User:Tbec11/Hindu architecture

Villages, towns and cities[edit]

Some town plans recommended in the 700 CE Manasara Sanskrit text on Hindu architecture.

Hindu texts recommend architectural guidelines for homes, market places, gardens and town planning. The best site for human settlement, declares Manasara, seeks the right terrain with thick soil that slopes to open skies eastward so that the residents can appreciate the sunrise. It is near a river or significant water stream, and has enough ground water for wells – a second source of water. The soil, states Manasara, should be firm, rich for growing flowers, vegetables and fruit trees, and of agreeable odor. The text recommends that the town planners dig and check the soil quality for a stable foundation to homes and public buildings. Once the location is accepted, the text describes forty plans for laying out the streets, the homes, markets, gardens and other infrastructure necessary for the settlement. Example architectural plans include Dandaka, Prastara, Chaturmukha, Padmaka, Karmuka, Swastika and others. The Hindu texts vary, with five shared principles:

• Diknirnaya: principles of orientation
• Padavinyasa : site planning
• Hastalakshana : proportionate measurement ratios of sections
• Ayadi : six canonical principles of architecture
• Patakadi : aesthetics or character of each building or part of the overall plan

The guidelines combine principles of early Hindu understanding of science, spiritual beliefs, astrology and astronomy. In practice, these guidelines favor symmetry set to the cardinal directions, with many plans favoring the streets to be aligned with seasonal winds direction, integrated with the terrain and the needs of the local weather. A temple or public assembly hall at the center of the town is recommended in Manasara

Landscape

Hindu architecture reflects the importance of the divine and cosmos in not only the creation of temples and buildings, but also within the landscape surrounding these structures and the makeup of many cities themselves as they lead followers through a pilgrimage of spiritual awakening. They speak of different traditions, such as the Vedic tales and manuals, whose principles aide in guiding the formation and creation of temples and the surrounding natural landscape to best achieve the earthly link to the divine through geometries, patterns, and numbers. For example, the grids of many Hindu cities are planned based upon guidance from the Vedic manuals, while others use the mandala as a foundation. But it is not just about the patterns that one can see visually, but also about the physical patterns that one endures on their journey to or experience within the architecture, such as the circumambulatory nature of many Hindu pilgrimages and temples like the panchkroshī pilgrimage.

Temples (mandirs)

Elements in a North Indian temple (Madhya Pradesh).

The architectural plan of the Gondeshwar temple near Nashik (Maharashtra).

Main article: Hindu temple architecture

The creation and design of Hindu architecture is firmly intertwined with the beliefs in which Hinduism grounds itself, which is that that life does not exist without connection to divine potential as life is viewed as a never-ending series of a continuous cycle of the universe being created and destroyed. Hindu temples therefore tend to lie at the heart of Hindu architecture (see Hindu Temple Architecture) as they are often viewed as a direct link between the gods and man, which is essential connection in the Hindu culture. Temples also aid the spiritual transformation of those who come to experience them as they hold and embody many elements of Hindu architecture that mirror the cosmos.

Temples are used as a way to formulate and represent the divine in a way that can be easily understood and perceived at the human scale. Similarly to their surrounding landscapes, temples are able to achieve this intimate connection through patterns, geometries such as, a circle to represent the earth or a square to symbolize the heavens, numbers that reflect equivalence to a greater meaning, like 108, which is the distance from the earth to the sun, or 360, that hold a significant meaning whether it be in the Hindu religion, in relation to the cosmos, or to daily life. For example, many of the numbers found in temples hold an astronomical basis that trace back to either the solar or lunar year to aid in deepening the connection to the cosmos. The use of geometries also assist in creating a sense of scale for the observer with its progression from large to smaller details. As a result, these different characteristics allow for representation of values and symbolism that are vital to the spirit and essence of Hindu temples. In addition, many of the geometries and patterns that found in the temples are often duplicated and found elsewhere, whether it be somewhere else within the architecture or reflected within the surrounding landscape.

Layout and Elements

Hindu temple architecture has many varieties of style whose historic role has been to provide "a focus for both the social and spiritual life" for the Hindu community it serves, states George Michell. Every Hindu temple ("mandir") is imbued with symbolism, yet the basic structure of each stays the same. Each temple has an inner sanctum or the sacred space, the garbha griha or womb-chamber, where the primary murti or the image of a deity is housed in a simple bare cell for darshana (view, meditative focus). Above the garbhagriha is a tower-like shikhara, called the vimana in south India. This sanctum is surrounded by a closed or open path for pradakshina (also called parikrama, circumambulation) that is typically intricately carved with symbolic art depicting Hindu legends, themes of artha, dharma and kama as well as the statues of significant deities of three major Hindu traditions (Vishnu, Shiva and Shakti).

The sanctums of significant temples have a mandapa congregation hall, and sometimes an antarala antechamber and porch between garbhagriha and mandapa. Major temples that attract pilgrims from far typically have mandapas or other buildings that service the pilgrims. These may be connected or detached from the temple. The main temple may exist with other smaller temples or shrines in the temple compound. The streets around the temple are markets and hubs of economic activity. There are examples of special dance pavilions (Nata Mandir), like in the Konark Sun Temple. The pool, temple tank (Kunda) is also part of large temples, and they traditionally have served as a place for a bath dip and ablutions for pilgrims. The same essential architectural principles are found in the historic Hindu temples of southeast Asia.

These architectural principles in Hindu temple design are used to deliberately enhance the visitor's experience of the temple, using different chambers, layouts, and art to guide the temple visitor closer to a higher spiritual encounter and gently bring them back to the mundane world. According to Shilpa Sharma and Shireesh Deshpande—architecture professors at Mumbai University and Nagpur University—there are two main ways of orienting a person's focus towards the sacred and away from the profane using spatial/architectural elements to enhance their spiritual experience of the temple space. The first method is to section the visitor off from the outside environment. The second is to lead them through a process of becoming increasingly focused on the object they are meant to be worshiping. In an article published in the Journal of Architectural Planning and Research, Sharma and Deshpande identify five specific architectural strategies used in Hindu temple design, that help emphasize an atmosphere of sacred space—giving form to the temple, curating the approach/entry to the building, the design of the interior spaces, building anticipation via spatial layout, and the structured transition back from the sacred world to the mundane world.

The first method is to give the temple a landmark form. This means to give the building a distinct form, such that it is visible and recognizable as a destination to visit, even from afar. It draws upon the idea of divine manifestation, demarking the boundary between sacred and profane space.

The second method is the curation of the approach and entry to the building. As one enters into the temple and moves towards the innermost sacred space, there are several spaces devoted to different activities. These may range from a space to take of one’s shoes to large social spaces for festivities.

Third, one can enhance sacredness through careful control of the interior. As one moves deeper into the temple, the large social spaces fall away, and one is left following down a path of narrowing spaces. Structured social gathering for worship is not a core practice of Hinduism, so the shrinking volumes of inner chambers give space to private ritual in preparation to encounter the deity at the heart of the temple[iv]. The shrinking of space is meant to build up to a close and intimate spiritual encounter.

The design of the sanctum threshold is the fourth element of enhancing sacredness. The goal is to build as much anticipation as possible for the fated encounter. This can be done in several ways, including the cessation of ornate decoration right at the door to the sanctum, as well as creating a distinct shift from an illuminated area to a darkened one. Such elements create a vast distinction between the experience of encountering the deity and that of the rest of the temple.

Lastly, the gentle transitioning from the spiritual world back to the mundane world helps maintain the feeling of sacredness. This transition is eased through the implementation of wandering paths out of the sanctum that are decorated with spiritual imagery, reminding visitors of their encounter while slowly opening them back up to the world.

Physical and Metaphysical Factors

Being heavily centered around spirituality and sacred practices, much of Hindu architectural canon manifests as temples and sites of pilgrimage. Among these two facets of spatial production, there can be interpreted a database of common social, thematic, motivational, and spatial influences that direct the design of these architectures, and contribute to the ritual and sacred processes of a user.

In Harveen Bhandari and Amit Mittal's research survey, they identified these factors under the ASEB (activity, setting, experience, and benefit) framework, identifying common drivers in the participation and perception of ritual sites by religious pilgrims. The research was conducted via a qualitative survey of pilgrims and practitioners across various sacred sites, from which the research identified distinctly physical factors and themes that contributed to pilgrims' journey and the resulting interconnections to their religious experience. These physical factors include aspects such as traffic, security, spiritual experience, waiting time, amenities, accommodation and food, and quality time.

In Mridula Swaminathan's thesis, they analyzed the societal, cultural, and sacred practices that dictated the design of ritual spaces such as Hindu temples and palaces, identifying certain ritual values and factors that manifested the typology. Through a process of contextual decoding and characterizing of ritual and community practices, they identified complementary metaphysical factors that contribute to the morphology and design of such spaces of ritual practice. These metaphysical factors include aspects such as sequence, symbolism, reenactment, language, visual cultural practice, cultural pride, reverence, and communal cohesion.

Gopurams

Essentially independent architectural structure is an element of the temple complex as gopuram, viz., gatehouse towers, usually ornate, othen with colossal size, at the entrance of a Hindu temple of Southern India.

Construction and Materials

For the ancient Indian temples, the trapezoidal system of construction used beams and columns to transfer the load and stabilize the building. Such a system was used in timber building in the early time and later in the stone buildings. And the pillar and beam method of construction had become the main structural principle guiding the construction of every Hindu temple. Except for that, in the 13^th century, the corbelling system was used to create interiors of stone temples. Due to the use of iron clamps and wedges, such building technique was refined, leading to more unusual shapes and ceiling spans.

In addition to the wooden and stone buildings, in Bali the Meru temples – high-overlapping roof reached more than 10 meters, were built using local materials such as bamboo. Such type of temple was not only sacred building, but also earthquake-resistant ones. In contrast to other temples that used solid stone or brick materials, the material used for the roof was bamboo, while its supporting beams were wood which strengthened the bearer and added beauty.

Rathas

Rathas play a dual role in Hindu architecture. In some Hindu sites, there are shrines or structures referred to as rathas because they have the shape of a chariot, following literal translation and reference is to a spoked-wheel chariot or a cart of antiquity. These fulfil a symbolic ritual importance of service to deities. Rathas may also refer to a different formal aspect of Hindu architecture, a deployment of faceted or vertical offset projection on the plan of the sanctum and shikhara above, or other structure.

The size and organization of the ratha facets are derived from the interaction with circles superscribed in plan view and centered on the focal point of the ritual space. Rathas can be derived to different extents, with the simplest ratha form of triratha displaying a single vertical protrusion or three degrees of facet. The pancharatha, saptaratha, and navaratha patterns create five, seven, and nine degrees of facet, respectively. This creates a form that begins to blend the rectilinear and circular form, becoming more circular as the degree of ratha increases. These basic ratha formations were also used in conjunction with additional organizational systems for ritual spaces which led to manipulations and adaptations as explored by Meister. Various rules are used to connect to the ritual grid, and adapt proportion for these offsets with regular pattern.