Indian Architecture: Overview

Notes (chronological)

Harappan: grid-pattern towns, drainage, Great Bath (Mohenjo-daro), granaries, burnt bricks, citadel and lower town. There is no definite temple evidence.
Mauryan:
- Court art: polished Chunar sandstone pillars (Mauryan polish) and lion/bull capitals. The Sarnath Lion Capital is the national emblem.
- Popular art: Yaksha and Yakshi figures (Didarganj Yakshi).
- Rock-cut caves at Barabar.
- Stupas.
Post-Mauryan: Shunga (Bharhut, Sanchi railings), Satavahana (Sanchi toranas, Amaravati), Kushana (Gandhara and Mathura schools).
Gupta: the beginning of structural temples. Examples are the Dashavatara Temple at Deogarh, the brick temple at Bhitargaon, and Sanchi Temple 17.
Early medieval: Nagara, Dravida and Vesara styles (Pallava, Chalukya, Rashtrakuta, Chola, Hoysala).
Medieval: Indo-Islamic (Sultanate, provincial, Mughal), plus Vijayanagara.
Colonial: Gothic Revival and Indo-Saracenic (Gateway of India, Madras High Court).
Modern: Le Corbusier (Chandigarh), Louis Kahn (IIM Ahmedabad), Laurie Baker.

Key points: Rock-cut architecture is pre-structural. Structural temples begin in the Gupta period, and Pallava and Chalukya builders turned rock-cut forms into structural ones.