Rajasthan and Gujarat


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Rajasthan and Gujarat

Rajasthan and Gujarat

  • Several Jain and Hindu temples were built in Rajasthan. Of these the three temples at Osian, near Jodhpur, dedicates at Harihara (a combination of Shiva and Vishnu). Osian also has a large number of Jain temples. Most of these were built in the Pratihara period (8th - 9th centuries CE). In Gujarat, architecture blossomed under the rule of the Solankis. The Sun Temple at Modhera, though in ruin now, is the best example of their architecture. Its temples tank is considered to be one of the most beautiful in India.
  • On the exteriors, the style is distinguished from other north Indian temple styles of the period in "that the external walls of the temples have been structured by increasing numbers of projections and recesses, accommodating sharply carved statues in niches. These are normally positioned in superimposed registers, above the lower bands of moldings. The latter display continuous lines of horse riders, elephants, and Kirttimukhas. Hardly any segment of the surface is left unadorned." The main shikhara tower usually has many urushringa subsidiary spirelets on it, and two smaller side-entrances with porches are common in larger temple.
  • Interiors are if anything even more lavishly decorated, with elaborate carving on most surfaces. In particular, Jain temples often have small low domes carved on the inside with a highly intricate rosette design. Another distinctive feature is "flying" arch-like elements between pillars, touching the horizontal beam above in the centre, and elaborately carved. These have no structural function, and are purely decorative. The style developed large pillared halls, many open at the sides, with Jain temples often having one closed and two pillared halls in sequence on the main axis leading to the shrine.
  • The style mostly fell from use in Hindu temples in its original regions by the 13th century, especially as the area had fallen to the Muslim Delhi Sultanate by 1298. But, unusually for an Indian temple style, it continued to be used by Jains there and elsewhere, with a notable "revival" in the 15th century.
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