Hindu architecture

Hindu architecture is the traditional way of building in India for many kinds of structures, such as temples, monasteries, statues, homes, markets, gardens, and even whole towns. These building rules are written down in special Hindu books called texts, which are mostly in a very old language called Sanskrit. Some important books include the Vastu shastras, Shilpa Shastras, and the Manasara.

The most famous examples of Hindu architecture are the many beautiful Hindu temples still standing today. These temples show an old building style that used stone, brick, and even carved-out rock, going back many years to the time of the Gupta Empire. These temple designs were sometimes influenced by architecture from ancient Persia and Greece, known as Hellenistic style.

While there are fewer examples of everyday buildings like palaces and houses from ancient times, we can learn about them from ruins and archaeology. In some parts of India, especially in the south, Hindu building styles kept growing strong until the 1500s. Even in temples, we can see small pictures of everyday buildings carved into walls and pillars, showing how closely linked religious and regular life was in those days.

Texts

Vaastu Shastras and Shilpa Shastras are old design books from India. They talk about building things like homes, temples, and cities, mixing looks, use, and Hindu ideas. Some important books written in Sanskrit are the Brihat Samhita, the Manasara Shilpa Sastra, and parts of the Puranas and Hindu Agamas.

Villages, towns and cities

Hindu texts offer advice for building homes, markets, gardens, and entire towns. They suggest placing a village or town on land with rich soil that slopes east so people can see the sunrise. It should be near a river or large stream for water, and the soil should be strong for building and growing plants and trees.

These texts describe many ways to plan streets, homes, markets, and gardens. They mention designs like Dandaka and Swastika. There are five main ideas in these plans: facing the directions, laying out the land, measuring things, basic building rules, and what buildings should look like. These ideas combine early science, beliefs, and watching the sky, often making towns symmetrical with streets pointing to the main directions. A temple or meeting place in the middle of the town is often suggested.

Hospitals, hospices

Early Hindu texts about medicine and surgery mention special buildings to care for sick people. They say that architects who know about building rules, called Vastu Vidya, should design these places.

For example, the Charaka Samhita, a very old book, says that an expert in building should create a good house. This house should be strong, safe from wind, and easy to move around in. It should not have smoke, sun, water, dust, or unwanted sounds, smells, or sights. The building should also have a water supply, a place to wash, a bathroom, and a kitchen. This shows how important it was to have well-designed spaces to help people who were sick.

Main article: [Hospital]

Arts and civic buildings

The Narada Shilpasastra is an old book in Sanskrit about building design. It has chapters about plans for villages, cities, palaces, houses, and community places. It even tells how to build rooms for eating, watching shows, and showing art.

Hindu books also talk about buildings for performances like drama and dancing. These buildings can be in temples, cities, or palaces. They describe how to make stages and halls for dancers and musicians, and even places where performers can change clothes. These ideas for performance spaces might come from very old Indian traditions.

Temples (mandirs)

Main article: Hindu temple architecture

Hindu temple architecture is a special place for Hindu people to meet and for spiritual activities. Every Hindu temple, called a "mandir," has a quiet inner room called the garbha griha. This room holds a statue of a god or goddess and is a place for calm thoughts.

Around this room, there is a path to walk on. It often has lovely carvings that share stories and ideas from Hindu teachings. Above the inner room is a tall tower. In southern India, this tower is called a vimana, but elsewhere it is called a shikhara. Bigger temples may have halls for people to meet, smaller rooms, and special areas for visitors. Some temples even have places for dancing, like the famous Konark Sun Temple, and big water pools for people to use. These ideas are also used in temples in southeast Asia.

Gopurams

Main article: Gopuram

In southern India, big and beautiful gate towers called gopuram stand at the entrances of many Hindu temples. These towers are often very tall and have lovely carvings on them.

Monasteries (mathas)

See also: Matha, Ashram, and Bhajana Kutir

Hindu monasteries, called mathas and hermitages called ashrams, are special places. They have temples and rooms where monks live together. These places also have spaces to help the community.

Rathas

Main article: Ratha

Some Hindu places have special shrines or buildings called rathas. These structures look like big, huge chariots.

Toranas (archways)

Main article: Torana

A Torana is a special archway often used for ceremonies. You can find these archways in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain temples and other holy places. Sometimes they are built in front of important objects, or they might stand alone as a single building.

Stambhas (columns)

Main articles: Stambha and Dhvaja

Stambhas are special pillars or columns used in Hindu architecture. They are described in ancient texts and can be made from wood or stone. A stambha usually has a base, a column, and a top part called a capital. These columns can stand alone or be attached to walls.

Some famous stambhas include the Vijay Stambha at Chittorgarh fort in Rajasthan, which honors Vishnu. The Dhvaja-stambhas are tall flag poles often placed at temple entrances.

Chhatris

Main article: Chhatri

Chhatris are dome-shaped structures that sit above the ground. They are part of Indian architecture and began in Rajasthani architecture. You can see chhatris in palaces, forts, and important memory places.

Outside of South Asia

Indonesia

Main article: Candi of Indonesia

Hinduism was an important religion for some people in Indonesia before Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity arrived. The country has many beautiful Hindu buildings, mostly used for worship.

In Indonesia, Hindu temples are called different names depending on where they are from. In Java, they are called Candi. In Bali, they are called Pura, and they are used for Balinese Hindu worship. Some temples come from India and are called Kuil. All these temples serve as places for people to worship.