DRAVIDIAN ARCHITECTURE WAS AN ARCHITECTURAL IDIOM THAT EMERGED IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT OR South INDIA. IT CONSISTS PRIMARILY OF TEMPLES WITH PYRAMID SHAPED TOWERS AND ARE CONSTRUCTED OF SANDSTONE, SOAPSTONE OR GRANITE. MENTIONED AS ONE OF THREE STYLES OF TEMPLE BUILDING IN THE ANCIENT BOOK VASTU SHASTRA, THE MAJORITY OF THE EXISTING STRUCTURES ARE LOCATED IN THE SOUTHERN INDIANSTATES OF TAMIL NADU, KARNATAKA, KERALA, AND ANDHRA PRADESH. VARIOUS KINGDOMS AND EMPIRES SUCH AS THE CHOLAS, THE CHERA, THE PANDYAS, THE PALLAVAS, THEGANGAS, THE RASHTRAKUTAS THE CHALUKYAS THE HOYSALAS AND VIJAYANAGARA EMPIRE AMONG OTHERS HAVE MADE SUBSTANTIAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE EVOLUTION OF DRAVIDIAN ARCHITECTURE.

•HENCE DRAVIDIAN ARCHITECTURE DEVELOPED INTO ITS OWN FORM ANDTRADITION.•TEMPLES WERE NOT ONLY PLACE OF WORSHIP BUT ALSO CENTER OFLEARNING. ALONG WITH ELABORATE RELIGIOUS RITUALS, FESTIVALS,PERFORMANCES OF DANCES, DRAMAS BASED ON RELIGIOUS THEMEWERE CONTINUED.•DRAVIDIANS BEING FINE CRAFTSMAN ,TEMPLES WERE DESIGNED MOSTELEGANTLY WITH GREAT INTEREST TO DISPLAY ORNAMENTATION AND FINEART THAT COVERED EVERY PART OF THE TEMPLE.•DRAVIDIAN ARCHITECTURE WHICH DATES BACK FROM 600 AD TO 1000AD MAY BROADLY BE DIVIDED INTO ROCK CUT MONUMENTS TOSTRUCTURAL MONUMENTS.

DRAVIDIAN ARCHITECTURE IS SUB DIVIDED INTO 5 STYLES:1. PALLAVA STYLE2. CHOLA STYLE3. PANDYA STYLE4. VIJAYANAGAR STYLE5. LATE PANDYA STYLE OR MADHURA STYLE

•THE PALLAVAS RULED FROM AD (600–900) AND THEIR GREATEST

CONSTRUCTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE THE SINGLE ROCK TEMPLES

INMAHABALIPURAM AND THEIR CAPITAL KANCHIPURAM, NOW LOCATED

IN TAMIL NADU.

•PALLAVAS WERE ONE OF THE PIONEERS OF SOUTH INDIAN

ARCHITECTURE. THE EARLIEST EXAMPLES OF TEMPLES IN THE

DRAVIDIAN STYLE BELONG TO THE BADAMI CHALUKYA-PALLAVA PERIOD.

THE EARLIEST EXAMPLES OF PALLAVA CONSTRUCTIONS ARE ROCK-CUT

TEMPLES DATING FROM 610 – 690 CE AND STRUCTURAL TEMPLES

BETWEEN 690 – 900 CE. THE GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE

PALLAVA ARCHITECTURE ARE THE ROCK-CUT

TEMPLES AT MAHABALIPURAM. THERE ARE EXCAVATED PILLARED HALLS

AND MONOLITHIC SHRINES KNOWN AS RATHAS IN MAHABALIPURAM.

• MENTION MUST BE MADE HERE OF THE SHORE TEMPLE CONSTRUCTED

BY NARASIMHAVARMAN II NEARMAHABALIPURAM.

SHORE TEMPLEMAHABALIPURAM

LOCATIONMAHABALIPURAM IS SITUATED CLOSE TO CHENNAI OF TAMIL NADU ON THE SHORES OF THE BAY OF BENGAL, ALONG THE EASTERN COAST OF SOUTH INDIA. THE SHORE TEMPLES AT MAHABALIPURAM ARE KNOWN AS AS SEVEN PAGODAS, AMONG WHICH SIX ARE SUBMERGED IN THE SEA AND ONLY ONE HAS SURVIVED FROM THE RAVAGES OF NATURE.

MAHABALIPURAM, ALSO KNOWN AS MAMALLAPURAM IS A TOWN IN KANCHEEPURAM DISTRICT IN THE INDIAN STATE OF TAMIL NADU IT IS AN ANCIENT HISTORIC TOWN . BY THE 7TH CENTURY IT WAS A PORT CITY OF SOUTH INDIAN DYNASTY OF THE PALLAVAS. IT HAS A GROUP OF SANCTUARIES, WHICH WAS CARVED OUT OF ROCK ALONG THE COROMANDEL COAST IN THE 7TH AND 8TH CENTURIES : RATHAS (TEMPLES IN THE FORM OF CHARIOTS), MANDAPAS (CAVE SANCTUARIES), GIANT OPEN-AIR RELIEFS SUCH AS THE FAMOUS 'DESCENT OF THE GANGES', AND THE SHORE TEMPLE, WITH THOUSANDS OF SCULPTURES TO THE GLORY OF SHIVA. IT HAS AN AVERAGE ELEVATION OF 12 METRES (39 FEET). THE MODERN CITY OF MAHABALIPURAM WAS ESTABLISHED BY THE BRITISH RAJ IN 1827.

"THE FIVE-STOREY SHORE TEMPLES AT MAMALLAPURAM...ARE BUILT IN STONE MASONRY, NOT CARVED FROM THE SOLID, AND DATE FROM THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE EIGHTH CENTURY. EACH HAS A GARBHAGRIHA IN WHICH THE SIVALINGA IS HOUSED, AND A SMALL MANDAPA, THE WHOLE SURROUNDED BY A HEAVY OUTER WALL WITH LITTLE SPACE BETWEEN FOR CIRCULATION. AT THE REAR ARE TWO SHRINES FACING OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS. THE INNER SHRINE OF KSATRIYASIMNESVARA IS REACHED FROM THE AMBULATORY PASSAGE WHILE THE OTHER, DEDICATED TO VISHNU, FACES THE OUTSIDE. THE OUTER WALL OF THE SHRINE TO VISHNU AND THE INNER SIDE OF THE BOUNDARY WALL ARE EXTENSIVELY SCULPTURED."

SHORE TEMPLE IS A COMPLEX OF THREE TEMPLES, ONE LARGE AND TWO SMALL, LOCATED RIGHT ON THE SHORES OF THE COROMANDEL COAST OF THE BAY OF BENGAL IN MAHABALIPURAM, WHICH WAS EARLIER KNOWN AS MAMALLAPURAM. DURING THE PALLAVA DYNASTY REIGN THIS WAS A PORT CITY OF THEIR KINGDOM WHICH THEY RULED FROM KANCHIPURAM. IT WAS BUILT BY THE PALLAVA DYNASTY WHEN IT WAS THE TRADING PORT OF THE DYNASTY

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THE CHOLA KINGS RULED FROM AD (848–1280) AND INCLUDED RAJARAJA CHOLA IAND HIS SON RAJENDRA CHOLAWHO BUILT TEMPLES SUCH AS THEBRIHADESHVARA TEMPLE OF THANJAVUR . THE MAGNIFICENT SIVATEMPLEOFTHANJAVURBUILT BY RAJA RAJA I IN 1009 AS WELL AS THE BRIHADISVARA TEMPLE OF GANGAIKONDACHOLAPURAM, COMPLETED AROUND 1030, ARE BOTH FITTING MEMORIALS TO THE MATERIAL AND MILITARY ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE TIME OF THE TWO CHOLA EMPERORS. THE LARGEST AND TALLEST OF ALL INDIAN TEMPLES OF ITS TIME, THE TANJORE BRIHADISVARA IS AT THE APEX OF SOUTH INDIAN ARCHITECTURE

BRIHADEESWARA TEMPLETHANJAVUR

ONE OF THE MOST LAVISH INDULGENCES OF THE CHOLA TEMPLE ARCHITECTURES AT THE BRIHADISHWARA TEMPLE. THIS IS ONE OF THE LARGEST TEMPLES IN INDIA AND IS RIGHTLY CALLED THE 'BIG TEMPLE MADE OF HUGE GRANITE BLOCKS, IT HAS AN ENORMOUS STONE LINGA AND A HUGE MONOLITHIC NANDI (BULL) AS HIGHLIGHTS. A PART OF THE SIVAGANGA FORT, THIS TEMPLE (1099 CE) IS SURROUNDED BY A DRY MOAT AND WITH AN ENORMOUS ENTRANCE ARCH.

LOCATION

•THE BRIHADEESWARA TEMPLE OR THE PERUVUDAIYAR KOVIL IS A TEMPLE DEDICATED

TO LORD SHIVA AND IS LOCATED IN THANJAVUR, TAMIL NADU. THIS TEMPLE IS ONE OF

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ARCHITECTURAL SITES IN INDIA. RAJA RAJA CHOLA I HAD THIS

TEMPLE CONSTRUCTED IN 1010 AD. THE BRIHADEESWARA TEMPLE WAS BUILT FOR

ROYAL CEREMONIES AND TO DISPLAY THE EMPEROR’S POWER AND VISION. THE

CHOLAS HAD A SPLENDID EYE FOR ART AND ARCHITECTURE, WHICH SHOWS IN THEIR

TEMPLES, WHICH HAVE BEEN CONSTRUCTED IN A DRAVADIAN STYLE. ALSO, THE ENTIRE

TEMPLE IS BUILT ON THE RULES OF AXIAL AND SYMMETRICAL GEOMETRY, DISPLAYING

AN ENGINEERING MARVEL OF THAT TIME. ALMOST ALL THE STRUCTURES ARE ALIGNED

AXIALLY. UNDER THE LIST “GREAT LIVING CHOLA TEMPLES”.

•ONE OF THE FIRST GREAT TAMIL CHOLA BUILDING PROJECTS, THE TEMPLE'S

FOUNDATIONS WERE LAID OUT IN 1002

CE. AN AXIAL AND SYMMETRICALGEOMETRY RULES THE TEMPLE LAYOUT.TEMPLES

FROM THIS PERIOD AND THE FOLLOWING TWO CENTURIES ARE AN EXPRESSION OF THE

TAMILS (CHOLA) WEALTH, POWER AND ARTISTIC EXPERTISE. THE EMERGENCE OF SUCH

FEATURES AS THE MULTIFACETED COLUMNS WITH PROJECTING

SQUARECAPITALS SIGNAL THE ARRIVAL OF THE NEW CHOLA STYLE

•. IT IS AN ARCHITECTURAL EXAMPLE SHOWCASING THE PURE FORM OFTHE DRAVIDA TYPE OF TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE AND REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CHOLA

EMPIRE IDEOLOGY AND THE TAMIL CIVILISATION IN SOUTHERN INDIA. THE TEMPLE

"TESTIFY TO THE BRILLIANT ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE CHOLA IN ARCHITECTURE,

SCULPTURE, PAINTING AND BRONZE CASTING.

•THE ESTEEMED ARCHITECT AND ENGINEER OF THE TEMPLE WAS KUNJARA MALLAN

RAJA RAJA PERUNTHACHAN AS STATED IN INSCRIPTIONS FOUND AT THE TEMPLE. THE

TEMPLE WAS BUILT PER ANCIENT TEXTS CALLED VAASTU SHASTRAS AND AGAMAS. HE

IS THE ANCIENT ANCESTOR OF THE DOYAN OF VAASTU VEDIC ARCHITECTURE, THE LATE

DR. V. GANAPTI STHAPATI OF CHENNAI AND MAHABALIPURAM (ARCHITECT OF THE 133'

GRANITE THIRUVALLUVAR STATUE AT THE TIP OF SOUTH INDIA). MEMBERS OF HIS

FAMILY STILL LIVE AND PRACTICE THE ANCIENT ART AND SCIENCE. THE AMERICAN

UNIVERSITY OF MAYONIC SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WAS INITIATED BY DR. V.

GANAPATI STHAPATI TO PERPETUATE THE SAME FORM OF ARCHITECTURAL PRINCIPLES

USED BY KUNJARA MALLAN RAJA RAJA PERUNTHACHAN TO BUILD THE

BRIHADEESWARAR TEMPLE. THE TEMPLE WAS BUILT USING A MEASURE OF 1 3/8-INCH

CALLED AN ANGULA (24 UNITS EQUALLING 33 INCHES CALLED A HASTA, MUZAM, OR

KISHKU). THIS IS THE SAME MEASURE FOUND IN ANCIENT LOTHAL AND OTHER SITES IN

THE INDUS VALLEY DATING BACK 4000 - 6000 YEARS. THIS SAME MEASURE IS USED TO

BUILD STRUCTURES COMPLIANT WITH THE VAASTU SHASTRAS AND AGAMAS TODAY.

WHILE SOME BUILDERS USE A DIFFERENT MEASURE THIS IS CONSIDERED A STANDARD

DUE TO ITS ANTIQUITY.

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THANK YOU

PRESENTED BY

MANJARIKIRAN

BHUVANESHRAVITEJA