Rehabilitation and Restoration of Structures

BUILDING SCIENCE OF INDIAN TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

Shweta Vardia(1) and Paulo B. Lourenço(2)
(1)
Department of Architecture, School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal, M.P., India.
(2)
ISISE, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal.

Abstract
Every style of building construction reflects a distinctive principle that represents a
particular culture and era. In this context, the Indian Hindu temples are not only places of
worship but they are also cradles of knowledge, art, architecture and culture. The practices
and traditions of temples exist not only in history but also in present time, which greatly
influence the socio-cultural life of its people and gives continuity to traditional Indian values.
The evolution of Indian temple architecture is marked by a strict adherence to the ancient
models that has continued over many centuries.
This paper presents the philosophical and practical aspects that govern the construction of a
Hindu temple building and how they influenced the form of the Hindu temple. The various
stages, construction techniques and processes involved in temple construction since ancient
times have been studied not only though archival research but also through a comparative
study. Dimensional studies have also been undertaken with respect to simple indexes of both
the northern and the southern styles of Hindu temple architecture and are discussed in this
paper.

1. INTRODUCTION
One of the most significant highlights of Indian architecture has been the evolution of the
Hindu temple architecture. The Hindu temple construction during the medieval period (6th-
13th centuries) took place on a magnificent scale comparable to the building of churches and
cathedrals in the medieval Europe. A large variety of Hindu temples was constructed
throughout India with distinction in scale, techniques of building and particularly the deities
that were worshipped, which were the result of the differences in political, cultural, climatic,
geographical and prosperity between the towns and villages.
Thus, distinctive architectural styles of Hindu temples developed which have been
classified into three different orders; the Nagara or ‘northern’ style, the Dravidian or
‘southern ‘style, and the Vesara or hybrid style which is seen in the Deccan between the other
two. There are also other distinct styles in peripheral areas such as Bengal, Kerala and the
Himalayan valleys.

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The study focuses on the Nagara or the northern style, and the Dravidian or the southern
style of Hindu temple architecture built in stone. It looks into aspects of their origin and
development, the philosophy that created them and the way in which this philosophy can be
interpreted for better understanding of the structure itself and the time and society that created
them. The dimensional study of the temples was restricted to few examples from the north and
the south temples due to the limited availability of the required information and drawings.

2. THE HINDU TEMPLE

The Hindu temples commonly known as Mandir in Hindi and derived from the Sanskrit
word Mandira, are identified by several names in different parts of India. The architecture of
temples varies across India; the basic elements of the temple are the same, but the form and
scale varied. The following section describes the elements of the temple.

2.1 Elements of Hindu temple

During the late half of the 7th century, the Hindu temple structures of India began to
acquire a definite form. Similar to terminology used to distinguish the basic components of a
Gothic Church (for example nave, aisles, chancel, spire, etc), the common elements of a
Hindu temple which are known in their original Sanskrit words are described next, see also
(Figures 1 and 2)
The sanctuary as whole is known as the Vimana and consists of two parts. The upper part
of the Vimana is called as the Sikhara and the lower portion inside the Vimana is called as the
Garbhagriha (cella or inner chamber).
Also: (i) ‘Sikhara’ meaning the tower or the spire. It is the pyramidal or tapering portion of
the temple which represents the mythological ‘Meru’ or the highest mountain peak. The shape
and the size of the tower vary from region to region. (ii) ‘Garbhagriha’ meaning the womb
chamber. It is nucleus and the innermost chamber of the temple where the image or idol of the
deity is placed. The chamber is mostly square in plan and is entered by a doorway on its
eastern side. The visitors are not allowed inside the garbhagriha in most of the temples, only
the priests perform the rituals and worship. (iii) ‘Pradakshina patha’ meaning the ambulatory
passageway for circumambulation. It consists of enclosed corridor carried around the outside
of garbhagriha. The devotees walk around the deity in clockwise direction as a worship ritual
and symbol of respect to the temple god or goddess. (iv) ‘Mandapa’ is the pillared hall in
front of the garbhagriha, for the assembly of the devotees. It is used by the devotees to sit,
pray, chant, meditate and watch the priests performing the rituals. It is also known as
‘Natamandira’ meaning temple hall of dancing, where in olden days ritual of music and dance
was performed. In some of the earlier temples the mandapa was an isolated and separate
structure from the sanctuary. (v) ‘Antarala’ meaning the vestibule or the intermediate
chamber. It unites the main sanctuary and the pillared hall of the temple.
(vi) ‘Ardhamandapa’ meaning the front porch or the main entrance of the temple leading to
the mandapa.
Some other essential elements found in the Hindu temples are: (vii) ‘Gopurams’ meaning
the monumental and ornate tower at the entrance of the temple complex, specially found in
south India. (viii) ‘Pitha’, the plinth or the platform of the temple. (ix) ‘Toranas’ the typical
gateway of the temple mostly found in north Indian temple and (x) ‘Amalaka’ the fluted disc
like stone placed at the apex of the sikhara.

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Figgure 2: The typical elev vation

F
Figure 1: Thhe typical plan
p illustratting variouss illuustrating varrious elemeents of
eleements of Hindu
H Tempple Hinduu Temple

3. T
THE O HINDU TEMPLE
GEOMETRY OF
The Hindu archhitecture, reeligious or vernacular, in the anncient timess was based d on the
geometrry of the Vastupurasshamandalaa. In Hindu u philosophhy, the forrm of the purasha
(human)) body was made to suuit the abstraact idea of the
t square, asa the supreeme geomettric form
(Groverr, 1988), seee Figure 3. The
T basic foorm of the Vastupurash
V hamandala is the squarre which
is the im
mportant annd ideal geoometric forrm in Hindu u philosophhy, which represents thhe earth.
Similarlly, the circlle representts the univeerse and is consideredd as the perrfect shape, without
any begginning and end, suggessting timeleessness and infinity, a typically heaavenly featuure.

Figure 3: Vastupurash
V hamandala

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The mandala is actually a square subdivided into smaller squares in the form of a grid with
each square unit clearly marking the areas of respective gods. The most commonly used
mandala is the square divided into 64 and 81 squares. The Vastupurashamandala, having all
the geometrical, astronomical and human properties was the basis of the ground floor plan for
all Hindu temples. The basic shape acquired by the temple plan is the outer most ring of
square of the mandala forms the thickness of walls of main shrine. The central 4 squares
acquire the place of the main deity and the inner ring of 12 squares form the walls of the
garbhagriha and the next 16 to 28 forms the pradkshina patha. These simple divisions of
square with many permutations and combinations became the base for the complex structures
of the temple.

4. THE STRUCTURAL SYSTEM OF THE HINDU TEMPLES

The basic construction technique used in the Hindu temple was the trabeated system or the
post and lintel method which was extended by the use of corbelling techniques. This method
was originally used for wooden construction in India and was later adopted for the stone
structures as well.

4.1 Trabeated System

In the trabeated system only the horizontal and the vertical members are used and the
stability is achieved by the massive arrangements of vertical elements such as pillars and
pilasters together and heavy cross beams and lintels see Figure 4. The use of the spanning
system to enclose the interior spaces was the most typical feature of this system. The roofing
system consists of horizontally laid slabs of stone spanning from one supporting beam or wall
to the other.

Figure 4: Trabeated system and the internal ceilings of the Hindu temple

4.2 Corbelling System

In the corbelling system the stones or the bricks in each horizontal course are projected out
to bridge the gap between the two walls to diminish until it can be closed with a single piece
of stone or brick see Figure 5. The corbelling system was used to create the interiors of the
temple and the stone shells of the super structure that rise above the sanctuary.

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Figure 5: Corbelling system

5. THE CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY OF HINDU TEMPLES

The construction of a temple is an art, a science and a complicated creative study with a
blend of mathematics, logic, geography, geology, science, ecology, art, sculpting, music, light
and sound, religion, social sciences and astrology.
The historical information about construction of temples which is available today is mostly
inscribed in the stones slabs, metal plates, palm leaves and manuscripts. The south and the
north Indian temple construction follows the same procedures leading up to the construction
of the temple. Only slight differences occur due to variability of materials used for
construction, the climate and availability of human resources or the social structure of a
particular period.

5.1 Selection of the team

There were various organized groups of architects, artisans and workmen who were
employed in the various aspects of temple construction. These groups functioned as guild or
society. The techniques and skills of these associations were passed on verbally and
practically from generation to generation to those in the same family or household. Today also
these groups or associations exist and function in the same manner as can be seen in the
Indian states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka and Orissa and have a major role in the
construction of the temples within and outside the country.
Among all the member of the association, the most foremost person involved in the
construction of temple was the chief architect. Every region in the country had its own chief
architect and association which are called as sompuras in the west, mahapataras in the east
and sthapatis in the south.

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The architect’s work was a team work which was also bounded by the rituals performed
before, during and after the construction. The construction team consisted of the four classes,
(i) Sthapati, the main architect well versed in traditional sciences, mathematics and
Shilpshastras (ii) Sutragrahin performs the work assigned by sthapati and well versed in
layouts, proportion and measurements (iii) taksaka, who cuts and carves the stone and do the
subtle detail (iv) vardhakin the mason or carpenter ho assembles all the pieces together and
several workers work under these four heads for the construction of the temple (Dagens,
1986). The team followed the instructions of the sthapaka, the Brahmin architect priest.
5.2 Stages of construction
The construction of temple was a long process and used to last for decades. The building of
the temple was divided into three stages.
The first stage is the planning of the temple where sthapati with the sthapaka and other
team members do the planning and determine the overall architectural conception of the
temple. The second stage is the carving of the different parts of the temple and the takshaka
instructs the sculptors and shilpis to carve the parts according to the drawings, specifications
and guidelines. The third and the final stage is the assembling the parts of the temple i.e. the
actual construction of the temple. Even today this same process is followed with slight
variations done due to the availability of modern construction technology.
5.2.1 Stage I : Planning of the temple
This stage includes the (i) Selection of the site, intially an auspicious land is selected for
the construction of temple as mentioned in the ancient treatises. (ii) Inspection, insemination
and levelling of the site, The probable site for the construction is first examined for the type
of soil, colour, odour, form, flavour and sound by performing some simple test on site. For
e.g. a pit is dug on the site and the soil which has been taken out is put back again and
checked whether the level of the packed soil is higher, same or lower. The land with the
higher and the same level of packed soil are selected for the construction. When the
inspections, leveling and tilling is done, the site is ready for the laying out the divine diagram
or the vastupurashamandala. (iii) Orientation, measurements and layout, The method by
which orientation was undertaken was based on the ‘Indian circle method’ and was based on
the use of an instrument known as ‘shanku-yantra’ or the ‘gnomon’, which is an ancient
device for determining the east-west direction as well as for knowing time (Hardy, 2007).
This method deeply influenced the geometry of the temple plan and its development. The
nature of the main deity greatly influences the orientation of the temple. (iv) Selection of
material, stone is considered as the most sacred building material. The stones are used in
temple construction according to the availability and climate of the region. The stone selected
for the construction should be of even colour, hard and perfect, pleasing to touch The hard and
even stones are used for the plinth, columns, beams and slabs. The supple stones are used for
the construction of sculptures, idols, carvings etc. The preferred stones for the construction
were then quarried. (v) Quarrying of stone, In the past the stones were quarried using
wooden wedges that are driven into the rocks and then wetted to cause expansion. This in turn
causes the rocks to crack and are thus cut by subsequent application of pressure and dressed.
(vi) Transportation of materials, In the past the transportation of the stones from the
quarries to the building site was done on the wooden rollers drawn by the elephants or floated
on the wooden barge along the rivers and the canals.

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Figuree 6: Transpoortation and

d carving off stones

5.2.2 Stage
S II : Carving
C on the templee
This stage incluudes carvingg different parts
p of temp ple such as pillars, beaams, bracketts etc. as
per the drawings anda specificcations. Eacch stone to be includedd in the tem mple constru uction is
carved separately anda later asssembled toogether by intricate intterlocking ssystem. (i) Cutting
and carrving the stone,
s the teeam of stonne mason will
w cut the stone blockk to the app propriate
size, annother team of carvers will give thhe stone a basic
b shapee and finallyy the sculpttors give
them thhe final formm. The joinning system m of each sttone is pre-decided andd the rough h joinery
details are
a preparedd simultaneoously. (ii) Drawing
D in stone, the intricate
i ornnate carving
gs on the
stones depend
d on the
t precise drawings. In the earliier days thee drawings on the ston nes were
made byy sharpenedd coal piecee and sharppened bamb boo shoot (bbamboo penncil). Stenccils were
made foor the repettitive desiggns. After every
e phasee of carvingg more linees are madee for the
carvers to detail thhe stones. (iiii) Polishin
ng the stonne, the final phase of w work is poliishing of
the finaal form of the
t stones. The polishing is donee using stonne bars. Onnce the carv ving and
polishinng is completed the pieeces are stoored for thee final assem mbly of thee temple. (iv v) Tools
and equ uipments, the
t basic toools, hammeer and diffeerent types of chisels aare used forr cutting
and carvving of the stones. Thee tools are made
m locally
y and sharpeened regularrly in the work
w yard
by the blacksmiths
b .

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5.2.3 Stage III : Process of temple building

(i) Assembly of elements, final and most important stage for the construction of the temple
is the assembly of all the parts together, at the site the carved parts of the temple are erected
into their exact position by rope and pulley on the scaffoldings. Ramps were also constructed
of timber and sand to ease the placing of heavy members. The earlier remains of ramp are
found near the Temple of Brihadeshvera, Thanjuvar, which was constructed to carry the 80
tonne finial stone to the height of 60 m. (ii) Joinery System, In the ancient times, the
traditional Hindu temples were derived from the timber and bamboo architecture. During the
period of stone construction, the architectural elements and the decorative details of the
temple continued to follow the timber construction details for centuries in one form or another
even though the original purpose and the context was lost; see Figure 7. The timber joinery
system was followed to assemble all the parts of the temple together. The major joining
systems used were different types of mortise and tenon joint, and the lap joint. Another kind
of joint is a kind of mortise and tenon joint, i.e. a peg is fixed between the two mortise cut out
in two different stones, this joint is usually used between two courses of masonry to avoid the
movement of stones due to lateral forces. In the past natural binders were used to in the joints.

Figure 7: The mortise and tenon joint and lap joint used in the masonary of Hindu temple

The construction of the temple starts with the (i) Laying of foundation, a pit of
approximately 2 m deep is dug throughout the base and is wider than the base of the temple.
The foundation is fully packed with laying of stone one above the other. (ii) Plinth, the stones
placed above the foundation stones act as the retaining wall for the rubble compacted earth
with in the plinth area of the structure. The number of courses of stones at the plinth varies
according to the size of the temple from 3 to 10 numbers. The top most courses on plan i.e.
the stone floor of the temple, where exactly the vertical components were raised, was marked
with chisel marks (mason marks) and grooves for the pillar bases without lines for rising walls
and entrances. (iii) Walls, the main structural masonry walls are constructed as a stone
composite masonry with stone, brick with lime or mud as the masonry core. The thickness of
the stones varies from 300 to 4500 mm. The average thickness of the masonry wall varies
from 800 to1200 mm. Through stones are provided at regular intervals to act as ties and thus
strengthen the walls. (iv) Columns and Beams, are monolithic structure. Columns are made
up of 5 parts and all are interlocked by the mortise and tenon joints. The five parts consists of
two parts of the base one part as the shaft and two as the capital of the column. (v) Mandapa,
may be flat roofed in the south and have pyramidical superstructure in the north. The
mandapa ceiling is built with basic beam and slab construction method. Later diminishing

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patterns of nested squares were constructed by placing the triangular slabs across the corners
of the square plan. The square bay of the mandapas were reduced to stepped pyramidical roof
via triangular corner slabs or diagonal beams. (vi) Sikhara, is the pyramidical structure built
on the garbhagriha of the temple. Corbelling construction system is used for the construction
of the sikhara. The horizontal courses one above the other are stepped inwards and
progressive forward to cover the space. The apex of the superstructure is mounted by a single
piece of stone called as amlaka in the north and sikhara in the south. Details are shown in
Figures 8 to 10.

Figure 8: Column shaft fixed Figure 9: Arrangements of beam Figure 10: Construction of
of with capital for mandapa ceiling Sikhara

6. DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS

The dimensional studies have been undertaken with respect to simple indexes of both the
northern and the southern styles of Hindu temple architecture. The date of construction of
these temples ranges from the 5th till 13th century. A sample of 15 temples from each style was
selected. The selection was limited to 15 in number due to the limited availability of the basic
drawings and information required for the analysis.

The following simplified methods of analysis and corresponding indexes are considered:

6.1. In plan area ratio of the temple

The safety of the ancient construction, namely with respect to earthquake actions, can be
tentatively evaluated by calculating the in plan ratio of the building (Lourenco and Roque,
2006). In plan area ratio is the ratio between the areas of the load bearing walls and the total in
plan area of the temple. The calculations show the trend of construction of the Hindu temple
was massive, heavy and piled up masonry, beams and corbelling. The strength and stability is
obtained by the mass supporting mass method. The ratio obtained in the tables are two to three
times higher than typically required for masonry buildings (5 to 10% in modern masonry,
[Eurocode 8], and 10 to 20% in old churches) (Lourenco and Roque, 2006). The average
value of the in-plan area ratio for the north Indian temple is 49% (with a range from 30 to
70%), while the average value for the south Indian temple is 37% (with a range from 15 to
65%). Thus, the Hindu temples seem relatively safe and stable structures for vertical and
seismic actions.

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6.2 Relation between height and time of construction of the temple

The raised trend in Figures 11 and 12 shows that in the north Indian temples, the height of
the shrine increased with the period of construction. The average value of the height for the
north Indian temple is 15.79 m (with a range from 5 to 35 m), while the average value for the
south Indian temple is 12.99 m (with a range from 5 to 20 m). It is noted that the values found
are relatively low, when compared with masonry towers in Europe (up to 100 m in the
Cremona Torrazo (Binda et al., 2000) and even with other buildings in India (e.g., Qutub
Minar in New Delhi, which totals 76 m). Therefore the stresses in the masonry will also be
relatively low.

40 25
35
20
30
Height (m)

25
Height (m )

15
20
10
15

10
5
5

0 0
4th cent. 6th cent. 8th cent. 10th cent. 12th cent. 14th cent. 4th cent. 6th cent. 8th cent. 10th cent. 12th cent. 14th cent. 16th cent.
Time Time

Figure 11: Height/time-North Indian temple Figure 12: Height/time-South Indian temple

6.3 Relation between slenderness and time of main shrine of the temple
1/3.5
1/3.5
1/3.
1/3.
1/2.5
Slenderness

1/2.5
Slenderness

1/2.
1/2.
1/1.5
1/1.5
1/1.
1/1.
1/.5
1/.5
1/.
4th cent. 6th cent. 8th cent. 10th cent. 12th cent. 14th cent.
1/.
Time 4th cent. 6th cent. 8th cent. 10th cent. 12th cent. 14th cent. 16th cent.
Time
Figure 13: Slenderness/time-North Indian Figure14: Slenderness/time-South Indian

The raised trend in Figures 13 and 14 shows that in the north Indian temples the
slenderness of the shrine increased moderately with time of construction. In the later
centuries, with the better building construction skills and the empirical knowledge from the
trial and error building process, and to achieve more heights of the temple, the builders started
to build more slender temples. In the south, the trend remains approximately constant between
the values 1/1.5 to 1/3. The average value of the slenderness for the north Indian temple is
1/2.09 while the average value for the south Indian temple is 1/2.

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6.4 Relation between area and time of construction of main shrine of the temple
70 160
140
60
120

Area (m 2)
50 100
Area (m 2)

40 80
60
30
40
20 20
10 0
4th cent. 6th cent. 8th cent. 10th 12th 14th 16th
0
cent. cent. cent. cent.
4th cent. 6th cent. 8th cent. 10th cent. 12th cent. 14th cent.
Time
Time

Figure 15: Area/time-North Indian temple Figure 16: Area/time-South India temple

The raised trend in Figures 15 and 16 shows that the area of the shrine increased with
respect to the period of construction. In the early centuries the area of the temples was low
and gradually increased, possibly due to a combination of better building and material
transportation techniques, wealth and size of the communities, and increasing workforce. The
average value of the area for the north Indian temple is 37 m2 (with a range from 15 to 65 m2),
while the average value for the south Indian temple is 51 m2 (with a range from 15 to 135 m2).

7. CONCLUSIONS
The temple architecture has given India a truly magnificent form of architecture. The
construction technology used in the construction of the Hindu temple, the processes involved
during its construction, the human skills required and methods utilized by architects and their
team, all of this together bring out the art, science and philosophy behind the construction of
the Hindu temple. Today, as new temples continue to be built the character of Hindu temples
follow age old traditions, though its architectural style is influenced by the local architectural
styles and locally available building material and skills.
The dimensional study of temples by taking examples from primarily ‘north’ and ‘south’
Indian temples is an attempt to graphically analyse the structures with respect to its structural
stability. The finding of the above studies is that the stability of the temple structure depends
mainly on the geometrical compatibility of the elements with respect to the load applied rather
than material failure. The analysis therefore constitutes an important step in safety assessment
of this kind of structures. The data concerning the main geometrical property of temple from
the ‘north’ and ‘south’ of India here have been collected and elaborated through some specific
though limited number of examples. In spite of the limited number of samples it is possible to
find some interesting trend even though the absence of a statistical validity constitutes a
starting point for future works concerning the stability analysis of the temples."

REFERENCES
1. Binda, L., et al., “Survey and Investigation for the Diagnosis of Damaged Masonry Structures:
the “Torrazzo of Cremona”, 12th International Brick/Block Masonry Conference, Madrid,
Spain, 2000, pp. 237-257.
2. Dagens, B., Mayamata: An Indian Treatise on Housing Architecture and Iconography. New
Delhi: Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Scientific Research, 1986.

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3. Grover, S., The Architecture of India: Buddhist and Hindu. Ghaziabad: Vikas Publishing House
Pvt. Ltd., 1988.
4. Hardy, A., The Temple Architecture of India. Great Britain: Wiley 2007.
5. Lourenco, P.B., and Roque, J.A. “Simplified indexes for the seismic vulnerability of ancient
masonry buildings.” Construction and Building Materials, 20 (2006), pp. 200-208.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/ (accessed May 20, 2008).

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