Introduction to Indian Architecture. Bindia Thapar

      Clay tiles are a popular roofing material for pukka roofs in South India.

      A typical hill house with a sloping tin roof.

      Elements of Space and Decoration

      Modernity is but one of the many overlays that constitute the complex canvas of Indian lifestyles, and in every region the architectural features of buildings have deep cultural resonances of older ways of living. Traditional homes in India share certain spatial and ornamental elements which are common, regardless of where they are located The names of these elements may vary according to the region but their function and character are accepted as indispensable to domestic architecture, just as the zenana (women's quarters) was essential for reasons of purdah and distinct from the mardana (spaces restricted to men).

      Elaborate color-filled carvings constitute the façade elements in the havelis of Jaisalmer.

      The Courtyard

      The Vaastu Shastra defines the focal point of any building as the point of equilibrium. In the domestic dwelling, this is the courtyard, an enclosed private space, open to the sky. Present even in the earliest homes of the Indus valley civilisation, the courtyard is the major spatial element of homes in the plains. In Hindu households, there is a tulsi plant (holy basil) at its center, revered for its healing powers. It is usually contained within a plinth or ornate planter.

      The Threshold

      The threshold signifies the transition of space from the public to the private. In traditional buildings, the threshold is slightly elevated, both to prevent hostile intrusions as well as to keep out insects and reptiles. Footwear is removed at this point, and one enters the house barefoot.

      The Hearth

      The cooking hearth, known as the chulha, is the purest space in the traditional house. The area around the chulha is ritually washed before the preparation of the morning meal, and it is essential to bathe before entering it. The women of the house do all the cooking and serving. At all meals, the men are served first, sitting on low wooden stools called chowkis. Sometimes, a second chulha was constructed in the courtyard for boiling water and other purposes.

      Not only within houses but between them courtyard-like spaces provide the public interactive area. In hot cities like Jaisalmer, narrow streets open up to provide areas for people to get together. Architectural features include jharokhas and decorated galleries.

      The interior of a hut in Kutch shows the women's decorative handiwork with mirrors and relief abstract.

      The chulha was designed to use firewood, and the smoke that rose from it was welcome as it killed vermin. Most houses did not have a chimney. In some tribal houses, the apex of the roof was open to the sky and covered by a clay pot that could be lifted when required.

      Decorative Elements

      The Indian love for color and design is evident in even the humblest of homes. Floors, especially in the areas around the threshold and the family shrine, are decorated with patterns drawn with rice flour, powdered chalk, flower petals or turmeric powder. This ritual decoration, called kolam, rangoli or alpana, whether done daily or for special occasions, is evident throughout the country, although the patterns executed differ from place to place. Walls are also painted or molded in relief with both geometric and iconographic motifs.

      Unlike the permanent decorations painted on the façade and on spatially important parts of the house, paintings with washable materials at the entry point celebrate important rituals or festive events, either within the house or outside in the overall context of the community.

      Most homes had small niches built into the wall, like the mihrab in mosques, used to keep candles or lamps, to house a shrine, or simply for storage. Kutch homes are covered with such ornate niches. The ornamentation in larger Hindu homes depicted entire scenes, involving figures and deities from mythology, the epics and stories from the Puranas. Usually the location and the subject of the paintings followed a set order. Entrances had auspicious symbols painted on them. The colors used were earth colors. Communities of fresco painters traditionally trained in the art were employed to execute elaborate designs by wealthy patrons.

      Structural elements were also exploited for decoration, such as the carved or latticed jharokhas of Rajasthan, brackets and pillars.

      Frescoes of religious or mythological scenes adorn the walls of havelis of the rich merchant class in Mandawa, Rajasthan.

      An example of Ladakhi wooden pillar capitals painted with bright Tibetan and Chinese motifs which support the ceiling of a traditional house.

      Architecture and Science

      Indian literary sources provide evidence of the deep and close relationship ancient India had with numerals and other branches of science. Astronomy and astrology were important preoccupations and the building treatise, Vaastu Shastra, relies on calculations based on cosmogony and religious abstract theory. Later examples manifest more overtly the relationship between architecture and the sciences.

      Sawai Jai Singh II, the 18th-century ruler of Jaipur, was a keen scholar, statesman and astronomer, who was inspired by the works of Mirza Ulugh Beg, the astronomer-king of Samarkand. He built five observatories, called the Jantar Mantar, in the northern cities of Delhi, Ujjain, Varanasi, Mathura and Jaipur.

      A perfect blend of function and aesthetics makes these buildings unique creations. A collector of Western scientific instruments, Jai Singh was convinced that the available instruments were not adequate to achieve the degree of accuracy he sought in building observatories. Instead of placing instruments within them, he therefore designed the structures themselves as instruments. Elegant futuristic forms were created by combining various geometrical shapes-hemispheres, arcs, cylinders, cubes and triangles. Until as recently as the advent of the satellite, these structures were used to predict certain meteorological phenomena.

      Jantar Mantar, Jaipur

      The Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is the largest and best preserved of Jai Singh's five observatories. Built between 1728 and 1734 in red sandstone, it is set in a large garden and consists of sixteen different large-scale instruments or yantras. Of these instruments, the Laghu Samrat Yantra can calculate Jaipur's local time up to an accuracy of 20 seconds. The Chakra Yantra is used to determine the angle of stars and planets from the equator. The Ram Yantra observes the celestial arc between the horizon and the zenith, and also measures the sun's altitude. The Jai Prakash Yantra, believed to be Jai Singh's own invention, verifies the accuracy of the other instruments. The Rashivalaya Yantra is composed of twelve pieces, each representative of a zodiac sign. It is used to cast horoscopes. The 23-meter-high Samrat Yantra is used to forecast the year's rainfall.

      South of the City Palace in Jaipur, the Jantar Mantar (literally "instrument to make calculations") was the most ambitious of Jai Singhll's observatories. It looks like a futuristic playground.

      The Jantar Mantar in the heart of Delhi is a popular tourist attraction.

      Jantar Mantar, Delhi

      The Jantar Mantar complex in New Delhi, now