History of

Architectures- II
21181AA010 – FARHAN UMER
21181AA011- MOHD SAFI
 Evolution of vedic architecture
• The architecture of the Vedic Period was neither monumental nor
permanent nor concentrated in urban development.
• The new Indo-Aryan population was largely distributed in small
settlements located in the plains and forests.
• The architecture of the Vedic period encompasses huts of round and square
shape, and also some tower-like structures
 Types of houses
• People lived in small villages with wooden palisade fencesaround them to
keep their sheep in and wild animals out.
• Their houses were one-room cottages built out ofplastered sticks and mud
with hatched roofs in a barrel vault.
• Richer people had more than one house and they arranged their houses in a
circle or square to make a courtyard in the centre.
• rich people made their houses out of mud-brick and roofed them with
wood shingles or clay tiles.
• The gate became the ‘Torana’ in subsequent Buddhist Architecture.The
railing and fence was used to indicate the importance of any religious
monument.
• It was also used to symbolically indicate sacredness.
• Gradually these villages grew into new cities.The government divided these
new cities into four parts – one quarter had the government buildings,one
had the houses, and two were for businesses.
• In the Vedic civiliation metals like gold ,copper ,silver tin were used to
prepare various artifacts..
 Period contribution to the Vedic literature

• samhitas Samved
• Aurved
• Atharvaved
• Rigved
• Brahmanas
• Aranyans
• Panishads
 Buddhist Architectures
• The Buddhist architecture has its root deeply implanted in the Indian soil-
the birth place of the Buddha's teachings.
• The Buddhist architecture began with the development of various symbols,
representing aspects of the Buddha's life (563 BCE - 483 BCE).
• Indian emperor Ashoka, not only established Buddhism a s the state
religion of his large Magadh empire, but also opted for the architectural
monuments to spread Buddhism in different places.
 FEATURES
• The major features of this styles are
• STUPAS
• STAMBUHAS
• CHAITAYAS
• VIHARAS
These have been more spectators of different eras quietly speaks about
the phases of the Buddhist stages.
 Sanchi stupa
• DOME- is a solid brick-work 32.32m in diameter and 12.8m high.The
dome has a slight ‘crushed’ profile at top and was surmounted by
HARMIKA with a central triple U M B R E L L A.The facing of the dome
consists of dry masonry composed of hammer dressed stones laid in even
courses.The terrace 4.87m high from ground was added thus creating a
separate and upper AM BU LATORY passage 1.8m wide access to which
was provided by a double staircase with high BA LU ST RA D E, on the
south side
• The Great Stupa at Amaravati was a large Buddhist monument built in
south-eastern India between the second century B.C. and the third century
A.D. It was a centre for religious activity and worship for hundreds of years.
 Torana
• There are four gateways known as ‘TORANAS’ at the cardinal points to
the compass and are slightly staggered from the railing enclosing stupa.
• These columns support three separate horizontal panels between each of
which is a row of ornamental balusters.
• These panels are supported by atlantean figures, a group of dwarfs, lions
and elephant.
• The total height of this erection is somewhat 10.36m with a width of 3m.
 Ashoka pillars
• The authentic examples of these pillars are those which king Ashoka set up
to bear inscriptions conveying to his subjects the leading doctrines of the
new faith he had adopted, Buddhism. These are sturdy, finely proportional
and properly balanced religious sign posts.These lions originally supported a
massive metal wheel with 24 spokes called ‘wheels of the law’.The capital
more than 2m high resembles the shape of a inverted bell or lotus bub with
series of fluted petals.
 Chaityas
• Chaityas or ‘sacred spots’ are the temples as well as assembly halls created out of
the particular demands of buddhist religion.The entrance of the chaitya is very
grand and consists of three doorways set underneath a gallery.The chaitya hall is
38.5m long and 13m wide with a vaulted roof rising to a height of 13.7m. The
roof is supplemented by a series of wooden ribs which are closely spaced.The hall is
divided by two rows of columns forming a broad nave in the centre.Each column is
1.22m in diameter and 7.32m high, with bell shapes capital which supports a pair
of kneeling elephants carrying male and female riders and those of horses and
tigers in the rear.At the end is a stupa, caved in natural rock, with railing and
inverted stepped pyramid or tee at the top.
 Stambhas
• Chaityas or ‘sacred spots’ are the temples as well as assembly halls created out of
the particular demands of buddhist religion.The entrance of the chaitya is very
grand and consists of three doorways set underneath a gallery.The chaitya hall is
38.5m long and 13m wide with a vaulted roof rising to a height of 13.7m. The
roof is supplemented by a series of wooden ribs which are closely spaced.The hall is
divided by two rows of columns forming a broad nave in the centre.Each column is
1.22m in diameter and 7.32m high, with bell shapes capital which supports a pair
of kneeling elephants carrying male and female riders and those of horses and
tigers in the rear.At the end is a stupa, caved in natural rock, with railing and
inverted stepped pyramid or tee at the top.
 Viharas
These are the residential places of the buddhist priests. They consist of a
main-hall entered by a door-way.They also contain the assembly hall, dining
chambers.From the halls deep into the rocks, cells are provided for
meditation.The shrines contains beautiful figures of Buddha and the walls of
the antechamber depict the stories based on Buddha's life and fine frescoes as
in case of Ajanta. Some great structural viharas were about 60m high
covered with glazed tiles.Some of the important Buddhist viharas are those at
Ajanta, Ellora. Nasik, Karle, Kanheri, Bagh and Badami.