From indigenous Dravidians and Aryan
Indian Architecture -
invaders.
HISTORY - Chief gods: Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva.
- Belief in reincarnation, the soul comes back
- Third great civilization to emerge in a fertile
to life in a different body.
river valley.
- Caste system: priests, warriors and nobles,
- Indus’s river 2500 BC, present-day
farmers and traders, laborers and servants,
Pakistan and Northwest India.
untouchables
- Major cities were Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.
- Each city was ruled by priest-kings, citadels Buddhism
atop the city.
- Many people disliked the way Hindu society
- Lasted only 800 years
divided people into castes
- 1500 BC Aryans from the north moved into
- Gautama Siddhartha 563 – 483 BC, gave
India.
up his princely life to search for wisdom.
- Set-up 16 separate kingdoms all over
- After 6 years of wandering, he found
- Most powerful, the Magadha kingdom,
enlightenment through a deep-thinking
conquered all other kingdoms
process called meditation.
- Established the Mauryan Empire in 300 BC
- Overcome human weakness including greed
under King Ashoka
and anger.
Links - Salvation or nirvana
- Mesopotamian Cultures (from 2500 to 1500 STAMBHAS or LATHS
BC)
- Monumental pillars standing free without any
- Central Asia (via mountain passes in the
structural function
north)
- Circular or octagonal shafts
- Persia and Greco-Roman Western Asia (via
- Capital Persepolitan in form, bell-shaped and
Baluchistan)
crowned with animals carrying the Challra,
- Successive military and economic incursions
wheel of law.
brought art and architecture: Aryan, Persian,
Greco-Roman, Sassanian, Muslim, MANDIRA
Portuguese, French, English.
- Hindu temple with an interior sanctuary called
RELIGION a vimana
- Capped by a tapering spire-shaped tower –
Hinduism sikhara
- Main religion of India - Porch-like mandapa halls for dancing and
- Along with Judaism, the world’s oldest music.
surviving religion.
VIHARAS
- Buddhist monasteries often excavated from NOTABLE ARCHITECTURAL
solid rock. STRUCTURES
- Central pillared chamber or quadrangle
TAJ MAHAL
surrounded by verandah.
- Small sleeping cells on the sides
- In front stood the courtyard containing the
stupa.
CHAITYAS
- Buddhist shrine also carved out of solid rock.
- Formed like an aisled basilica with a stupa at LOTUS TEMPLE
one end.
STUPAS
- Buddhist memorial mound erected to enshrine
a relic of Buddha, to commemorate special
events or mark a sacred spot.
- Regarded as symbols of the universe.
- Based on the pre-historic funerary tumulus.
- Artificial domical mounds raised on a platform. AMBER FORT, RAJASTHAN
- With processional paths, rails, gateways,
crowning umbrella called a chattri.
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
They depict walled and moated cities with
massive gates, elaborated multi-storied
residences, pavilions with a variety of domes,
together with the simple, thatched-roofed huts AJANTA-ELLORA CAVES
that remained the basis of most Indian
architectural forms.
CHAND BAORI IIM AHMEDABAD
THIKSEY MONASTERY
SUN TEMPLE. KONARK
SANCHI STUPA PAKISTAN ARCHITECTURE
HISTORY
This was followed by the Gandhara style
of Buddhist Architecture that borrowed
elements from the Ancient Greece. These
remnants are visible in the Gandhara capital of
Taxila.
Indus Valley Civilization - Archaeologist
excavated numerous ancient cities among them
VICTORIA MEMORIAL Mohenjo Daro, Harappa and Kot Diji, which have a
uniform, appropriate structure with broad roads
as well as well thought out sanitary and drainage
facilities.
The majority of the discovered brick
constructions are public buildings such as bath
houses and workshops. Wood and loam served as NOTABLE ARCHITECTURAL
construction materials.
STRUCTURES
Large scale temples, such as those found
SHAH RUKN-I-ALAM
in other ancient cities are missing. With the
collapse of the IVC culture, the architecture
suffered considerable damage.
RELIGION
With the rise of Buddhism, outstanding
architectural monuments were developed which
have lasted into the present. In addition, the
Persian and Greek influenced led to the BRITISH COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE
development of the Greco-Buddhist style, FRERE HALL
starting from the 1st A.D.
The high point of this era was reached
with the culmination of the Gandhara style.
Important remnants of Buddhist construction are
stupas and other buildings with Greek statues
and style elements like support columns which,
beside ruins from other epochs, are found in the
MOHATTA PALACE
Gandhara capital Taxila in the extreme north of
the Punjab.
A particularly beautiful example of
Buddhist architecture is the ruins of the
Buddhist monastery Takht-i-Bahi in the
northwest province.
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
The most important characteristics of this style POST INDEPENDENCE ARCHITECTURE
is the Iwan, walled on three sides, with one end FAISAL MOSQUE
entirely open. Further characteristics are wide
prayer halls, round domes with mosaics and
geometrical samples and the use of painted tiles.
AFGHANISTAN ARCHITECTURE with each containing a seated Buddha image and
lastly triangles rising to a central octagon.
HISTORY
NOTABLE ARCHITECTURAL
Afghanistan ' s architecture refers to
architecture within the modern country ' s STRUCTURES
borders, which have remained relatively unchanged KHWAJA ABDULLAH SHRINE
since 1834. Prior to this time, the region ' s
boundaries changed with the rapid advancement
of armies, with the land belonging to a wide range
of empires over the last two millennia as the
connection between the three major cultural and
geographic centers of Central Asia, the Indian
subcontinent, and the Iranian plateau.
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
Monasteries and temples are important
for its relationship to Persia and Central Asia.
Huge group is carved out of a sandstone cliff
THE GREAT MOSQUE OF HERAT
face, interior honeycombed with sanctuaries and
assembly halls extending for nearly 2k. with
painted niche at the end each sheltering a vast
Buddha Statue.
Statues are prototypes of colossal image
cult which later appeared in China and Japan. Its
structural technique were body and head rough
HERAT CITADEL
hewn from the rock. Features and drapery
modeled in mud mixed with straw, with lime
plaster finished painted and gilded.
Rock cut sanctuaries and assembly halls
reflects building types once existing in Gandhara
influenced by Graeco-Roman-Sassanian styles.
Other features were cupola roofs spanning with
arched squinches the square chamber angles in
anticipation of the Sassanian fire-temples.
Lantern roofs and coffered dome were also a
feature of it. Elaborated system of hexagons
