Architecture in Ancient India

The Kushana and Gupta periods, from the fourth century B.C., to the early A.D., centuries were marked by new developments in both secular and religious architecture in India.

In about the year 150 B.C., a magnificent series of caves were built in Karle (near Bombay). A shrine at this site, India's largest cave temple, is 38 meters long, over 14 meters wide and almost 14 meters high. In the hall of this temple, there are two rows of columns, a stupa (dome shaped monument) and many different stone sculptures. Light falls into the cave through special apertures with wooden ribs. Many figures in the relief are carved into the façade. Apart from that of Buddha, there are also statures of those who endowed the temple. The whole enormous complex was cut into the rock and it is striking in its magnificence. In the Gupta period, cave architecture was developed further. A particularly striking example is provided by the cave temples at Ajanta. The temples of that period usually had facades richly ornamented with sculptured figures.

Most of the religious and secular buildings of note during that period were built in wood, which accounts for the fact that they have not survived. However, the stone buildings that survived from the Gupta period testify to high standards of architecture. One of the most ancient Hindu temples above ground is at Sanchi and dates from the fifth century A.D. The columns of the portico bear their tops decorated with figures of lions which resemble those of the famous lion capital on Atoka's pillar. The temple at Sanchi was built with reference to the finest traditions of Indian architecture.

A still earlier building was the small Buddhist temple at Nalanda, built in fourth century A.D. Though the temple got worn out, the foundations of which have survived to this date. At Nalanda, there was an enormous university complex attended by over 10,000 students, apart form numerous buildings designated for worship and ordinary houses.

In the fourth century A.D., wok began on an enormous Buddhist temple at Bodh Gaya. Its main tower was 55 meters high, and this made it one of the highest Buddhist temples in the whole of Asia. Large Buddhist monasteries were also being built in North Western India. As early as the second century A.D., work began on the Dharmarajika Monastery in Taxila and a whole complex of halls and subsidiary buildings had been completed by the fifth century A.D.

Excavations of many layers to be found at the sites of ancient settlements have revealed remains of secular buildings dating from the early centuries A.D. The sculptures on the stupas in Sanchi and Amaravati give us an idea of these buildings. The houses of this period had several storey and he royal palaces were of dazzling splendor.