Designing temples and the role of the AXIS

DESIGNING TEMPLES Dr Uday Dokras As a Temple Designer, one has the option to draft in both 2D and in 3D modes.   2D - Two Dimensional Drafting As you start design for the first time, you are presented with what is typically called a Plan view. This view looks down on the plan from above -- the same view you use when reading a map. From this view you can create walls, add fixtures, create landscaping, etc.   When you work in plan view you are employing two dimensional drafting. In this mode, the X axis is horizontal, and the Y axis is vertical. The X and Y axis meet in the lower left corner -- an area usually called the origin. On a graph, the coordinates of this spot are called 0,0. If we move up or to the right along the X or Y axis, we are moving in a positive direction. If we move down or to the left, we are moving in a negative direction. The following illustration details both the X and Y axes.   2D & 3D - Three Dimensional Modelling: Creating solid model gives rise to a 3D view which is easy to understand and explain.In this view, our X and Y axis have not changed. Now, however, we are able to see the model's Z axis. Again, the X axis is horizontal, the Y axis is vertical and the Z axis is perpendicular to the XY plane. The origin is still defined as the point where the X, Y and Z axis meet.   In the right above illustration, the X, Y and Z axis are detailed.   Main axis (nodal axis) of the mandir: Because India’s political fragmentation and the variety of local styles, its artistic production has obeyed two main movements: on the one hand, the use of principles common to all regions and a general trend that could be described as “in fashion”; on the other, a diversification due to different political views, often equal in their power https://hindupost.in/dharma-religion/the-axis-and-the-perimeter-of-the-temple-part-1/ In ancient times 3D software was unavailable and actual solid models must have been made The Indian architectural treatises have proposed several classifications of the temples: according to a pseudo-geographical distribution or according to their forms or shapes. The first classification takes its terminology from region’s names: the categories Nagara, Vesara, and Dravida that seem to apply respectively to the northern, central, and southern provinces of India. This terminology has the drawback of designating precise types of sanctuaries and of over-understanding that each one of them is located in a specific and exclusive region, which doesn’t correspond to reality. The Nagara type for example, located to the North, refers to the curvilinear roof temples, and yet this roof is also seen in the South, even in the Madras region. It is, therefore, more satisfying to follow a classification based on morphology, as it can be appreciated in the temples. The floor plan, on the one hand, and the type of the roof, on the other, are precise criteria with the help of which it is possible to observe the development of the temples of the medieval period.According to the laws of “Indianness” there have never been abrupt mutations, but an evolution that takes place slowly and continuously by an almost systematic accumulation of traditional elements and that transforms gradually. If we stick to the general trend without studying the details, it is possible to establish some great valid lines for the evolution of the whole art of India. In the case of the architecture in India, this accumulation ended up taking gigantic proportions and producing new creations. We can observe the development of this process, both in the North and in the South. To embrace various demands of the Kings and Brahmins that dictated terms to the architects and also prevailing cults and rituals, a Hindu temple has the systemic (garbhagriha*), an antechamber (antarala*) and a hypostyle hall (mandapa*), this last element located on the same axis at the head of the group. Small dimension of the Garbagriha: This inner sanctuary or sanctum sanctorum that contains the image of the god gives access only to the priest and therefore is a cell of small dimensions although the temple’s size can be very vast; the antechamber separates the space to allow for the ritual preparations that the priest must perform; under the hypostyle pavilion certain ceremonies are held in view of the faithful as well as sacred dances in honor of the god. The three spaces may be covered with a different type of roof obeying a kind of hierarchy, in which the roof of the sanctuary is manifestly the most important by its elevation, shape, and richest decoration. Scheme showing the architectural layout of a Hindu temple (illustrated here by a Nagara style temple) with the traditional elements of the building. The earlier periods had an Apsidal plan.The Durga temple is an example. It has an apsidal plan for its sanctum, one that fuses with a square plan for the mandapa. It is the largest of a group of over 120 temples at Aihole and illustrates a mature example of the Badami Chalukya architecture this was covered by a semi-cylinder roof that hugged the curve marked by the apse. Followed by a square floor plan, covered by a roof that curved towards the top and by a stepped pyramidal roof. Of these, the first type (the semi-cylindrical roof) was abandoned from the middle of the 9th century (Baitala Deula in Bhubaneswar). The other two types (curved and pyramidal roofs) remained, giving rise to the most beautiful artistic achievements of the Hindu medieval era. The Baitāḷa deuḷa temple, from the 8th century (Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India). Its semi-cylindrical roof is an example of the Khakhara order of temples characterized by a rectangular building with a truncated pyramid-shaped roof. The name Khakhara comes from Khakharu (=canteen or bottle) because of the shape of the roof. An example of a curvilinear roof temple (Nagara style), the Galaganatha temple in Pattadakal (Karnataka) from the 8th century. The Khakhara Deula is altogether a different style of architecture closely appearing similar to the Dravidian Gopuran design. The word is derived from Khakharu (Pumpkin, gourd) as the crown looks like a barrel- vaulted elongated roof. It is a rectangular building with a truncated pyramid-shaped roof, like the gopuras. The temples of the feminine deities as Shakti are temple of that type. One example is the Baitala Deula of Bhubneshwar, dedicated to Chamunda. The Sakta temples are generally of Khakhara order. Brahmi temple of Chaurasi in Puri and Gouri temple of Bhubaneswar are two other glaring examples of Khakhara temple. T An example of a Hindu temple with a pyramidal roof (Dravidian architectural style), the main East entrance of the Kapaleeshwarar temple in Mylapore (state of Tamil Nadu), built around the 7th century CE. The Kapaleeshwarar temple is of typical Dravidian architectural style, with the gopuram overpowering the street on which the temple sits. This temple is also a testimonial for the vishwakarmas sthapathis. There are two entrances to the temple marked by the gopuram on either side. The east gopuram is about 40 m high, while the smaller western gopuram faces the sacred tank. The vahanas (Sanskrit for "vehicles") at the temple include the bull, Adhikaranandi, elephant, bandicoot, peacock, goat and parrot, while a golden chariot is a recent addition. Statues of the god and the goddess are seated on a vahana or chariot which is brought in a procession around the temple while the temple band plays music. Devotees gather around the vahanas and consider it a privilege to pull / lift the God and the Goddess on the vahana. There is also a peacock and a pigeon caged inside the temple, to symbolize the tradition that Karpagambal had come in the form of peahen to plead to Kapaleeshwarar. Antarala: (from the Sanskrit meaning “intermediate space”). The small antechamber or foyer between the shrine (garbhagriha) and the hypostyle hall (mandapa), more typical of north Indian temples.See the attached paper o Antarala Garbhagriha: (from the Sanskrit meaning “womb chamber”, “garbha“= womb and “griha“= house). The sanctum sanctorum, or the innermost sanctum of a Hindu temple where resides the idol or icon (murti) of the primary deity of the temple. Generally in Hinduism only ‘priests’ (pujari) are allowed to enter this chamber. Although the term is often associated with Hindu temples, it is also found in Jain and Buddhist temples. Mandapa: In Indian architecture, a pillared outdoor hall or pavilion for public rituals, the hypostyle hall of a Hindu temple. Curved architectural design The fundamental of the curved architectural design is based on blending the architect ure with the surrounding environment. Architects and engineers have been inspired th e curved forms such as arch; vault and dome from nature, where they have been use it in their designs to create large spans. The architects developed the curved forms by in tegrated the curved forms to create unique form and to pass larger spans than previou s, where the “curvilinear” term has been launched to describe these forms. But profess ionals have already faced a challenge in the construction of the curvilinear forms, beca use of the difficulty of implementing them. Architects have been used the curvilinear fo rms by different materials, strategies, styles, and other diversities, which give each arc hitect his/her own features. At the 1st National Conference on Environment-Behaviour Studies, Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia, 14-15 November 2009 one of the papers presented read out that the curvilinear forms of architecture have vital influence on environment-behaviour in terms of promoting communication, encouraging movement, lifting the spirit, aiding orientation, changing perception, enhancing social experience, increasing pleasure, supporting the sense of community, relieving sense of distance and dissolving social boundaries. (The Influence of Curvilinear Architectural Forms on Environment-Behaviour Faridah Adnan and Rodzyah Mohd Yunus https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/277811/1-s2.0- Bra) Nearly three decades ago, Peter Van der Veer and Steven Vertovec `Official' and `Popular' Hinduism in Diaspora: Historical and Contemporary Trends in Surinam, Trinidad and Guyana, Volume 28, Issue 1,https://doi.org/10.1177/006996694028001005-concluded their precursory article on Brahmanism overseas by arguing that “the anthropology of Hinduism [could] no longer be exclusively tied to the anthropology of India” due to the “constant flow of persons, goods, and information between India and the rest of the world which now makes Hinduism transnational.” Here one may note that Brahmins first established themselves as ‘ numero Unos’ of Hinduism providing religious guidance and interpretations and advice to the regants and then became well established in the temple building activity of the Hindu Kings. Hence, to ignore their role in temple design is to cast a death knell to study of the Hindu temple evolution. From the beginning of the ninth century, the use of these curvilinear roofs extended to the northern kingdoms, where its use was perpetuated until the contemporary era, at the same time that it diversified following regional styles. Within these temples with curvilinear roofs, six main styles can be discerned. In first place we must mention the two most beautiful, not only for their aesthetic value, but because their study can be done following a continuous progression from the 9th to the 14th century thanks to a large number of examples grouped in the same place; the style of Odisha (from northeastern India) under the Somavarpśí and Gangâ dynasties, represented by the holy city of Bhubaneswar (end of the 9th century to the middle of the 13th) and the neighboring sanctuaries: the temples of Surya in Konark (mid-13th century) ) and Jagannatha in Puri (early 12th century, although modified until the contemporary era). Hindu (or Brahmanical) Architecture varies in its three special styles. All three have the small shrine-cell and preceding porches, the same excessive carving and sculpture, which are impressive by this evident tribute of labour to the gods. The principal Brahmanical Temples, like those of Egypt, show progressive additions of sanctuaries and inclosures, grouped around or attached to the original shrine. Beyond this, the grandeur of their imposing mass produces an impression of majestic beauty. The effect depends almost wholly on richness of surface and outline, rather than on abstract beauty of form, and contrasts very strongly with Grecian architecture. (a.) The Northern Brahman, in comparison with the Dravidian style, has a curved pyramidal roof to the “vimana” instead of a storied one, and is without columns to the preceding porch. (b.) The Chalukyan style is affected by its northern and southern rivals, taking features from each without losing its special character. The starshaped plan and curved pyramidal tower are in contrast with the storied towers of the Dravidian style. (c.) The Dravidian Vitthala Temple to RIGHT The normal type of plan consists of the vimana or cell crowned with curved pyramidal roof, and the porch without columns crowned with stepped roof in stories. Each façade has rectangular projections in the centre, which increased in depth as the style developed, until they formed the points of a square on plan. In addition to these two chambers, others were added in more important examples. The large inclosures and gateways of the Dravidian style are wanting. Orissa, on the east coast, contains a remarkable series of monuments dating from A.D. 500-1200. The ancient city of Bhuvaneswar contains some hundreds of examples. The best known is the Great Temple (A.D. 617-657), quoted as the finest in India. It is a four-chambered example ; every stone on its facades is carved, the courses being deeply rusticated. The principal vimana is crowned with the usual northern high curved pyramidal roof with melon ornament and finial. Other examples are at Kanaruc (No. 266e: see at right) (the Black Pagoda, ninth century), and Puri (the four-chambered temple of Juganât, A.D. 1174), the latter being placed in a large double inclosure surrounded by a wall 20 feet high. In Dharwar, on the western coast, are examples in which pillars are employed, as the Temple of Papanetha, a.d. 500, influenced by Dravidian architecture. Important groups exist at Chandravati, in Rajputana (a.d. 600), Baroli (a.d. 750), and Udaipor (a.d. 1060). At Khajuraho (a.d. 954-1000) is a group of thirty important temples, of which that dedicated to Kandarya Mahadeo is the most important. It is a two-chambered example, placed on a well-proportioned stylo- bate, with three rows of sculptured figures, half life-size, nearly one thousand in number. The sikra is enriched by the addition of sculptured representations of itself — a favourite Indian method. Modern monuments exist at Chittore, Gwalior, Kantonugger (a.d. 1704), and Amritzar (a.d. 1704), the sacred metropolis of the Sikhs. Civil Architecture Palaces, tombs, and ghats (landing places) abound. The ghats lining the great rivers, such as the Ganges, are typical Indian features; they are used by the Hindus as bathing places, and consist of long ranges of steps, stopped by kiosks and backed by buildings with ornamental facades, used as shelters, or temples. MOUNT MERU What is Mt Meru representing According to Hindu and Buddhist cosmology? Mount Meru, in Hindu mythology, a golden mountain that stands in the centre of the universe and is the axis of the world. It is the abode of gods, and its foothills are the Himalayas, to the south of which extends Bhāratavarṣa (“Land of the Sons of Bharata”), the ancient name for India. The concept of a holy mountain surrounded by various circles was incorporated into ancient Hindu temple architecture with a Shikhara (Śikhara) — a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak." Early examples of this style can be found at the Harshat Mata Temple and Harshnath Temple from the 8th century CE in Rajasthan, Western India. This concept also continued outside India, such as in Bali, where temples feature Meru towers. In Buddhist temples, the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya is the earliest example of the 5th- to 6th-century depiction. Many other Buddhist temples took on this form, such as the Wat Arun in Thailand and the Hsinbyume Pagoda in Myanmar. This type architecturally translates the traditional theme of the divine residence: the Mount Meru, the “axis of the World”, endowed with five peaks; a theme that was transmitted to the countries of the South Seas (the countries of the Indochina Peninsula, Philippines and Indonesia) where it gave rise to great constructions, among which the most notable is undoubtedly the temple of Angkor Wat, in the Khmer empire (the predecessor state of modern Cambodia, first half of the 12th century). Mount Meru: The sacred five-peaked mountain of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the center of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes. Many famous Hindu and similar Jain as well as Buddhist temples have been built as symbolic representations of this mountain. Shikara View of the Angkor Wat (meaning “Capital Temple”) temple complex in Cambodia and one of the largest religious monuments in the world, on a site measuring 162.6 hectares. It was originally constructed as a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Vishnu for the Khmer Empire, gradually transforming into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the 12th century. The temple has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country’s prime attraction for visitors.   Hsinbyume Pagoda in Mandalay, Myanmar, representing Mount Sumeru/ meru of Pura Ulun Danu Bratan is dedicated to Shiva and his consort Parvathi/ A Buddhist prang in Wat Arun, Bangkok, representing Mount Sumeru If we now study the shikhara itself, we can draw its evolution in its main lines. During the ancient period (7th-9th centuries), it was composed of superimposed cornices that gave the whole building a horizontally striated appearance that was accentuated in the course of its evolution; in the angles they alternate, in a vertical superimposition, cornices adorned with decorative windows (gavaksha, in Tamil: kudu*) and with the flattened “pillow” (amalaka*). Each face of the roof is vertically divided into three segments (triratka), of which the one at the center, which forms a protrusion, always received a denser decoration than the other two, and at its base there was sometimes a large kudu forming a pediment. As examples of this type we can cite the temples of Pattadakal, in particular those of Jambulinga and Papanatha (8th century) This style was maintained until about the 9th-10th centuries, a time of transition during which the shikhara becomes increasingly elevated and is heavily decorated (see the Mukteshvara temple in Bhubaneswar, 10th century, see pictures above); the vertical segments on each side of the roof changed from three to five (pancharatha). The apogee of the shikhara occurred in the 11th and 12th centuries; it was characterized simultaneously by its much more daring elevation and by the decorative use, on the shikhara itself, of reduced towers (ańga shikhara), whose disposition was varied according to the local types and centuries. However, it must be taken into account that the shikhara without reduced towers was used at the same time and even became higher (e.g. the temple of Parshvanatha in Khajuraho). The Lingaraja Temple dedicated to Shiva, is one of the oldest temples in Bhubaneswar (Odisha, India). To this day, the temple is the most prominent landmark of Bhubaneswar and the largest temple in the city. The central tower of the temple is 55 m tall. The temple represents the quintessence of the architectural tradition at Bhubaneswar. The temple complex has 50 other shrines and is enclosed by a large compound wall. The second category show an excess of the ańga where the shikhara are arranged on the central projection of each face; first in few numbers (one, then two or three), and later reaching up to four in the largest constructions with some smaller ańga shikhara framing them at the base of the roof. Several temples of Khajuraho (mainly the Kandariya Mahadeva temple) are the best examples of this category; the central shikhara is more slender than in the preceding category and the ańga shikhara seem to climb, by their ascending progression, towards the top of the main tower. This arrangement conferred a surprising dynamism to the whole building. The main shikhara of the Kandariya Mahadeva temple with its 84 mini spires. The third category, from the 12th century onwards, used the reduction of structures in a  more systematic way, filling with their silhouettes, regularly aligned in several overlapping registers, the intervals between the protrusions of each face (e.g. the temple of Nilakhapteśvara in Udaypur, Gwâlior). Although during medieval times the temple with shikhara was widespread throughout Northern India, other architectural types also existed. The most notable example is perhaps the Vimala temple on Mount Abu (Rajasthan), one of the oldest and most complete examples of the Jain* architecture. The “dome” at the Vimala Vasahi Temple.The central “domed” room surrounded by the hypostyle cloister of the Vimala Vasahi temple. The Vimala Vasahi temple of mount Abu (Abu town), southwestern Rajasthan state, India), built in marble about 1031. With a cruciform floor plan, it was built in 1031 in white marble over an equally cruciform platform. The central body, surmounted by a false dome, is surrounded by a hypostyle cloister with domes. An example of the decorative elements at the interior of the Vimali Vasahi temple. The center is octagonal and rests on eight pillars joined together by jagged arches (which can be also seen elsewhere, especially in the temple of Surya in Modhera, State of Barod, from the 11th century, and which may have been influenced by the Indo-Muslim architecture); a circular dome with a central pinjabe and with rays in the form of characters unfolds under the tower. Although the external appearance of this building is relatively simple, the heavy use of sculptures on the pillars, arches and roofs is excessive, and illustrates however a typically medieval style, whose taste for over-decoration is also seen in certain southern styles. Amalaka: A segmented or notched stone disk, usually with ridges on the rim, that sits on the top of a Hindu temple’s shikhara or main tower. The amalaka either represent a lotus, and thus the symbolic seat for the deity below, or the sun, and is thus the gateway to the heavenly world. Other interpretations relate that the shape of the amalaka has been inspired by the fruit of Phyllanthus emblica, the Indian gooseberry, or myrobolan fig tree.This is called āmalaki in Sanscrit, and the fruit has a slightly segmented shape, though it is much less marked than in the architectural shape. The amalaka itself is crowned with a kalasam or finial, from which a temple banner is often hung. Ardhamandapa: (meaning “half-open hall”).  In a Hindu temple architecture, a passage in front of the Garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum) whose proportions are relative to those of the Garbhagriha itself. Apart from being used as a passage it is also used to keep the articles of worship including food offerings on special occasions. Circumambulation: (from the Latin circum meaning “around” and ambulātus meaning “to walk”). Refers to the act of moving around a sacred object or idol. Circumambulation of temples or deity images is an integral part of Hindu and Buddhist devotional practice (known in Sanskrit as pradakśina or pradakshinaṇā). It is also present in other religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Cross of Lorraine: A heraldic two-barred cross, consisting of a vertical line crossed by two shorter horizontal bars. In most renditions, the horizontal bars are “graded” with the upper bar being the shorter, though variations with the bars of equal length are also seen.  Gavaksha: (from the Sanskrit meaning “bull’s or cow’s eye”). (Also known as kudu in Tamil). In Indian architecture, is a term used to describe the motif centered on an ogee, circular or horseshoe arch that decorates many examples of Indian rock-cut architecture and later Indian structural temples and other buildings. In its original form, the arch is shaped like the cross-section of a barrel vault.  In Hindu temples, their role is envisioned as symbolically radiating the light and splendor of the central icon in its sanctum. Alternatively, they are described as providing a window for the deity to gaze out into the world. Jain architecture: (Or Jain temple). The place of worship for Jains, the followers of Jainism, an ancient Indian religion in which the devotees see a path of victory in crossing over life’s stream of rebirths through an ethical and spiritual life. The word is generally used in South India. Its historical use in North India is preserved in the Vimala Vasahi and Luna Vasahi temples of Mount Abu. Mahimandapa: (Mahi or Maha, meaning “big”). In Hindu temple architecture, when a temple has several Mandapas, Mahimandapa refers to the biggest and the tallest of them all. It is used for conducting religious discourses. Pancharatha: (From Snaskrit Pancha meaning “five” and Ratha meaning “Chariot”). A Hindu temple is referred to a Pancharatha when there are five rathas (on plan) or pagas (on elevation) on the tower of the temple (generally a shikhara). The rathas are vertical offset projection or facets. There are also temples with three rathas (triratha), seven rathas (saptaratha) and nine rathas (navaratha). Pradakśina: The act of circumambulation in the Hindu devotional practice. It refers to the marching round the temple towards the right hand, which is done three times. The presence of God, according to Burckhardt, in, Sacred Art in East and West: its Principles and Methods, ( translated [from the French] by Lord Northbourne. Middlesex, Eng. Perennial Books, 1967:17).is expressed in the design of the temple by emphasizing cardinal directions, proportions and symmetry. The design represents the world. By the architectural construction, the movement within the universe is rendered by a (relatively) permanent form. The South Asian temple, through its square form, has been understood to symbolize the completed world (as opposed to the circular form, which represents the world driven onward by cosmic movement).3 Indeed the square is perhaps the most basic form for architectural construction. From the square, the grid is easily developed. Though the grid is arguably a cumbersome tool13, it has been used throughout history in multiple cultures to plan the layout of buildings and cities, and it is still used today.3 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3 Stella Kramrisch, The Hindu Temple, Motilal Banarasidass Publ., Delhi, 1946/2007:21-22. 11