topics: |  history | india-architecture | ancient

based on the Phd thesis, U. Hyderabad, dec 1994 (guide: Aloka Parasher-Sen)

Man seeks the expression of his aspirations in 'Monumentality'. This desire
to create buildings, which are not purely meant for utility, are left as
records for the future generations. This has always been felt in all ages and
as an outcome of which we see all over the world some of the most beautiful
buildings built in different eras. In pre-modern societies such
'Monumentality' is almost invariably intertwined with the religious ethos of
the people and therefore, to see the material from the cultural as separate
entities is well nigh impossible.

Anthropologist Walter Goldschmidt:
technology is the "learned means by which man utilises the environment to
satisfy his animal wants".   [6]
	   [Man's Way: A Preface to the Understanding of Human Society, 1967, p.110.]

R.M.Henig, 'Where Surgery meets the Soul', The Washington Post. Book
World. 13, no.16, 1983.

After independence:
 - the Government College of Architecture and Sculpture in 1957 at
	Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu.
 - Following the same pattern, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam also started
	in 1960 an institute called the Sri Venkateswara Institute for
	Traditional Sculpture and Architecture at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.

the intellectual and spiritual advancement of the
people can also be seen reflected in the types of building found throughout
Indian civilization. These ideas were formulated, transmitted and shaped
into form by a specialised group of people called Silpins or Sthapatis in
south India and Viswakarmas and Sompuras in north India. The Silpins can
be defined as technologists trained within the framework of an ideology
deep rooted in metaphysical linkages.

the building of the Srisailam Hydro-Electric Dam on the river Krishna,
[required] the transplantation of ancient temples by way of first dismantling
them, then transporting them to elevated places and finally, leading to their
reconstruction.

about the form and origin of the Brahmanical temple, early literature
provides us with the perspective that this infact originated from the human
body. The Chandogyopanisad propounds that the human body has to be conceived
as the temple of Brahma. The Skandopanisad further specifies: dehodevAlayam
proktah iTvo deva sanatanah...  Stella Kramrisch was one of the first
scholars who elaborated on these aspects in her writings, namely, that in the
shape of the Garbhagrha. the sanctum of the temple, the innermost macrocosmic
and microcosmic conception can be seen to be conjoined.

In the ancient texts the atman was symbolically represented in a
square, dynamism in an octagon and execessive dynamism 1n a circle. These
basic patterns of form were in turn supposed to represent satva. raiasa and
tamasa elements called the trigunas and these were applied in the plans of

the temples. The physical drawing of the vastupurusamandala on which the
plan of the temple was drawn and constructed was thus symbolic of the
metaphysical doctrine of an all pervading cosmic principle. Scholars like
D.N.Sukla elaborate on the vastupurusamandala as one consisting of three
parts; vastu. purusa and mandala and these three terms are said to define
the cosmological, the metaphysical and the architectural implications,
respectively. Stella Kramrisch further elaborates this philosophy of
vastubrahma. in the words: "purusa. cosmic man, the origin and source of
existence (apara prakrti) 1s to be His substance as Its material cause
(upadana). This is how He was known in the world, the manifested aspect of
Himself, the para-prakrti. beyond existence, the avvavapurusa. the
Immutable one (uttamapurusa). The plan makes the site of the building in
his Image which is his form."  p.35

Kadalikakarana: the sikhara was built generally by corbelling of courses of
   bricks overlapping each other inside, until they met and closed the
   opening with a stone or brick called Murthnestika. The outer faces of the
   brick sikhara were plastered with lime mortar and occasionally, decorated
   with stucco. Some sikharas were provided with sukanasis over the
   arthamandapas.