Indus valley civilization and its introduction to the planning Buddhist architecture stupas, vihara halls, chaitya halls, sthambas, and its way to temple architecture and evolution.

1. VEDIC
AND
BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE
History of Architecture

2. VEDIC ARCHITECTURE
Early Vedic period (c. 1500 – c. 1000 BCE)
Later Vedic period(c. 1000 – c. 600 BCE)
The Indus Valley Civilization
(2500–1900 BC)
• The Indus Valley Civilization, also called
Harappan after one of its major cities, is
the second of the three great river-based
civilizations of the third millennium BC in
northern Africa and southwest
• Asia. Its cities, with their distinctive
choices in architecture and town
planning, provide an
• instructive counterpoint to those of
regions further west, Mesopotamia and
Egypt. In certain features, the Harappans
seem particularly advanced.
• Lothal, Dholavira, Mohenjo-Daro, and
Kalibangan.

3. Harappan Civilization
• Harappan civilization is one of the most ancient civilizations of the world. It was believed to be a
hub of art and culture and architecture.
• Harappan objects were made of stone, Shell, and metal. Copper and bronze were used to make
tools, weapons, ornaments, and vessels. Gold and silver were used to make ornaments and
vessels. Harappans also made stone seals. They made pots with beautiful black designs. Bricks
were so well made that they had seemed to have lasted for thousands of years and were laid in
an interlocking pattern which made the walls strong. About a hundred and fifty years ago, many
of these bricks were taken away by engineers.

5. Harappan Civilization
• People built one or two-story houses on
either side of the roads with rooms built
around a courtyard. The Harappan city
had a well-planned drainage system
where every house had a drain
connected to the street drains which
further were connected to the bigger
drains. The drains were also covered
with the stone slabs that were laid in
straight lines along with inspection holes
for the cleanup purpose.
• The citadel comprised granaries,
religious buildings, public buildings, and
assembly halls while the lower town was
divided into rectangular sections cut by
wide roads at right angles to each other.
• The Harappan city was divided into two
or more parts of which the part to the
west was smaller, however higher,
known to be as a citadel. Also, the part
to the east was comparatively larger but
lower and the archaeologists called it
‘the lower town’.

6. The Axonometric reconstruction of the granaries at Harappa shows
them ranged in two rows of six with a wide central passage . the
triangular holes are ventilation ducts is a reconstruction of the citadel
seen from the north, showing the granaries on the right. Between the
citadel and granaries and the citadel are the workmen's quarters
Granary - A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed
grain or animal feed.

7. • A well-planned street grid and an elaborate
drainage system hint that the occupants of the
ancient Indus civilization city of Mohenjo-Daro
were skilled urban planners with a reverence for
the control of water. But just who occupied the
ancient city
• The city lacks ostentatious palaces, temples, or
monuments. There's no obvious central seat of
government or evidence of a king or queen.
• Modesty, order, and cleanliness were apparently
preferred. Pottery and tools of copper and stone
were standardized. Seals and weights suggest a
system of tightly controlled trade.
• The Indus Valley civilization was entirely unknown
until 1921, when excavations in what would
become Pakistan revealed the cities of Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro (shown here). This mysterious
culture emerged nearly 4,500 years ago and thrived
for a thousand years, profiting from the highly
fertile lands of the Indus River floodplain and trade
with the civilizations of nearby Mesopotamia.
Mohenjo-Daro

8. • In another major difference,
baked brick was extensively
used, with air-dried mud
bricks reserved for fill. Both
baked and air-dried bricks
came in standard sizes, such
as 7cm × 14cm × 28cm.
• The “citadel” must be a city
center. Its physical setting is
prominent, and it features
large, imposing buildings,
some most likely the sites of
religious ritual or public
ceremony. The citadel is built
on an artificial platform, ca.
400m × 200m, made of sand
and silt enclosed in a mud
brick retaining wall 6m thick.
It rises some 13m above the
plain, and well above the rest
of the city.
Mohenjo-Daro

9. The granary stood
on the steep
verge of citadel at
Mohenjo-Daro
and at the
western end of its
north side was a
recessed
unloading bay .
the figures
hauling the sack
up with a rope
indicate the
present size of
the structure, the
other figure is
crouching in the
opening of one of
the ventilation
ducts.

11. The Great Bath (Mohenjo-Daro)
These two axonometric reconstructions
illustrate the great Mohenjo-Daro in its two
stages.
The buildings to the north of the baths are
rooms with private baths possibly for
priests.

12. Citadel
(Mohenjo-Daro)
The fortification of the citadel
mound at Harappa consisted
of revetted mud bricks
rampart which was built on a
base of 40ft wide. from this
base it tapered upward. the
revetment of baked brick
shows work of the two
periods.
Behind the fortification a high
mud platform carried the
buildings of the interior as
shown in the section
(Citadel - A central area in a
city that is heavily fortified)
Citadel (Mohenjo-Daro)

13. Lothal
• Laid out on a grid plan and provided with a good
system of drainage, the city originally occupied
12hectares within a fortification wall,
• Like other Harappan sites, Lothal too had its
“citadel,” 48.5m × 42.5m,
• built on an artificial platform of mud brick, ca. 4m
high. But this citadel lay clearly within the
• town and, unusually, in the south-east sector. The
citadel would have served for defense against
floods, to secure storage for food, and as a
showcase for the prestige of the rulers of the
town.
• The notable building on the citadel is a mud brick
structure with ventilating channels, here, Rao
proposed, possibly the foundation for a
warehouse.
• On the south-east edge of the Harappan world, in the Indian state of Gujarat, the ruins of Lothal
were explored in the 1950s by S. R. Rao of the Archaeological Survey of India. Although much
smaller than Mohenjo-Daro, this city displays many of the same key features of urban design
and architecture. Size differences thus did not affect the basic template of the Harappan city.

14. Notes :
Cites - Lothal, Dholavira, Mohenjo-Daro, and Kalibangan.
The Harappan city had a well-planned drainage system.
advanced architecture with dockyards, granaries, warehouses, brick platforms, and protective walls.
There is no conclusive evidence of palaces or temples (or even of kings, armies, or priests), and the
largest structures may be granaries.

15. Buddhist
Architecture

16. Buddhist Architecture:
A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery, is the
place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of
Buddhism. They include the structures called
vihara, chaitya, stupa, and pagoda in different
regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism
represent the pure land or pure environment of a
Buddha. Traditional Buddhist temples are
designed to inspire inner and outer peace.
As Buddhism spread, Buddhist architecture
diverged in style, reflecting the similar trends in
Buddhist art. Building form was also influenced to
some extent by the different forms of Buddhism
in the northern countries, practising Mahayana
Buddhism in the main and in the south where
Theravada Buddhism prevailed.
Introduction and classification
The Mahabodhi Temple
In Bodhgaya, India

17. Buddhist Architecture:
Introduction and classification
As with Buddhist art, architecture followed the spread of
Buddhism throughout south and east Asia and it was the early
Indian models that served as a first reference point, even
though Buddhism virtually disappeared from India itself in the
10th century.
1. Stambhas or Lats
2. Stupas
3. Rails
4. Chaitya Halls
5. Viharas and monasteries
Stambha or Lats :
These pillars are common to all the styles of Indian
architecture.
With the Buddhists they were employed to bear inscriptions
on their shafts, with emblems or animals on their capitals.
With the Jains they were generally Deepdans or lamp- bearing
pillars, With the Vaishnavas they as generally bore statues of
Garuda or Hunaman, With the Saiva they were flag-stafis, but,
whatever their destination, they were always among the most
original, and frequently the most elegant, productions of
Indian art Ashoka Pillar Lion Capital, Sarnath

18. Buddhist Architecture:
Stambha or Lats
CAPITAL PILLAR IN FRONT OF CAVE, BEDSA, INDIA Ashokan Pillar, Lauriya-Nandangar Bihar.

19. Buddhist Architecture:
Stupas or Topes.
These again may be divided into two classes,
according to their destination :
• First, the true Stupas or towers erected to
commemorate some event or mark some
sacred spot dear to the followers of the
religion of Buddha.
• Secondly, Dagobas, or monuments
containing relics of Buddha, or of some
Buddhist saint. If it were possible, these two
ought always to be kept separate, but no
external signs have yet been discovered by
which they can be distinguished from one
another, and till this is so, they must be
considered, architecturally at least, as one
Sanchi Stupa
Madhya Pradesh, India

20. Buddhist Architecture:
Stupas - Sarnath
Sarnath is a place located 10
kilometres north-east of
Varanasinear the confluence
of the Ganges and the
Varuna rivers in Uttar
Pradesh, India.
The Deer Park in Sarnath is
where Gautama Buddha first
taught the Dharma, and
where the BuddhistSangha
came into existence through
the enlightenmentof
Kondanna (Sanskrit:
Kauṇḍinya).

21. Buddhist Architecture:
Stupas - Sarnath

22. Buddhist Architecture:
Votive Stupa
11th Century AD
Sarnath Plan
11th Century AD

23. Buddhist Architecture:
Stupas – Bodh-Gaya
The Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya district
in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous as it is the
place where Gautama Buddha is said to have
attained Enlightenment (Pali: bodhi) under what
became known as the Bodhi Tree.
Since antiquity, Bodh Gaya has remained the
object of pilgrimage and veneration both for
Hindus and Buddhists.
Illustration of
the temple
built by
Ashoka at
Bodh-Gaya
around the
Bodhi tree.
Sculpture of
the
Satavahana
period at
Sanchi, 1st
century CE.
For Buddhists, Bodh Gaya is the most important of the main
four pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha,
the other three being Kushinagar, Lumbini, and Sarnath.

24. Buddhist Architecture:
Stupas – Sanchi Stupa

25. Buddhist Architecture:
Stupas – Sanchi Stupa
• Sanchi is a small village in Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh. It is 46 km NE of Bhopal,
Capital of Madhya Pradesh. It is famous for it houses Buddhist monuments called
"Stupas" dating to 3rd century BCE. "Stupa" in Sanskrit stands for "heap",
• A circular tumuli of earth covered with stone or brick which propagates the ‘Doctrine,
Also known as ‘Relic Shrines
• Spherical dome symbolizes the infinite sky, the abode of God
• Top of dome is a small decorative balcony called ‘Harmika’
• At top is a rainvase or ‘Varsha sthala’
• The reconstruction of the stupa was started in as early as 150 B.C., when the existing
stupa was enlarged nearly twice its previous size.
• The dome ‘anda’ or ‘egg’is a solid brick work 32.32 in diameter and 12.8m high
• In some stupas , the dome was colored and also some recesses were left at the intervals
for receiving small lamps to be lit at the time of festivals
• The stupa was enclosed within a wooden or stone railing called as ‘’Vediaca’’leaving an
ambulatory passage with a gateways called as ‘Toranas’,at each end of the cardinal
points.
• The Great Stupa is 120 feet across (36.6 meters) and, excluding the railing and
umbrella, is 54 feethigh (16.46 meters).

26. Buddhist Architecture:

27. Buddhist Architecture:
Stupas – Sanchi Stupa

28. Buddhist Architecture:
Stupas – Amaravati
The Amaravati Stupa, popularly
known as the great stūpa at
Amaravati, is a ruined Buddhist
monument, probably built in phases
between the third century BCE and
about 250 CE, at Amaravati village,
Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh,
India.
It was small, only 30 ft. to 35 ft. in
diameter, or about 100 ft. in
circumference, and 50 ft. high. The
perpendicular part, 34 ft. high, was
covered with sculptures in low relief,
representing scenes from the- life of
Buddha. The domical part was
covered with stucco, and with
wreaths and medallions either
executed in relief or painted. No
fragment of them remains by which
it can be ascertained which mode of
decoration was the one adopted.

29. Buddhist Architecture:
Stupas – Amaravati

30. Stupa - Manikyala (Punjab)
Buddhist Architecture:
Manikyala in the Punjab, situated between the
Indus and the Jelum or Hydaspes.
Fifteen or twenty examples are found at this
place, most of which were opened by General
Venturaand M. Court about the year 1830, when
several of them yielded relics of great value,
though no record has been preserved of the
greater part of their excavations.
In one opened by M. Court, a square chamber
was found at a height of 10 ft. abovethe ground
level. In this was a gold cylinder enclosed in one
of silver, and that again in one of copper.
The inner one containedfour gold coins, ten
precious stones and four pearls. These were, no
doubt, the relics which the tope was intendedto
preserve.
The inscriptionhas only partiallybeen read, but
certainly containsthe name of Kanishka.

31. Stupa - Manikyala (Punjab)
Buddhist Architecture:
The section and
elevation of the base
will explain its
architectural details in
so far as they can be
made out.
On digging into this
monument, General
Ventura found three
separate deposits of
relics, deposited at
apparently equal
distances of 25 ft. from
the surface of the
finished monument and
from each other, and
each apparently
increasing in value or
importance as is it
descended

32. Buddhist Architecture:
Rails
These have recently been
discovered to be one of the most
important features of Buddhist
architecture. Generally they are
found surrounding Topes, but they
are also represented as enclosing
sacred trees, temples, and pillars,
and other objects.
It may be objected that treating
them separately is like describing
the peristyle of a Greek temple
apart from the cella.
The Buddhist rail, however, in early
ages at least, is never attached to
the tope, and is used for so many
other, and such various purposes,
that it will certainly tend to the
clearness of what follows if they
are treated separately

33. Buddhist Architecture:
Rails –Bharhat Sanchi

34. Buddhist Architecture:
Rails – Bodhagaya

35. Buddhist Architecture:
Rails - Amravathi

36. Buddhist Architecture:
Chaityas or Assembly Halls
These in Buddhist art correspond in every
respect with the churches of the Christian
religion.
Their plans, the position of the altar or relic
casket, the aisles, and other peculiarities are
the same in both, and their uses are identical, in
so far as the ritual forms of the one religion
resemble those of the other.
The oldest caves in India are situated in Behar, in
the neighborhood of Rajagriha, which was the
capital of Bengal at the time of the advent of
Buddha.
There is, indeed, one cave there which claims to
be the Satapanni cave, in front of which the first
convocation was held B.C. 543.
It is, however, only a natural cave very slightly
im- proved by art, and of no architectural
importance.
Behar caves: Lomas Rishi is probably the most modern it
certainly is the most richly ornamented.

37. Behar caves:
Buddhist Architecture:
Western Chaityas Halls
The Western Ghats in the Bombay Presidency five or six important chaitya caves whose dates can
be made out, either from inscriptions, or from internal evidence

39. Buddhist Architecture:
Western Chaityas Halls
The Western Ghats in the Bombay Presidency five or
six important chaitya caves whose dates can be
made out, either from inscriptions, or from internal
evidence

40. Buddhist Architecture:
Western Chaityas Halls
VIEW OF A FAÇADE - AJANTA CAVE

41. Buddhist Architecture:
Western Chaityas Halls
CHAITYA HALL
NASIK
Facade of the Vishwakarma Cave at Ellora

42. Buddhist Architecture:
Western Chaityas Halls
BEDSE CAVES – MAHARASHTRA
BEDSE CAVES – MAHARASHTRA

43. Buddhist Architecture:
Viharas or Monasteries
Like the Chaityas, these resemble very closely the
corresponding institutions among Christians.
In the earlier ages they accompanied, but were
detached from, the Chaityas or churches. In later times
they were furnished with chapels and altars in which
the service could be performed independently of the
Chaitya halls, which may or may not be found in their
proximity.
The Viharas or monasteries of the Buddhists than we
are for that of their Chaityas.
In a chaitya hall the interior is naturally the principal
object, and where the art of the architect would be
principally lavished.
The case is different with the viharas. A court or hall
surrounded with cells is not an imposing architectural
object. Where the court has galleries two or three
storeys in height, and the pillars that support these are
richly carved, it may attain an amount of
picturesqueness we find in our 'old hostelries, or of
that class of beauty that prevails in the courts of
Spanish monasteries
The Great Rath At Mahabalipuram

44. Buddhist Architecture:
Plan Of Cave Number 16 Ajanta Cave
View Of Cave No.16 Ajanta Cave

45. Buddhist Architecture:
View Of Cave No.16 Ajanta Cave

46. Buddhist Architecture:
Cave 12, Ajanta Caves, Cell Entries Off A Vihara Hall

47. Buddhist Architecture:
Cave 4, Ajanta Caves

48. Buddhist Architecture:
Cave 12, Ellora, A Late Multi-story Rock-cut Vihara

49. Buddhist Architecture:
Doorways of a Vihara, Bedse Caves