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The meaning of Architecture and its relation to human experience can briefly be expressed as:
“ARCHITECTURE IS THE MATRIX OF CIVILIZATION”. Viewed historically, architecture remains as the principal visible
and material record, through the ages of man’s intellectual evolution.
Each great cultural movement had made its own particular contribution to the art of building so that the aspirations
of the people and even their way of life stand revealed in substantial form for all to see.
And in India, man’s ideals have found expression in numerous noble monuments showing that few countries possess
a richer Architectural Heritage.
In each of the major historical developments of architecture there is one basic principle underlying its conception,
and one which is supremely distinctive.
The fundamental purpose of the building art in India was to represent in concrete form the prevailing religious
consciousness of the people.
This character of Indian architecture is emphasized by the treatment of wall surfaces. The scheme of sculpture which
often covers the whole of the exterior the building is notable not only for the richness of its decorative effect, but for
the deep significance of its subject matter.
Here is not only the relation of architecture to life, but transcendent life itself plastically represented.
Carved on high or low relief are depicted all the glorious gods of the age-old mythology of the country, engaged in
their well known ceremonials. An unending array of imagery steeped in symbolism, thus producing an “Ocean of
Story” of absorbing interest.
It is very strange to find that the earliest phase of building art in India recently excavated, disclose a style of structure
which has been described as AESTHETICALLY BARREN.
This development in the dawn age of the country has been designated as the “INDUS CIVILIZATION” in the regions
bordering on the river Indus.
Compared to other countries of which, the chronology is known, Indus Civilization was in a fairly matured state as
early as 3000B.C.
Two separate sites have so far been excavated, but there are mounds and other evidences which imply that it
extended over a considerable portion of North-West India and even beyond, thus embracing “an area immensely
larger than either Egypt or Sumer”.
1. SETTLEMENT PATTERN
2. TOWN PLANNING
3. BUILT FORMS
4. MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION
5. WATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
1. SETTLEMENT PLANNING
The twin cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa
formed the hub of the civilization. They are
representative in the sense that planning
principles employed here are followed
practically without change at all other sites and the clusters or the settlements are located on the mounds.
2. TOWN PLANNING
The builders of these cities had acquired no little experience of town planning, and the cities have shown the
following features in its planning.
There were no openings toward the main street, thus ensuring privacy and security for the residents. the only
openings in the houses are rather small - this prevented the hot summer sun heating the insides of the houses.
EMBLISHMENTS
There is a possibility that on these structures, some kind of mural decoration may have been applied, such as carved
wood or colour, but if so, this has completely disappeared. The impression therefore conveyed by these remains is
that, ‘the country was once populated by a busy community of traders, efficient and precise in their manners and
customs, but devoted to a life of materialism, thus lacking in that aesthetic intuition which demands and naturally
creates an artistic environment’.
A well protected water management system existed in the Indus Valley cities. Water collected from wells, stored in
storage tanks and distributed to individual housed through conduits. An advanced drainage system is also in
evidence. Drains started from the bathrooms of the houses and joined the main sewer in the street, which was
covered by brick slabs or corbelled brick arches, depending on its width. A third site CHANHU-DARO
CHANHU 80 miles SW of
MOHENJO-DARO was explored to get more information to the beginnings of this civilization, and also on the dark
period between the disappearance of the Indus Culture and the entry of Aryan speaking people into India, presumed
to be about 1500 B.C.
But this did not give any specific information and the stratum of this site goes little back than other sites, but it was
deserted about 2000 B.C. This part of the country must at that time have had its attractions, but it appears to have
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had the great disadvantage of persistent floods which eventually forced its population to move. In comparison with
the rich remains revealed by excavations in other fields of research of relatively the same early age, the discoveries
at MOHENJO-DARO, HARAPPA, and CHANHU-DARO, in the Indus Valley, have produced a disappointingly small
amount of material of an artistic nature.
And also the people seemed to have had no marked religious convictions, as the absence of temples, shrines or
tombs on which they might have expressed themselves architecturally or artistically by means of paintings or
sculpture, etc,.
The Indus civilization declined sometime early in the 2nd millennium B.C., for the excavations reveal that its cities
were then falling into a state of decay. At a later date, the deserted appearance of this part of India was remarked
on by a Greek writer, who relates that here were, “The remains of over a thousand towns and villages once full of
men”In spite of its virile character and the experienced method of construction that were achieved at this early age
in India this powerful and well founded culture died out without appearing to influence in the slightest degree, the
nature of the building art that followed.
It is possible only when a great disaster cut across the current events making an entirely fresh beginning necessary.
VEDIC VILLAGE
(B.C.1500 – 800)
INTRODUCTION
After the decay of the Indus Civilization when the art of building again comes into view, this no longer consists of
well laid out cities of finished masonry, but takes a much more rudimentary form of humble village huts constructed
of reeds and leaves and hidden in the depths of the forest. The culture of the people was beginning again. The
exploration of origins reveals the motive power which gives an art its initial impetus. And it is the primitive culture of
the people that these origins are to be found. Primitive art is the matrix of the higher, and is the source from which
more advanced forms are derived.
The Vedic culture of India produced the elementary type of forest dwelling in the end of the 2nd millennium B.C.
It was the outcome of the Indo-Aryan migration from the north-west, and which in turn laid the foundations for the
Vedic Age.
The people of Indus Civilization and those of Vedic Culture are totally unrelated as there was a clear difference in
The conditions under which each of these populations existed,
Their mode of life and
The type of building produced by this method of living.
On the one hand the inhabitants of the Indus region, were mainly traders and town dwellers, while on the other
hand, the Vedic people were of the country, wresting their living from the fields and forests.
1. SETTLEMENT PATTERN
The people of this Vedic Age living in clearings cut out of the primeval forest, just as some of the small cultivators at
the present time in India, in parts of Bengal, still carve their homesteads out of bamboo jungles. The Vedic people
were originally nomads, an offshoot of an immense and obscure migration, who, on settling down in the plains of
India, became partly pastoral and partly agricultural, having as their habitations rudimentary structures of reeds and
bamboo thatched with leaves. The Indian architecture had its beginning from these structures.
But these people had to protect themselves and their property from the ravages of wild animals, and so they
surrounded their little collection of huts (Grama) with a special kind of Fence or Palisade.
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View of a Grama
This fence took a form of a bamboo railing, the upright posts called Thaba of which supported three horizontal bars
called Suchi or needles, as they were threaded through holes in the uprights.
In the course of time this peculiar type of railing became the emblem of protection and universally used, not only to
enclose the village, but as a paling around fields, and eventually to preserve anything of a special or sacred nature. In
the palisade encircling the village, entrances also of a particular kind were devised.
These were formed by a projecting a section of the bamboo fence at right angles and placing a gateway. Through
these gateways, cattles passed to and from their sheds. The characteristic Buddhist gateways known as Torana, a
structure which was carried with that religion to the Far East is derived from these Gateways of Vedic Village.
The huts within the village enclosures were of various shapes and at first those of a circular plan predominated (It is
the natural tendency of the primitive man towards rounded forms). In the Vedic village huts were of beehive pattern
made of a circular wall of bamboos held together with bands of withes and covered either with a domical roof of
leaves or thatched with grass.
At a later date in the evolution of Vedic hut, the circular plan was elongated into an oval with a barrel roof formed on
a frame of bent bamboos also covered with thatch. As a next stage of development, some of these huts are arranged
in threes and fours around a square courtyard and the roofs covered with planks of wood or tiles.
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Generally for huts, the Vedic people had used bent bamboos, Leaves and grass. In the better class houses, unbaked
bricks were used for walls and the doorways were square headed openings with double doors. The barrel shape of
the roof
of was maintained by using a thong or with across the end of the arch (like the cord of the bow), known as
embryo tie-rod.
rod. This produced a shape resembling a horse shoe, a type of archway commonly referred to as the
“Chaitya” or “Sun-Window”,
Window”, which becomes the characteristics of the subsequent architecture of the Buddhist.
The primitive shapes and the expedients as the railing and the gateway, the rounded hut with the heavy eave of the
thatch the barrel roof with its framework of bent bamboos all in a grea
greater
ter or lesser degree influenced the style which
followed.
The decorative aspects of these forest dwellings are not clearly known. The people of these villages would have
applied some colours on the mud walls as a means of decoration. (Huts in remote villages villa of Orissa, are still
whitewashed and patterns of archaic designs in red pigment (haematite) painted on this white ground. The
symbolism in such patterns suggests a very early origin which may go back to Vedic times).
The Vedic civilization enters into an era of timber construction. The very reason was that the inhabitants lived in
forests so that they
hey became closely identified with their woody environment.
With the early inhabitants of India the timber age appears to have been a long one due to the vast extent of the
“Mahavana” or “Great wood” in which they were cradled.
So closely connected with their existence were these forests that the early people developed dexterity in wooden
construction of a very high standard. It is not remarkable therefore, in view of this timber tradition that its
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constructional features were freely and closely imitated in the rock and stone architecture which eventuated and
was the form of expression for many centuries afterwards.
In principle, these cities were rectangular in plan and divided into four quarters by two main thoroughfares
intersecting at right angles, each
ach leading to a city gate.
The general arrangements of the royal residence in the well planned quarters have so much in common with the
later medieval palace from that of the Mughals
Mughals, both
SOCIAL TURMOIL
The period after the Epic Age or the Later Vedic Age (1000 BC-600 BC) was marked by the rise of numerous small republics and
kingdoms.
This period also saw the rise of dominance of the upper castes and exploitation of the people belonging to the lower castes.
Brahmins (Priests) and Kshatriyas (Rulers And Warriors) did not allow the people belonging to lower castes or the Shudras and
untouchables to have their say in the society.
This period also saw a social seperation developing between the Brahmins on one hand and the Kshatriyas on the other.
The rising popularity and aspirations of the Brahmin Priests began to collide with the authority of the Kshatriyas, who formed
the ruling class of each kingdom or republic.
The Kshatriyas were alarmed by the rising power of the Brahmins, but they could not do much as they required the services of
the Brahmins in all religious rituals and state occasions.
The rise of Buddhism and Jainism during this period was a natural outcome to counter the threat of the Brahmanical Hindu
order, as the founders of these religions were themselves Kshatriyas or warriors
Principles of Buddhism: The Four Noble Truths and Eight Fold Path
BUDDHISM
Gautam Buddha (563 BC-483 BC) laid the foundation for Buddhism after he gained Enlightenment under a Bodhi tree at
Bodhgaya.
The preaching of Lord Buddha revolves around attaining salvation from worldly sufferings, universal brotherhood, peace and
non-violence
ORIGIN OF BUDDHISM
Buddhism, founded in the late 6th century B.C.E. by Siddhartha Gautama (the "Buddha"),
The Buddha was born in North India (ca. 563 B.C.E.) at a place called Lumbini near the Himalayan foothills, and he began
teaching around Benares (at Sarnath).
His era in general was one of spiritual, intellectual, and social ferment.
This was the age when the Hindu ideal of renunciation of family and social life by holy persons seeking Truth first became
widespread.
The Eight-fold Path often pictorially represented by an eight-spoked wheel (the Wheel of Dhamma) includes: Right Views (the
Four Noble Truths), Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood/Occupation, Right Endeavor, Right Mindfulness
(total concentration in activity), and Right Concentration (meditation).
The Eight-Fold Path is pervaded by the principle of the Middle Way, which characterizes the Buddha's life. The Middle Way
represents a rejection of all extremes of thought, emotion, action, and lifestyle.
After the Buddha's death, his wandering followers gradually settled down into monasteries
A famous king, named Ashoka, and his son helped to spread Buddhism throughout South India and into Sri Lanka (Ceylon) (3rd
century B.C.E.).
About the first century C.E.( Christian Era) a major split occurred within the Buddhist fold - that between the Mahayana and
Hinayana branches.
Thus Buddhism became virtually extinct in India (ca. 12th century C.E.) - because of the all-embracing nature of Hinduism,
Muslim invasions etc.
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The many forms and practices that have been developed within the Buddhist fold have also allowed many different types of
people to satisfy their spiritual needs through this great religion.
* Hinayana was a term invented by Mahayana adherents and was originally a disapproval. Today it is less so.
GAUTAMA BUDDHA
Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in 563 BC in the ruling Kshatriya family of the Lichhavi tribe in Lumbini, in
the foothills of Nepal.
His father was the chief of this tribe. It was prophesized that Gautama (who was named Siddharth) would become a saint and
renounce the world. Therefore, his father took all possible care to keep Gautama in a palace full of luxuries and comfort.
At the age of 29, Gautama left his palace. He wandered from place to place and did heavy penances (Voluntary self-punishment
in order to atone-turnaway from sin for some wrongdoing). He even went to the stage of putting his body to rigorous
punishment.
Gautama attained Enlightenment while meditating under a Bodhi tree in a place called Bodhgaya (in the state of Bihar), at the
age of thirty-five.
After attaining Enlightenment, he came to be known as the Buddha (the Enlightened One). He preached his first sermon –
religious addrress/preaching in a place called Sarnath, which is near Varanasi (Benaras). Gautama Buddha passed away at the
age of 80 in Kushinagar near Gorakhpur (in the state of Uttar Pradesh).
TEACHINGS OF BUDDHA
Gautama Buddha discarded the Vedic Brahmanical system, which divided the society into various castes and further alienated
the people from one another on the basis of their birth.
He believed that the soul was immortal and attainment of Nirvana (salvation from materialistic life) was the chief object of each
human being.
AFTERMATH(outcome of an event):
During the lifetime of Gautama Buddha, a large number of people became his followers and Buddhism became the state religion
of a number of states like Magadh, Kosala and Kaushambi.
Great kings like Ashoka (of the Mauryan dynasty) and Kanishka (Kushan dynasty) became Buddhist and they helped spread the
sermon of Buddha far and wide through their kingdoms.
King Ashoka is said to have built 84,000 stupas and a large number of rock edicts and pillars throughout his empire to preach the
message of Buddhism.
As Buddha preached his ideas through word of mouth, there were no Buddhist religious scriptures.
Later on, his preachings were compiled into Buddhist canon in Pali language, which are also known as Tripitikas.
By the second century AD, Buddhism was divided into two main branches-the Mahayana (greater vehicle) and the Hinayana
(lesser vehicle).
In the course of time, Buddhism became a major religion and spread through most parts of East Asia.
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Buddhism and Jainism are the two branches of the Shramana tradition (one who renounces the world and leads an ascetic life
for the purpose of spiritual development and liberation) that still exist today. Śramaṇas assert that human beings are responsible
for their own deeds and reap the fruits of those deeds, for good or ill
Jainism is largely confined to India, whereas Buddhism has only flourished abroad.
Buddhism separates itself from the Jain tradition by teaching an alternative to "extreme asceticism(self denial)"
Buddhist principles say that a woman has the ability to obtain Nirvana in the Buddha Dhamma and Vinaya.
Jain traditions differ on the issue of female enlightenment, with the Digambara sect(A subdivision of a larger religious group)
stating that women are capable of spiritual progress but must be a reborn male in order to attain final spiritual liberation; and
the Shvetambara sect maintaining that liberation (Moksha) is attainable by both males and females.
The issue of female enlightenment is, however, an academic one in the Jain context since in the current universal age of
corruption, Moksha is nearly impossible for any soul to attain.