The most beautiful temples in India. Temples of India
India deep religious country. Most of the population are followers of Hinduism - about 80% of the population, 13% of Muslims also live here, the rest profess Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Christianity and so on. The country’s constitution allows any religion, and it is thanks to this tolerance, which must be said to be thousands of years old, that we have a chance to see the ancient temples of India and completely new masterpieces of architecture...
Every year, millions of tourists come to this mysterious country in search of spiritual enlightenment, wisdom, wanting to gain inexhaustible health or ask the ancient gods for the fulfillment of desires. Whatever the purpose of your trip, do not miss the opportunity to get to know the religious diversity of India.
Cave temples of Ellora
The largest complex of cave temples in India is located in the village of Ellora, 30 kilometers away. west of the city Aurangabad, Maharashtra state. There are a total of 34 temples and monasteries in Ellora: twelve are Buddhist, five are Jain and the rest are Hindu.
The main attraction of the entire complex is the Kailasanatha rock temple, dedicated to Shiva. For more than a hundred years, several thousand workers carved this masterpiece from a monolithic rock using simple tools. It will take you several hours to explore the complex, but it is undoubtedly worth it to get to know one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Kandarya Mahadeva, Khajuraho temple complex
In the temple architecture of India, the Khajuraho complex remains unique. A thousand years ago, under the generous patronage of the Chandela Rajput kings, 85 temples, magnificent in form and richly decorated with carvings, were built near the unremarkable village of Khajuraho.
In a remarkably short period of 100 years (from 950 to 1050 AD), all the temples were completed in a single creative impulse. Today, out of 85 original temples, only 22 have survived the ravages of time, and now show the world a hymn to the joy of life and creativity, the final merging of man with his Creator.
The most interesting of them is Kandarya-Mahadeva, dedicated to the god Shiva. It took 100 years to build and was erected in the 11th century. After a couple of centuries, the temple was abandoned and for more than 700 years the impenetrable jungle hid this masterpiece of Indian medieval architecture.
But when the colonialists discovered the temple, they were in no hurry to draw attention to the find. The fact is that the external and internal walls are decorated with sculptures depicting scenes of an erotic nature of a very diverse nature. What once scared off Europeans now attracts tourists. Nowadays Khajuraho is referred to as the “Temple of Love”, and the complex itself is also part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Somnath Temple
One of 12 holiest temples India. It is located on the coast of the Arabian Sea, in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. According to legend, it was built by the god of the moon (hence the second name “Temple of the Moon”) in gratitude to Shiva for lifting the curse.
Six times the temple was completely destroyed, but each time it was restored. Last time it was rebuilt in 1947. Every year, many pilgrims from all over India flock here; worship here takes place in the form of the Jyotirlinga - a pillar of light that permeates the Earth, which only spiritually developed individuals can see.
Kashi Vishwanath Temple (Varanasi)
The Kashi Vishwanath Temple or "Golden Temple" is located on the West Bank of the Ganges River in the holy city of Varanasi. Here is one of the 12 jyotirlingas (this unpronounceable word means a shrine where Lord Shiva is worshiped).
People from all over India strive to get to Varanasi at least once in their lives; for a Hindu, visiting a temple and bathing in the Ganges is one of the ways to get out of the cycle of samsara. It is almost impossible for a non-Hindu to get inside. From the third floor of the neighboring building you can see the domes, the finishing of which took almost a ton of gold.
Jagannath Temple in Puri
From the title it is not difficult to understand that the Temple is located in the city of Puri, in the eastern part of Orissa. It is dedicated to one of the forms of Krishna to the deity Jagannath. For every Hindu, it is one of the four places of pilgrimage that should be visited during one's lifetime.
Entrance to the temple is closed to non-Hindus; even Hindus of other religions cannot enter there. Europeans are strictly prohibited from entering, since according to the prediction, representatives of the white-skinned race will try to steal the wooden statue of the god Jagannath.
However, there is a way out: the temple building can be seen from the roof of the adjacent library, and the wooden statues of the gods stored inside can be seen at the annual Chariot Festival in Puri, when the statues will be carried around the city on huge chariots.
Tirumala Venkateswara Temple
Built to honor a form of Vishnu, the sanctuary is located in the Tirumala Hills in the state of Andhra Pradesh in southeastern India and covers an area of over two hectares.
The Tirumala Venkateswara Temple is the most visited religious building in the world, it is also called the “Hindu Vatican”. Tens of thousands of pilgrims visit it every day, and on holidays several hundred thousand people come here.
It is also the richest Hindu temple. Pilgrims often sacrifice their hair to Vishnu, which is shaved off at a barber shop in the area. Over the course of a year, about 15 tons of hair are collected and sold, bringing in a profit of more than a million dollars.
Remarkable and the following facts: One day, 162 diamonds worth $230,000 were found in a donation box, and the largest diamond donated to the temple weighed 2.5 kilograms and was worth over $8 million.
Meenakshi Temple
The delightful temple complex is located in a square in the heart of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, and covers an area of 6 hectares. The structure was erected in honor of the wedding of Shiva and Meenakshi, one of the avatars of Parvati. This event is celebrated annually to this day.
The Meenakshi Temple represents the entire colorful world of Hinduism: the walls are covered with figures of gods, mythical animals, guards, priests, musicians, men and women. The scale and diversity are amazing. It is interesting to visit here for both adults and children; about 15 thousand people visit the temple every day.
Kedarnath Temple
The Shiva Temple is located in the picturesque upper reaches of the Himalayas in the village of Kedarnath. This is one of the most significant shrines of Hindus, the location of one of the 12 jyotirlingas. Here complete cleansing from sins is granted and thousands of pilgrims flock here from all over the world.
From Gaurikund the ascent can be done either on horseback or on foot. The entrance to the sanctuary is open only 6 months a year: from last week April or the first week of May until Diwali, which is celebrated in November-December. The rest of the time, the paths leading to the temple are covered with snow, and it is not possible to make this 14-kilometer journey.
Harmandir Sahib (Amritsar, Golden Temple)
Harmandir Sahib is the main shrine of the Sikhs and also the most famous golden temple in India. It is located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab, in the center of the sacred Amritsar Lake, into which pilgrims plunge before entering the temple.
The walls of the building are covered with gold plates and precious stones, and interior decoration even richer externally. Sikhs preach equality and unity of all religions, so free entry is open to everyone, you just need to wash your feet and put on a hat. More than 20,000 people visit Harmandir Sahib every day.
The temple has a free canteen where anyone, whether a tourist or a pilgrim, can eat simple Indian food. You can also stay overnight here; there are special sleeping rooms for this.
Lotus Temple
One of the most striking sights of Delhi, one of the greatest architectural structures, one of the most beautiful temples in India! The building is a huge blooming lotus flower of 27 marble petals surrounded by nine pools of water.
The house of prayer was built with donations from adherents of the Baha'i Faith, which preaches the unity of all religions, and after 6 years of construction, in 1986 the temple was opened to everyone. Entrance is completely free; loud conversations, photography and video shooting are prohibited inside the Lotus Temple, but meditation is encouraged.
A peaceful atmosphere, silence and soft light will help the traveler to renounce external stimuli, cast aside all worries and listen to his inner world in order to find harmony with himself and, as a result, with all that exists.
Country with ancient history, deep national traditions, many religions and rituals - India is still considered one of the most interesting places on the planet. Indian culture of antiquity gave rise to a whole series wonderful, absolutely unique temples, among which there are buildings with a thousand-year-old past and temples built during the Middle Ages. There are also quite modern masterpieces built in the second half of the 20th century. All temples in India, without exception, have an enduring religious value, they contain shrines revered by the Indian people.
Undoubtedly, all temples in India begin with the Palace-Mausoleum built in the 17th century by Shah Jahan for his untimely deceased wife, whom he loved. more life. Allah gave the Shah and the beautiful Mumtaz 17 happy years life together, but at the birth of the last child the woman died. For more than twenty years, the palace in Agra was built from expensive translucent marble, precious stones and pearls. The huge ones were made of pure silver, inner chambers breathed oriental luxury. After his death, Shah Jahan was buried next to his beloved Mumtaz. Taj Mahal - main temple in India, but there are many more masterpieces that deserve attention.
In the Indian city of Armitsar, right in the middle with the same name, stands the golden temple of Harmandir Sahib - the shrine of the Sikhs. The arriving pilgrims, before entering, perform the obligatory ritual of immersion in the waters of Armitsar. Sikhs are quite tolerant in their religious beliefs, so a representative of any religion is allowed to enter their temple, but only after washing their feet. You must also wear a hat upon entry. The temple is richly decorated with gold plates and many precious stones both outside and inside.
The stunning temple complex is located in the Indian village of Ellora in the state of Maharashtra. The temples of India in Ellora united as many as three religions: Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. In total, there are 34 monasteries in the complex, in which monks have lived for centuries. And the most significant in the Ellora complex has always been and remains common to all religions, carved into a monolithic rock, the Kailasanatha temple - the abode of Shiva. This temple was carved over a hundred years by several generations of stonemasons.
In the Indian state of Orissa, in the city of Puri, there is a temple of Jagannath, the deity personifying Krishna. This temple is extremely secluded and is restricted to Hindus only. A Hindu of any other religion cannot enter, and even less so Europeans. Hindus have a suspicion that people of the white race have long dreamed of stealing the wooden statue of Jagannath from the temple. To see this unique attraction, just climb onto the roof of a nearby building. And the deity of Jagannath and other gods from the temple can be observed during the chariot festival, which takes place in Puri every year.
The temples of India are also reflected in the state of Madhya Pradesh - a wonderful complex called Khajuraho. It consists of 22 buildings, some of which are dedicated to the god Shiva. One of the temples - Kandarya Mahadeva - began to be built in the 9th century and took about a hundred years to build. It so happened that two hundred years later the temple was consigned to oblivion and it disappeared for many 700 years in the dense Indian jungle. When European colonialists discovered the temple, they tried not to advertise their discovery, since all the walls of the building were covered with sculptures of an openly erotic nature. However, nowadays Kandarya Mahadeva is one of the most visited temples.
Vishwanath Kashi Temple (which means located on the banks of the Ganges in the city of Varanasi. The temple houses one of the shrines of the god Shiva. All Hindus in the country dream of going to the Kashi Temple; a non-Hindu cannot get into the temple, this is very strict. Hindus consider bathing in the Ganges with subsequent visit to the temple, the opportunity complete cleansing souls. Kashi Vishwanath is very richly decorated with real gold. About a ton of precious metal was spent on numerous domes.
And the magnificent House of Prayer in Delhi. A masterpiece of sacred architecture of the second half of the 20th century. Represents huge flower lotus of 27 petals, built of white marble. The temple is surrounded by 9 pools. Upon entering, each visitor is overcome with a feeling of peace; one wants to talk in a whisper; one does not even think about taking out a camera and clicking the shutter. One can feel the harmony of unity with the Lotus Temple. I want this feeling to last as long as possible. India doesn't end there, but for them full description More than one article will be required.
) article. Where we’ll tell you a little and show you a lot of places in India where temples like this are still preserved more or less intact.
Love temples in India abound in the Khajuraho temple complex, an ancient abandoned city that stood engulfed in the jungle for centuries. This is due to its safety in comparison with more accessible analogues.
For the first time, our city of Khajuraho, as the capital of the state of Chandella, was mentioned in the records of Abu Rihan al-Biruni, an Arab traveler of the early 11th century. Although reliable information about the time of construction has not been preserved, it is believed that the temples were erected in the period from 950 to 1050. AD, during the reign of the Rajput dynasty, when Khajuraho became the religious center of the state.
During the subsequent Muslim conquest of India, many Hindu temples were destroyed, but Khajuraho has survived to this day, although only 22 of the original 85 structures remain intact.
According to historians, the temple complex survived due to the fact that the inhabitants of Khajuraho, fearing an invasion from the north by Afghan tribes, left the city in the 14th century, services stopped, and gradually the jungle swallowed up both the city itself and the approaches to it.
It was not until 1838 that British military engineer D.S. Barth accidentally discovered this unique group of temples. Currently, the monuments have been impeccably restored, but excavations at the site of the former capital of Chandella continue to this day.
The temples of Khajuraho are amazing:
- And the multitude of sculptures: thousands and thousands of bas-reliefs densely cover the entire outer surface buildings.
- And the filigree of the work: body shapes, poses, movements, facial expressions are truly amazing, and the drawing of details is amazing for such majestic buildings.
- And the variety of subjects depicted: here are everyday sketches, battle compositions, various animals, and, of course, beautiful erotic scenes, performed with rare, amazing frankness and the smallest detail.
The origin and purpose of the temples are still debated to this day.
It is impossible not to mention the local legend that tells about the appearance of these structures with elegant, sensual sculptures. In ancient times there lived in Khajuraho beautiful girl Emavati, daughter of a Brahmin. One evening she was bathing in the Rati River. The Moon God saw the young beauty, and, inflamed with passion for her, seduced her.
From this union was baby is born, named by Chandravarman. But Emavati was rejected by her family and was forced to hide in the dense jungle, where she raised her son, becoming for him not just a mother, but also a teacher in all everyday affairs.
It was this boy who eventually became the founder of the great dynasty of Chandella rulers (probably having killed all those who had offended his mother - or, judging by the bas-reliefs, without killing...), and in the name of his mother he built many temples praising the power of human passion, the beauty of a woman and the greatness of love .
It is unknown how true the legend is, but we can only say for sure that the temples of the group do not belong to any one religion. Some of them are dedicated to Vishnu, some to Shiva, others to Jaina Tirtankaras, but the commonality of architecture and composition suggests that this is still a single complex.
So let’s look at what the ancients could do and envy them :)
Or, as Osho Rajneesh says:
Khajuraho is incomparable. There are hundreds of thousands of temples in the world, but not a single one similar to that, what can be seen in Khajuraho. Everything about the temples of Khajuraho is mysterious. Each one must have taken hundreds of years and thousands of craftsmen to create. I've never seen anything that could be called so perfect. Even the Taj Mahal has its drawbacks, Khajuraho does not. Moreover, the Taj Mahal is nothing but beautiful architecture; Khajuraho is the entire philosophy and psychology of the New Man. I am trying to let its beauty become a reflection of the hearts of my sannyasins. Not only the beauty of stone statues, but the beauty of human reality. The beauty of people who are capable of love, who are truly so alive that they infect the whole world with this fullness of life.
Based on materials from http://www.liveinternet.ru/community/2281209/post152287092/
The most ancient architecture of India, dating back at least five thousand years, has found its most perfect embodiment in the majestic temple buildings located throughout this vast country...
The ancient temples of India embody all the diversity of religious traditions, either replacing one another or coexisting side by side for many centuries, supporting and complementing each other. It was these traditions that created the colorful and multifaceted image of Indian civilization that was so impressive to Europeans.
In this article we have tried to describe the most famous and revered ancient temples of India. Almost all of them are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List and are cultural treasures of all mankind.
Great Stupa at Sanchi
The stupa, or burial site of the Buddha's remains, is of great importance in the religious life of many Hindus. The most famous and revered of them is located in Sanchi, located in Central India. It was built in the third century BC. and has perfectly preserved its appearance.
Nowadays, the Sanchi stupa has undergone restoration. The dome in the form of a hemisphere symbolizes the vault of the sky, and upper part- Mount Meru, sacred to Buddhists. Inside the structure, according to legend, there is part of the remains of Buddha.
The sanctuary is surrounded by a massive stone fence with four elaborately carved ceremonial gates, which are one of the most famous symbols of India.
Ajanta Temple Complex
The Ajanta temple complex is one of the most ancient cave temples in India, where not only stone-carved columns and wall decorations have been preserved, but also numerous frescoes with magnificent colorful images.
It consists of 29 cave halls, the most ancient of which are built in I-III centuries AD. Temple buildings here coexist with monastery cells, as they were created by monks who were looking for solitude from the bustle of the world.
Each of the halls has square shape, the ceiling is supported by stone columns decorated with rich carvings. On the sides of the central hall there are small cells in which the monks lived.
Cave temples of Ellora
A beautiful temple complex, including Buddhist, Hindu and Jain temples, is located near the village of Ellora (Maharashtra state).
The impressive stone structures are carved from solid rock in the middle of a mountain range that surrounds them on all sides like the walls of a giant bowl.
Here is one of the most revered examples of Dravidian architecture - the Kailash Temple, where you can see stone carvings giant statues the gods Vishnu, Shiva, the goddess Lakshmi and other representatives of the Hindu pantheon.
Khajuraho Temple
One of the most famous and visited temples by Europeans is Khajuraho, dedicated to the Hindu deity Shiva the Destroyer. It is located in the state of Madhya Pradesh and is named Kandarya Mahadeva.
This temple is famous for its stone carvings, representing thousands of different scenes of erotic content, made with amazing art and naturalism.
The temple buildings themselves are amazingly beautiful, and the piquant stone carvings attract tens of thousands of tourists who want to see the famous “stone Kama Sutra” with their own eyes.
The annual Indian traditional dance festival is held here in February and March. best time to visit the Khajuraho temple complex.
Lingaraja Temple
The Lingaraja Temple in Orissa is one of the most impressive structures of the phallic cult of Shiva. Built in the 9th century AD, it today is a grandiose temple complex, the central tower of which is 55 meters high and shaped like an ear of corn.
The tower is covered with carvings depicting female figures intertwined with figures of various animals. The main sanctum has a granite lingam about 8 meters high.
Hindus believe that it belongs not only to Shiva, but also to Vishnu - this feature makes the Lingaraja temple unique and one of the most revered in India.
Kashi Vishwanath Temple (Varanasi)
Located in the ancient Indian city of Varanasi (Benares), the Kashi Vishtvanath Temple was repeatedly subjected to complete destruction, but each time it was restored again. Today it is one of the most sacred places for every Hindu.
The walls of the temple are covered with gilding, on which about 800 kg of gold were spent. Unfortunately, the temple is located in the middle of a dense urban area, and in order to see its golden roof, tourists must climb to the third floor of a neighboring building.
Inside the temple, in a recess trimmed with pure silver, is its main shrine - the Adi Visheashvara lingam, guarded by a silver cobra.
In the 5th century BC n. e. The Persian Achaemenid dynasty extended its power to the northwestern part of India. A monument to this period is the ruins of Taxila, located near the modern city of Rawalpindi (now part of Pakistan). The development of Taxila was carried out in two stages. More ancient city was erected spontaneously, without any order. Subsequently, the chaos was changed by a clear grid of neighborhoods. During the study of Taxila, many wonderful sculptures were discovered, the appearance of which combines the features of Indian, Persian and ancient Greek art, because at the end of the 4th century. BC e. The Achaemenid state was destroyed by Alexander the Great, and the conquerors, the Greeks, came to India.
The power of the Greeks in Northern India was opposed by the Mauryan Empire, led by King Chandragupta. Its capital was the city of Pataliputra (modern Patna), located on the banks of the Ganges, India's second largest river. The Greek geographer Megasthenes left us a description ancient capital. He says: “At the confluence of the Ganges River with another, there is a city, which is 80 stadia long and 15 stadia wide (that is, its area is something like 48 km 2. In shape it is very similar to a parallelogram, surrounded by a wooden wall in which holes for launching arrows. In front of the wall there is a ditch designed to protect and to receive the waste water of the city. This ditch surrounds the entire city, is 600 feet wide and 30 cubits deep, and the wall is topped with 570 towers and has 64 gates." you can see the remains of ancient buildings.
Chandragupta's grandson, King Ashoka, accepted Buddhism. His name is associated with the spread of this religion, which significantly supplanted the more ancient Brahmanism. Along with the new religion, a new type of religious buildings is spreading - the so-called stupas, stone cases that hide a Buddhist shrine. Such attractions are found everywhere in India and other countries. Just such a structure was built in the city of Amaravati in the 2nd century. BC e.
Now in this city you can see its ruins. Another famous attraction of Amaravati is the Hindu temple, famous for its sculptural decoration. Special attention attract local bas-reliefs depicting apsaras - celestial dancers.
More often, residential buildings in India - from a hut to a luxurious palace - were made of wood, and only religious buildings were made of stone, and in some of their details they imitated wooden architecture. An important place in Indian cultural heritage is occupied by cave temples, Buddhist and Hindu. The caves were artificial, they were carved into the rock, and on their ceilings you can see imitation wooden bantins. The most famous attractions of this type are the cave temple complexes of Ajanta, Ellora and the caves of Elephanta Island. All of them were created in the 7th - 8th centuries. n. e. Ajanta is a Buddhist site and its cave walls are covered with colorful frescoes. The Ellora temples, located not very far from Ajanta, are dedicated to Hindu deities. Halls were carved into the thickness of the rock here, which reached a depth of 40 m and were located one above the other, forming two or three floors. The walls of the halls and galleries that connected them are decorated with numerous sculptural images of gods and heroes. The ceilings in the caves are supported by thick columns, the bases and capitals of which are covered with complex sculptural patterns. Indian sculpture is very unique and cannot be confused with anything else. Shiva, the god who created the world through dance, was depicted by artists as multi-armed, thanks to which they were able to convey the powerful rhythm of his dance. Other deities were also sometimes depicted as multi-armed and multi-headed, but no matter how many limbs the stone gods and heroes have, they always look alive and mobile.
Others extremely interesting view Indian monuments are rock-cut temples, that is, temples that have the appearance of a structure, but they are not made of brick or even large blocks of stone. They are carved from solid rock. Some argue whether such temples can be considered architectural monuments, or whether they are sculptural monuments, because the internal volume in them either plays a very insignificant role, or is even absent altogether. All attention is paid to the external decoration, which is no less striking than the decoration of the caves at Ellori.
These monuments include five small structures, the so-called Rathas, which can be seen in the city of Mahabalipuram on sea coast near Madras. For their construction, giant golden blocks were used.
Each of the Rathas is different from the other, but together they form a harmonious ensemble, which is organically complemented by the sculptures of animals: a bull, a lion and an elephant. These animals look as if they accidentally wandered into the temple complex. The rathas themselves are stone models traditional for India. wooden structures, all the small details of which are recreated with pinpoint precision. The complex also includes a stone relief, which is 9 m high and 27 m wide. It depicts the rise of the sacred river Ganges to the earth.
The pinnacle of Indian rock architecture is considered to be built in the 8th century. n. e. Kailasanatha Temple in Ellori. with their own general features the temple resembles the rathi of Mahabalipuram, but on a much larger scale. The construction of the pyramidal structure of the temple began from the top. It was as if it was gradually being freed from stone captivity, starting with the ribbed dome and ending with the eight-meter base, which was surrounded by three-meter high relief figures of sacred lions and elephants. In addition to this main temple, the complex includes other buildings. All of them are so densely covered with sculptures that it is impossible to find even a meter of smooth wall.
Since the 9th century. Indians no longer cut their temples out of solid rock, but compose them from large blocks of cut stone, but this does not have a significant impact on appearance architectural monuments, which, as before, look more like sculptures. Individual stone blocks were fastened with metal staples or using wooden wedges, which were driven into special holes. Temples were built according to unified system. The main structure of the complex was a cubic sanctuary topped with a tall tower in the ensemble. In the small interior of the sanctuary, sacred relics were hidden from outsiders. At the same time, galleries or a multi-columned hall were built where believers gathered. The cubic sanctuary is called Vimana, the tower above it is called shikhara, and the room for believers is called mantapam. Gradually the northern and southern type temple buildings. In the south, the towers were built in a pyramidal shape, as in the earlier monuments of Mahabalipuram.
In the north, the temples had a different appearance. The tower was given a soft rounded outline. On top they were crowned with a dome, the shape of which resembled the fruit of a lotus, a sacred plant. A grandiose monument of northern Indian architecture is the temple complex in the city of Bhubaneswar. This is not even a complex, but a whole separate temple city. Once it consisted of 700 temples. Not all of them have survived to this day, but even now Bhubaneswar makes an indelible impression. Its towers do not resemble stone structures, which they actually are, but a forest for some reason exotic plants, like cacti. The most ornate temple in Bhubaneswar is the Lingorang Temple, built at the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries. His shikhara is 40 m high.
From a distance, the sculptures covering the temples of Bhubaneswar are perceived as a continuous small pattern. But when you come closer, you see that this pattern is made up of individual sculptural images, distinguished by their liveliness and ease of gestures. Some of them are not dedicated to a religious theme, but depict everyday scenes.
Temple of the sun god Surya. General view. XIII century 
The Brihadeshwara Temple in Tanjur, built at the same time as Lingorang, is considered the pinnacle of South Indian medieval construction. The pyramidal shape of its main tower is striking in its regularity, which is not disturbed even by the sculptures that cover the walls with a continuous carpet, but are completely subordinate to the general silhouette of the structure. The Brihadeshwara Tower is divided into 13 tiers and reaches 63 m in height. In the niches of the lower tier there are giant statues of Shiva, to whom the temple is dedicated.
A special place among Indian monuments is occupied by the temple of the sun god Surya in the village of Konarak, the construction of which dates back to the 13th century. The Surya Temple, more than any other structure, is a temple-sculpture. It depicts the chariot of the solar god. The stone platform on which the temple is located, decorated with wheels carved from stone. There are 24 wheels in total. The ancient craftsmen also carved horses out of stone, which were supposed to pull the chariot.
Qutub Minaret is a minar in Delhi. XIII century..In the 12th century. Northern India falls under Muslim rule. The old Indian building tradition was incompatible with the ideology of Islam. In the 13th century Many sights of a new architectural style appear. Mosques, minarets and madrassas are being built, and sculpture is being replaced by flat ornaments. At this time, the huge Qutub Minar was being built in Delhi. It reaches a height of 73 m, and the diameter of its base is 16 m. The minaret is a round tower made of red and golden stone - sandstone. The slender vertical of the minaret is divided into tiers by narrow patterned stripes.
During the rule of the Muslim Mughal dynasty in India, secular architecture developed. By order of the ruler, entire cities were built, decorated with palaces and parks. Agra, built in the 16th century, became the pearl among Indian cities. specifically as the residence of the Mughals. Among its attractions are the palace of the rulers, the Agra fort, the so-called pearl mosque, and the most famous of all mausoleums, the Taj Mahal.
Very interesting monument Indian construction is the city of Jaipur, named after Jai Singh, the ruler who built it in the first half of the 18th century. Jai Sing was very educated person, mathematician and astronomer. He created the project for the new city with his own hands. To do this, he ordered the plans of contemporary European cities to be obtained in order to take into account the experience of his European colleagues. But the plan of Jaipur is not a copy of any city that existed earlier. Jai Sing created his own own plan, Jaipur is still considered one of the most convenient cities in the world. He is not deprived of architectural works either. Among them are the palaces of Jai Sing, one of which has the poetic name the Palace of the Winds, and the astronomical observatory used by the founder of the city. Jaipur is one of the last creations of Indian civilization of the pre-colonial period. In the 18th century The country falls under British rule.
