Indian Architecture: Ancient to Modern

India nurtures various cultures in ancient times. Along with literature, fine art, music, dance and drama, architecture too, in all its grandeur, rose to great heights. It is not easy to explain Indian architecture in just one book. Indian civilization begins with the Indus civilization that dates back about 4000 years. Indian history takes years of study to know in-depth. Cave temples typically represent the architecture of ancient times. Cave temples and monasteries still exist today because they were carved out of rock – a much stronger material. There are around 1,200 such cave temples and monasteries left and 75 per cent of them belong to Buddhism.

Entire sculpted rock temples were built during the middle ages. A few still exist unto the present day. Construction of stone temples commenced in the 5th century, during the Gupta dynasty, but was standardized only during the 8th century. Hence according to the history of architecture, the transition from ancient times to the middle ages took many centuries. Buddhism took the lead in construction during ancient times and in contrast, Hinduism took the lead during the middle ages followed by Jainism. The method of stone construction improved by leaps and bounds in north and south India. The style caught on and very soon the whole of India was filled with stone structures. The Chandella dynasty in the north and the Chola dynasty in the south showed remarkable developments architecture, by building magnificent temples, using stone. Islam entered India during the 11th century and established power in Delhi during the 13th century. Till the 16th century, the Turkish and Afghan dynasties continued to rule Delhi during a period referred to as the Delhi sultanate. Western styles of architecture, including techniques like domes were brought to India during this age and had a strong influence on building styles. The construction during this time was an adaptation of the Indian style in the colonial style brought from Europe. The direct impact of British architecture was seen from the second half of the 19th century, when research on Indian architectural history advanced and the Mughal style influenced colonial constructions.