Home »
Indian Heritage & Culture »
Architecture »
Temple Architecture »
Nagara Style or North India Temple style
Nagara Style or North India Temple style
Nagara style of temple architecture that became popular in northern India is known as Nagara.
In North India it is common for an entire temple to be built on a stone platform with steps leading
up to it.
Another unique characteristic is that it does not usually have elaborate boundary walls or gateways.
The garbhagriha is always located directly under the tallest tower.
There are many subdivisions of Nagara temples depending on the shape of the shikhara.
Amalaka or Kalash which is installed on Shikhara is another characteristic feature of this form of
temple style
Kandariya Mahadev Temple in Madhya Pradesh is an example for Nagara style of temple architecture
Other examples of Nagara style of temples in India are- Sun temple, Konark, Sun temple at Modhera,
Gujarat and Ossian temple, Gujarat.
Classification of Nagara style of temple architecture based on the style of Shikhara
Rekha-Prasad or Latina: These temples are characterized by a simple Shikara with a
square base and inward curving walls that have a pointed top. Early medieval temples such as the
Sun Temple at Markhera in Madhya Pradesh (MP). The Sri Jagannath Temple of Odisha has been
constructed in the Rekha-Prasad Shikara style.
Sri Jagannath temple
Shekari: is a variation of the Latina where the Shikara comprises of a main Rekha-Prasad
Shikara and one or more rows of smaller steeples on both sides of the central spire. Additionally,
the base and corners also feature mini Shikaras. The Khajuraho Kandariya Mahadev Temple is one
of the most prominent temples built in this style.
Bhumija: Another type of Nagara temple that evolved from the Latina style was the
Bhumija architecture developed in Malwa under the Paramara dynasty. These temples have a flat
upward tapering projection comprising of a central Latina spire and miniature spires on the
quadrant formed by the tapering tower. These mini Shikaras carved out both horizontally as well
as vertically. The Udayeshwar Temple in MP is built in this style.
Udayeshwar Temple in MP
Valabhi: style temples are rectangular in shape comprising of barrel-vaulted roofs. The
vaulted chamber roof has earned them the moniker wagon vaulted buildings/structures. Teli Ka
Mandir, a 9th Century temple at Gwalior has been built in this style.
Phamsana: are shorter but broader structures comprising of roofs with numerous slabs
that rise upwards in a gentle slope on a straight incline like a pyramid meeting at a single point
over the mid-point of the building. The Jagmohan of Konark Temple is constructed in the
Phamsana mode.
Sub-schools of Nagara style of temple architecture
Odisha School – The most prominent distinguishing feature is the Shikara (Deul) which
rises vertically before curving inwards at the top. The main type is square while the upper reaches
are circular. These temples have intricately carved exteriors and usually bare interiors. Unlike
Nagara temples of the north, most Odisha temples have boundary walls.
Chandel School – Unlike Odishan style, these temples are conceived as a single unit and
have Shikaras that curved from bottom to top. There are a number of miniatures Shikaras rising
from the central tower and towers that gradually rise up to the main tower cap both the porticos
and halls.
Solanki School – They are similar to the Chandel School except that they have carved
ceilings that appear like a true dome. The distinguishing feature of these temples is the minute
and intricate decorative motifs. Except for the central shrine, one can find carvings on both the
inner and outer sides of the walls.
Famous Nagara temples in various regions of India
Central India
Some of the oldest surviving structural temples belonging to Nagara style are from the Gupta
Period are in Madhya Pradesh
These are relatively modest-looking shrines each having four pillars that support a small mandapa
which looks like a simple square porch-like extension before an equally small room that served as
the garbhagriha.
Deogarh (in Lalitpur District, Uttar Pradesh) was built in the early sixth century CE is a classic
example of a late Gupta Period type of temple. This temple is in the panchayatana style of
architecture where the main shrine is built on a rectangular plinth with four smaller subsidiary
shrines at the four corners (making it a total number of five shrines, hence the name,
panchayatana). The tall and curvilinear shikhara also corroborates this date. The presence of this
curving latina or rekha-prasada type of shikhara also makes it clear that this is an early example
of a classic Nagara style of temple
The Lakshmana temple of Khajuraho, dedicated to Vishnu, was built in 954 by the Chandela king,
Dhanga.
A Nagara temple, it is placed on a high platform accessed by stairs. There are four smaller
temples in the corners, and all the towers or shikharas rise high, upward in a curved pyramidal
fashion, emphasizing the temple’s vertical thrust ending in a horizontal fluted disc called an
amalak topped with a kalash or vase.
The crowning elements: amalak and kalash, are to be found on all Nagara temples of this period.
Kandariya Mahadeo temple at Khajuraho is the epitome of Nagara style of temple architecture in
Central India. Khajuraho’s temples are also known for their extensive erotic sculptures; the erotic
expression is given equal importance in human experience as spiritual pursuit, and it is seen as
part of a larger cosmic whole
West India
Nagara temples located in Gujarat and Rajasthan
The Sun temple at Modhera which dates back to early eleventh century and which was built by
Raja Bhimdev I of the Solanki Dynasty in 1026 is an example of Nagara style of temple in this
region. The influence of the woodcarving tradition of Gujarat is evident in this temple
Sun temple at Modhera
3. East India
Eastern Indian temples include those found in the North-East, Bengal and Odisha.
It appears that terracotta was the main medium of construction, and also for moulding plaques
which depicted Buddhist and Hindu deities in Bengal until the seventh century
An old sixth-century sculpted door frame from DaParvatia near Tezpur and another few stray
sculptures from Rangagora Tea Estate near Tinsukia in Assam bear witness to the import of the
Gupta style in that region.
Regional variation: The style that came with the migration of the Tais from Upper Burma mixed
with the dominant Pala style of Bengal and led to the creation of what was later known as the
Ahom style in and around Guwahati. Kamakhya temple, a Shakti Peeth, is dedicated to Goddess
Kamakhya and was built in the seventeenth century.
Kamakhya temple, Assam
The Palas are celebrated as patrons of many Buddhist monastic sites; the temples from that
region are known to express the local Vanga style. The ninth century Siddheshvara Mahadeva
temple in Barakar in Burdwan District, for example, shows a tall curving shikhara crowned by a
large amalaka and is an example of the early Pala style. It is similar to contemporaneous temples
of Odisha. This temple is also an example of the regional variation of Nagara style of temple
architecture
The temples of Odisha constitute a distinct sub-style within the Nagara order. In general, here
the shikhara, called deul in Odisha, is vertical almost until the top when it suddenly curves sharply
inwards.
At Konark, on the shores of the Bay of Bengal, lie the majestic ruins of the Surya or Sun temple
built in stone around 1240. Its shikhara was a colossal creation said to have reached 70m
Other famous Nagara temples in this region are: Muktesvara temple, Rajarani temple, Lingaraja
temple etc
Jagannath temple, Puri
4. The hill states of India
A unique form of architecture developed in the hills of Kumaon, Garhwal, Himachal and Kashmir.
Kashmir’s proximity to prominent Gandhara sites
This began to mix with the Gupta and post-Gupta traditions that were brought to it from Sarnath,
Mathura and even centres in Gujarat and Bengal.
As a result both Buddhist and Hindu traditions began to intermingle and spread in the hills. The
hills also had their own tradition of wooden buildings with pitched roofs.
At several places in the hills, therefore, you will find that while the main garbhagriha and shikhara
are made in a rekha-prasada or Latina style, the mandapa is of an older form of wooden
architecture. Sometimes, the temple itself takes on a pagoda shape
Of the temples in Kumaon, the ones at Jageshwar near Almora, and Champavat near
Pithoragarh, are classic examples of Nagara architecture in the region.
Jageshwar temple near Almora
Related Posts