Brief history of South India relation between Bhakti period and temple architecture of temple towns

1. Evolution of Temples
TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE IN SOUTH INDIA
Temple Architecture in India

2. INTRODUCTION
TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE
SOUTHERN INDIA
Brief history of South India relation between
Bhakti period and temple architecture of temple
towns
• Dravidian Order - Evolution and form of
gopuram
• Rock cut productions under Pallavas: Shore
temple, Mahabalipuram and Kailasanatha
temple,Kanchipuram
• Chola Architecture: Nartamalai,
Brihadeeswara, Gangai, onda Cholapuram and
Darasuram temples temple gateways of
Madurai and Chidambaram –
• Temple towns: Madurai, Srirangam and
Kanchipuram
• Hoysala architecture: Belur and Halebid
Chaultries – A place where people distribute
food / place to sit after visiting god.

3. TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE SOUTHERN INDIA
• A temple consisted of - Vimanas, Gopurams, Mantapams and
Chaultries.
• The parts of the temple followed the rituals
• The Vimana was the central plot, the land on which the temple is
built.
• And it was generally a square-large area, where the main idol was
placed.
• A vast gateway, which led to different parts of the temple with
pillars the length of its path, was known as the Mantapam-the
porch.
Mantapams
Gopuram
Vimanas

4. TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE SOUTHERN INDIA
• The “Koil” (God Resting Place) cannot be pictured without the quadrangular beautifully
decorated towers, with the Kalasham on top. This tapering Gopuram is divided into many
storeys and is decorated with sculptures and paintings, of the respective temple’s deity or
instances from Hindu Mythology.
• The premier Vaishnava temple in Srirangam,
Tamilnadu - The SriRangam Koil has the tallest Hindu Gopuram in the world.
• Chaultries or vast pillard halls were also a part of most large temples and they were used to
perform Yagnas, weddings or even dance/music performances in front of the king.
Vishanava Temple - SriRangam

5. TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE SOUTHERN INDIA
• The entire temple revolves around the main deity. The stone or bronze idol of this deity resides
in the innermost room of the Sanctum Sanctorum, the ‘Gharbha Griha’ which literally means
the ‘house like a womb’, where only priests are allowed.
• With a skilfully decorated entrance and a surrounding circumambulatory path, this
GharbhaGriha is the square-room of peace and equilibrium.
• And the front porch usually has a big metallic bell that hangs from the ceiling. Devotees
entering and leaving the porch ring this bell to declare their arrival and departure.
“Garba Griha” at (Right) Lepakshi Temple
left Ramappa Temple

6. TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE SOUTHERN INDIA
• South Indian temples (12th century onwards)
were surrounded by series of concentric
protective walls called the Prakaras.
• Towers erected over the entrance gateways of
these walls are known as Gopuras or
Gopurams. These towers can go over fifty
meters tall ( 100 – 150 Feet tall).
• A Gopura is generally constructed with a
massive stone base and a superstructure of
brick and pilaster.
• Gopura is rectangular in plan and topped by a
barrel-vault roof crowned with a row of finials.
It differs from the Vimana over the central
shrine in that it need not necessarily be
square-based.
The Gopura too resembles a Mandala; With
sculptures and carvings of Yalis and mythical
animals located in the outer enclosure.
• Humans and divine beings are in the inner
enclosures.
• The peak of the Gopura, the Kalasha, is at the
centre of the Mandala
Prakara outside Srirangam Temple
Yali at Vishnu Temple

7. TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE SOUTHERN INDIA
• These sculptures follow a variety of themes
derived from the Hindu mythology,
particularly those associated with the
presiding deity of the temple where the
gopuram is located.
• Symbolically, the Gopura or the entrance to
the temple represent the feet of the deity.
• A devotes bows at the feet of the Lord at
the entrance as he steps into the temple
and proceeds towards the sanctum, leaving
behind the world of contradictions.
• The crest of the Gopuram has the same
significance of representing the central
Brahmasthan which is the energy field of
any building.
• This energy field in three dimension is
taken to the top level of the gopuram and
this confers spiritual benefits to the visitors
of the temple.

8. TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE SOUTHERN INDIA
• In the Sri Rangam temple the seven
concentric prakara walls are said to
represent the seven layers of matter-earth,
water, fire, air, either, mind and
intelligence-that envelop the consciousness
of the living entities in the material world.
• With the increasing threat from invading
armies, the temple cities found it expedient
to erect a series of protective walls to
safeguard and defend their temples,
palaces and cities.
• The Gopuras constructed on the gateways
leading from one enclosure to the next,
initially, served as watch towers for
defense.
• Among the finest examples are the Sundara
Pandya Gopura of the Jambukesvara
temple at Tiruchchirappalli, the Gopuras of
the great Shiva temple at Chidambaram
and the Gopuras of the Meenakshi temple
at Madurai.
• Meenakshi temple has twelve
impressive Gopuras over the three tier
Prakara walls. The outer four towers are
nine -storied with heights ranging from
161 feet to 170 feet.
• Sri Ranganatha temple at Sri Rangam,
which has seven enclosure walls and as
many as twenty-one Gopuras, the
seventh, the outer most enclosure
encloses an area of about six hundred
acres.
• The angle of slope from the vertical is
25˚
• Width of the apex was ½ of the base

9. TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE SOUTHERN INDIA
• SANCTUM SANCTORUM is the
PRADAKSHINAPATHA, which is a
circumambulatory passage for devotees.
• In front of the Garbha Griha is the MUKHA
MANTAPA, also called ARDHA MANTAPA,
which is normally used for keeping articles of
worship.
• ANTARALA is the narrow passage, which
connects GARBHA GRIHA and MUKA MANTAPA
to the hall called MANTAPA This the place
where religious discourses or the recitation of
mythological verses takes place.
• All temples have a DHVAJASTAMBHA or flag
post in front of the MANTAPA. On top of this is
the LANCHANA or insignia of the deity.
• For example in Vishnu temples it is GARUDA.
• Near the DHVAJASTAMBHA is the BALIPEEDA,
which is a pedestal for sacrificial offering. High
walls called PRAKARA are built on the
perimeter of the temple complex and in the
main entrance is the GOPURAM, which is the
main gate with a high tower.
ANTARALA
DHVAJASTAMBHA

10. BHAKTHI MOVEMENT INFLUENCES
7TH AND 12TH CENTURY
• Bhakti meant undivided devotion to only one god, the most famous being – Shiva and Vishnu.
• The Bhakti temples, which started as minute shrines, evolved and slowly grew into edifices like
the rock cut temples built by the Pallavas.
• The Bhakti movement even spread to the north during late medieval ages, though the north
was under the Islamic rule, the Bhakti movement tried to preserve Hinduism.
• There were 63 Shaiva Nayanmars and 12 Vaishnavite Alvars – They were the saints who
disregarded the austerities preached by the jains and the Buddhists.
• They disregarded the rigidities of the caste and carried their message of love and personal
devotion to god as a means of salvation to various parts of south India by using local
languages
• Shankaracharya, Ramanujam, Madhavacharya,, Saint Janabai, Gangasati, Meerabai
• Kabir was one of the earliest and most influential Bhakthi saints in north India who supported
Hindu-Muslim unity

11. The Metaphysical Architecture of the Temple
• The basic plan of a Hindu temple is an expression of sacred geometry where the temple is
visualized as a grand mandala.
• By sacred geometry we mean a science which has as its purpose the accurate laying out of
the temple ground plan in relation to the cardinal directions and the heavens.
Characteristically, a mandala is a sacred shape consisting of the intersection of a circle and a
square.
• The square shape is symbolic of earth, signifying the four directions which bind and define it.
(four castes; the four Vedas etc.).
• Similarly, the circle is logically the perfect metaphor for heaven since it is a perfect shape,
without beginning or end, signifying timelessness and eternity, a characteristically divine
attribute.
• It was Jayavarman II (c. AD800 to AD850) who introduced the cult of devaraja into Cambodia,
establishing the king as a representative of the Hindu god Siva.
• From this time temples were being built to honor both the god and the king. During the next
two reigns, the practice of each new king building his own temple which became his tomb on
his death, was firmly established