College of Environmental Design
Department of Architecture, UC Berkeley
Architecture Slide Library
Arch 170A Fall 1995 James Study Aid 18
I. Hindu and Buddhist architecture in India, Indonesia, and Cambodia. Stone temple architecture as a . Peaceful spread of Indian culture including religion through trade rather than conquest. Priestly class of Brahmins, who read sacred texts in Sanscrit. Hinduism: an pantheistic religion older than Buddhism with three principal (Shiva, Vishnu, and Shakti) deities and many minor ones. Caste system and belief in reincarnation.
II. The Hindu temple in India. Monumental stone architecture begins only after Buddhism is beginning to die out in India. Association with carving into live rock clear in first stone monuments from south India at Mamallapuram (Image) (port city of the Pallava kings also known as Mahabalipuram). Includes the Pancha Rathas, c 650, five small monolithic shrines cut out of live rock, and constructed double-shrine of Shore Temple, first quarter 8th century, built by King Rajasimha. Temple elements: mandala (diagram of the cosmos) plan, garbhagriha (womb-chamber; cave-like sanctuary housing the image of the deity), and shikhara (mountain-like tower). Forms borrowed from Buddhist architecture (amalaka) and wood construction (shala, now used as decoration). Elaboration of this model in sites such as the Chandella capital at Khajuraho: Lakshmana Temple, 10th century. (Image) Extension of shikhara, addition of prayer halls (mandapas) and ambulatory, and proliferation of mouldings. Further fracturing of wall surfaces at triple-sanctuaried Kesava Temple, Somnathpuram, 1268, (Image) donated by the general Somanantha. Daily priestly ceremonies versus annual festivals (also a focus for pilgrimage) in which image is paraded around temple. Cart in which image is carried commemorated in Surya Temple, Konarak, c 1250 (Image), built by King Narasumtha, and fronted by a dance pavilion.
IV. Buddhist (Sailendra) dynasties on island of Java (Indonesia) responsible for temple of Borobudur, c775-860. Tiers of galleries or platforms whose sculpture recounts life of Buddha and his followers, surmounted by rings of stupas. No interior spaces. Physical recreation of path towards enlightenment.
V. The Khmer empire (9th-14th centuries) and its capital city of Angkor (Cambodia). Indian, Chinese, and Indonesian influence: centralized Hindu state. Temple complex of Angkor Wat, c 1113-50, c 1113-50( Image 1 or Image 2) by King Suryavarman II. Entrance avenue and series of gated, walled terraces leading to five central pyramids.
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