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later. Each of the Jain temples has the basic plan of a main hall and shrine, with a few exceptions. Most notable amongst the exceptions is a temple in the caumukha tradition with four seated images in a central position facing the four directions.
The earliest Hindu temples which survive today do not date any earlier than 400 AD. Indian temples, both Hindu and Jain, are usually classified on the basis of their architectural style into two main groups. In the south the so-called 'Dravidian' style developed on different lines from the 'nagara' or 'Indo-Aryan' style of the north. A third style is also identified, described as the 'intermediate' style, or (from the ruling dynasty) the 'Chalukya' style, which flourished in the Deccan from the eleventh century AD. The term 'intermediate' is not completely satisfactory for the basic characteristics of this style were nearer to those of the southern temples than the northern, though with certain characteristics of plan and decoration which distinguish it. In particular the rich ornamentation of this style suggests the dominance of the sculptor rather than the architect. It is not possible to draw a firm line across the map between the different styles: although the Dravidian style is mainly confined to the southernmost fifth of the sub-continent there are some examples much farther north, while examples of the northern style may be seen in the south.
In the broader architectural features there is no major difference between the temples of the main branches of Hinduism, nor between those of the Hindus and the Jains. The distinctions become apparent only on examination of the images and other sculpture. In its fully developed form the temple is entered through a porch which leads into the main hall, the mukhashala or mandapa, a more or less spacious pillared area where the faithful can assemble for worship. Sometimes there may be side wings giving a cruciform plan. A vestibule, antarala, will connect the hall with the vimana, the sanctuary area within which is the garbha griha, the shrine containing the holy image. The vimana is usually continued upwards as a pyramidal or
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spire-shaped sikhara which may be of considerable height and which is often the dominant feature from the exterior view. Often an ambulatory way allows the worshipper to pass around the garbha griha and the image within. The Indian temple is essentially the house of God: the image in the garbha griha (which is frequently a small dark cell) is the focal point, the raison d'etre for the temple, its location clearly marked from outside by the high-rising sikhara tower. Whilst the architecture of the temple developed over the centuries, it developed within the broad framework of the rules of architecture laid down in the ancient traditional Vastusastra which formed the basic textbook for the architect and builder. The techniques of the Indian temple builder were simple. Arches and domes were constructed from horizontal overlapping slabs of stone kept in place by the weight of those above. Thus the Indian temple is weighty, resting solidly on the ground, not free and loose like the later Gothic cathedral in the West with precisely calculated stresses in its keystone arches and minimal columns and buttresses. The solidity of the Indian temple is concealed by its decorative treatment with its walls and columns, outside in, often richly carved into a breathtaking splendour.
The most noticeable difference between the northern and southern styles of temple architecture lies in the treatment of the sikhara tower. The northern temple commonly has the sugar-load shaped tower, tapering with gentle convex vertical curves to a rounded finial or cap stone at the top. Basically square in plan, such a tower can have smaller shorter versions of the same shape protruding from the sides, giving a star-shaped plan and, where there are several levels of these smaller elements, producing an elegant curved cone with vertical emphasis which leads the eye upwards. It has been suggested that the shape of this tower developed from an early shelter for an image the framework of which has made by setting four bamboo rods vertically in the ground and then bending and tying them together at the top. This derivation sounds fanciful but certainly the
resultant form is very pleasing to the eye. Over the main hall, the mukhashala, of the northern temple the roof may be flattened or pyramidal, or may perhaps have a low dome. In some examples two or three pyramidal roofs rise from the porch to the main hall and led the eye up to the overtowering sikhara tower.
In the Dravidian style the tower rests on a square base and is pyramidal in form, commonly with two sides steeper than the others so that the top of the pyramid is a ridge, not a point. Marked horizontal emphasis is given by lines of ornament and figures repeated around the sides of the tower so that it seems to rise in a series of horizontal bands. The straight lines (although broken by ornament) of these towers are not so pleasing to the eye as the magnificently proportioned convex-sided towers of the northern style. It is probably safe to say that the finest gems of Indian temple architecture, whether Hindu or Jain, are the northern style. Another characteristic of the southern temples is the development after around 1000 AD of magnificient gate towers to the temple enclosure, sometimes exceeding in size the sikhra itself.
Temple building continues in India today. Families of hereditary temple architects still design temples on traditional lines. Indeed construction and endowment of temples has always been seen as a pious religious work: many of the finest examples, both Hindu and Jain, were built in relatively recent times. The Indian temple may be tiny building or a vast edifice of cathedral-like proportions. It is highly stylised, traditional and conventional, but nonetheless usually beautiful. What does seem to be lacking is any really innovative modern style comparable with that of some of the more successful modern churches in the West. One thing we must not forget. The temple is not constructed as a museum piece, as a work of art pure and simple. It is the locus of the god whose images is found within the inner shrine. It is religious building and its artistic qualities are there at the service of and subsidiary to its spiritual functions. www.jailb
