Buddhist, Jain and Hindu Art and Architecture
Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu Art and Architecture covers stupas, rock-cut chaityas and viharas, and temple forms. The exam tests structural vocabulary, site-to-form matching, and the logic of worship space.
Core concepts
- Stupa: hemispherical anda over relics, harmika, chhatra, vedika, pradakshina patha, and torana. Sanchi Stupa 1 is the key example; Amaravati has a limestone drum with narrative panels.
- Chaitya: apsidal, vaulted prayer hall with a stupa at the apse and a facade screen. Bhaja and Karla are rock-cut examples; Karla has a large horseshoe window and pillars with animal capitals.
- Vihara: monastic residence with cells around a court or verandah. Ajanta combines chaitya and vihara caves with murals.
- Jain architecture: Dilwara temples at Mount Abu use white marble, fine carving, and multiple shrines; Ranakpur Chaumukha temple has four-faced images and many pillars.
- Hindu temple: garbhagriha, mandapa, shikhara in Nagara, vimana and gopuram in Dravida, amalaka and kalasha. Deogarh Dashavatara is an early Gupta square shrine; Kandariya Mahadeva at Khajuraho shows a developed Nagara shikhara; Brihadeshwara at Thanjavur is Dravida; Ellora Kailasanatha is rock-cut.
Worked example
A rock-cut hall has an apsidal plan, a row of pillars, a vaulted ceiling, and a stupa at the far end. Reasoning: the apse and stupa identify it as a chaitya, not a vihara. A vihara would have residential cells and no stupa at the apse.
Traps
Do not use shikhara for Dravida temples; use vimana. Do not describe Ellora Kailasanatha as a structural temple. Do not treat a torana as the stupa itself. Do not confuse a chaitya hall with a vihara residence.
Exam focus
Be ready to label plans and elevations, match terminology to Nagara, Dravida, or rock-cut forms, and explain how pradakshina and garbhagriha organise ritual movement.