quadrangular enclosures that surround the more notable temples.Gopurams are very common in dravidian temples.
3. Pillard halls (Chaultris or Chawadis) are used for many purposes and are the invariable accompaniments of these temples.
Besides these, a temple always contains tanks or wells for water – to be used for sacred purposes or the convenience of the priests – dwellings for all the grades of the priesthood are attached to it, and other buildings for state or convenience.[1]
Influence from different periods[edit]
In Southern India seven kingdoms and empires