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INDIAN ARCHITECTURAL PERIODS

A RESOURCE FOR THE STUDY OF THE HISTORY AND THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE IN INDIA

INDIAN ARCHITECTURE  

The architecture of India is rooted in its history, culture, and religion. Among the many architectural styles and traditions, the contrasting Hindu temple architecture and Indo-Islamic architecture are the best-known historical styles. Both of these, especially the former, have a number of regional styles. An early example of town planning was the Harappan architecture of the Indus Valley Civilisation. People lived in cities with baked brick houses, streets laid out in a grid, elaborate drainage and water supply systems, granaries, citadels, and clusters of large non-residential buildings. Much other early Indian architecture was in wood, which has not survived.

Hindu temple architecture is mainly divided into Dravidian and Nagara styles. Dravidian architecture flourished during the rule of the Rashtrakuta, Hoysala, Chola, Chera, and Pandyan empires, as well as the Vijayanagara Empire.

The first major Islamic kingdom in India was the Delhi Sultanate, which led to the development of Indo-Islamic architecture, combining Indian and Islamic features. The rule of the Mughal Empire, during which Mughal architecture evolved, is regarded as the zenith of Indo-Islamic architecture, with the Taj Mahal as the high point of their contribution. Indo-Islamic architecture influenced the Rajput and Sikh styles as well.

During the British colonial period, European styles, including neoclassical, Gothic revival, and Baroque, became prevalent across India. The amalgamation of Indo-Islamic and European styles led to a new style, known as the Indo-Saracenic style. After independence, modernist ideas spread among Indian architects as a way to move beyond colonial culture. Le Corbusier, who designed the city of Chandigarh, influenced a generation of architects towards modernism in the 20th century. The economic reforms of 1991 further bolstered India's urban architecture as the country became more integrated into the global economy. Traditional Vastu Shastra continues to influence India's architecture in the contemporary era.

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION (2600 B.C. – 1900 B.C.)

The Indus Valley Civilisation covered a large area around the Indus River basin and beyond in late Bronze Age India. In its mature phase, from about 2600 to 1900 B.C., it produced several cities marked by great uniformity within and between sites, including Harappa, Lothal, and the UNESCO World Heritage Site Mohenjo-daro. The civic, town planning, and engineering aspects of these are remarkable, but the buildings' design is "of a startling utilitarian character". There are granaries, drains, watercourses, and tanks, but neither palaces nor temples have been identified; cities, however, have a central, raised, and fortified "citadel". Mohenjo-daro has wells that may be the predecessors of stepwells. As many as 700 wells have been discovered in just one section of the city, leading scholars to believe that 'cylindrical brick-lined wells' were invented by the Indus Valley Civilisation.

The architectural decoration is extremely minimal, though there are "narrow pointed niches" inside some buildings. Most of the art found is in miniature forms, such as seals, and is mainly in terracotta, but there are very few larger sculptures of figures. In most sites, fired mud-brick (not sun-baked as in Mesopotamia) is used exclusively as the building material, but a few, such as Dholavira, are in stone. Most houses have two storeys and are very uniform in size and plan. The large cities declined relatively quickly, for unknown reasons, leaving behind a less sophisticated village culture.

600 BCE—250 CE

After the Indus Valley Civilisation, there are few traces of Indian architecture, which were probably mostly made of wood or brick and recycled until around the time of the Maurya Empire, from 322 to 185 BCE. From this period onwards, for several centuries, much of the best surviving architecture is Indian rock-cut architecture, mostly Buddhist, and several Buddhist images provide very useful information.

Buddhist construction of monastic buildings apparently began before the Buddha's death, probably around 400 B.C. This first generation only survives in floor plans, notably at the Jivakarama Vihara in Bihar.

Walled and moated cities with large gates and multi-storied buildings which consistently used chaitya arches, no doubt in wood, for roofs and upper structures above more solid storeys are important features of the architecture during this period. The reliefs of Sanchi, dated to the 1st century B.C., depict cities such as Kushinagar and Rajagriha as splendid walled cities, including the Royal cortege leaving Rajagriha and a war over the Buddha's relics. These views of ancient Indian cities have been relied on for the understanding of ancient Indian urban architecture.

In the case of the Mauryan capital, Pataliputra (near Patna), we have Greek accounts, as well as those of Faxian; Megasthenes (a visitor around 300 B.C.) mentions 564 towers and 64 gates in the city walls. Modern excavations have uncovered a "massive palisade of teak beams held together with iron dowels". A huge apadana-like hall with eighty sandstone columns shows clear influence from contemporary Achaemenid Persia. The single massive sandstone Pataliputra capital shows clear Hellenistic features, reaching India via Persia. The famous Ashoka columns show great sophistication and a variety of influences in their details. In both these cases, a now-vanished Indian predecessor tradition in wood is likely.

POST-MAHA-JANAPADAS ARCHITECTURE

Such a tradition is extremely clear in the case of the earliest-known examples of rock-cut architecture, the state-sponsored Barabar caves in Bihar, personally dedicated by Ashoka circa 250 B.C. The entrance to the Lomas Rishi Cave features a sculpted doorway that clearly copies a wooden style in stone, a recurrent feature of rock-cut caves for some time. These artificial caves exhibit an amazing level of technical proficiency, the extremely hard granite rock being cut in geometrical fashion and given the Mauryan polish, also found on sculpture. Later rock-cut viharas, occupied by monastic communities, survive, mostly in Western India, and in Bengal, the floor-plans of brick-built equivalents survive. The elaborately decorated facades and "chaitya halls" of many rock-cut sites are believed to reflect vanished free-standing buildings elsewhere.

The Buddhist stupa, a dome-shaped monument, was used in India as a commemorative structure for storing sacred relics. The stupa architecture was adopted in Southeast and East Asia, where it became prominent as a Buddhist monument used for enshrining sacred relics. Guardrails consisting of posts, crossbars, and a coping became a feature of the safety measures surrounding a stupa. Temples built on elliptical, circular, quadrilateral, or apsidal plans were constructed using brick and timber. The Indian gateway arches, the Torana, reached East Asia as Buddhism spread. Some scholars hold that torii derives from the Torana gates at the Buddhist historic site of Sanchi (3rd century B.C– 11th century A.D.).

Rock-cut stepwells in India date from 200 to 400 A.D.. Subsequently, wells were constructed at Dhank (550–625 A.D.) and stepped ponds at Bhinmal (850–950 A.D.). Cave temples became prominent throughout western India, incorporating unique features that gave rise to cave architecture at sites such as Ajanta and Ellora. A very important development, the emergence of the shikara or temple tower, is today best evidenced by the Buddhist Mahabodhi Temple. This was already several centuries old when the first very vertical structure replaced an Ashokan original, apparently around 150–200 A.D. The current brick-built tower, probably a good deal larger, dates to the Gupta period, in the 5th or 6th centuries.

GUPTA ARCHITECTURE

For reasons that are not entirely clear, the Gupta period, for the most part, represented a hiatus in Indian rock-cut architecture: the first wave of construction finished before the empire was assembled, and the second wave began in the late 5th century after it ended. This is the case, for example, at the Ajanta Caves, with an early group made by 220 A.D. at the latest, and a later one probably all after about 460. Instead, the period has left almost the first surviving free-standing structures in India, in particular, the beginnings of Hindu temple architecture. As Milo Beach puts it: "Under the Guptas, India was quick to join the rest of the medieval world in a passion for housing precious objects in stylised architectural frameworks", the "precious objects" being primarily the icons of gods.

The most famous remaining monuments in a broadly Gupta style, the caves at Ajanta, Elephanta, and Ellora (respectively Buddhist, Hindu, and mixed including Jain) were in fact produced under other dynasties in Central India, and in the case of Ellora, after the Gupta period, but primarily reflect the monumentality and balance of the Guptan style. Ajanta contains by far the most significant survivals of painting from this and the surrounding periods, showing a mature form which had probably had a long development, mainly in painting palaces. The Hindu Udayagiri Caves actually record connections with the dynasty and its ministers, and the Dashavatara Temple at Deogarh is a major temple, one of the earliest to survive, with important sculptures.

Examples of early North Indian Hindu temples that have survived after the Udayagiri Caves in Madhya Pradesh include those at Tigawa (early 5th century),  Sanchi Temple 17 (similar, but respectively Hindu and Buddhist), Deogarh, Parvati Temple, Nachna (465 A.D.), Bhitargaon, the largest Gupta brick temple to survive, and Lakshman Brick Temple, Sirpur (600–625 A.D.). Gop Temple in Gujarat (c. 550 A.D. or later) is an oddity, with no surviving close comparator.

There are several different broad models, which would continue to be the case for more than a century after the Gupta period, but temples such as Tigawa and Sanchi Temple 17, which are small but massively built stone prostyle buildings with a sanctuary and a columned porch, show the most common basic plan that continues today. Both of these have flat roofs over the sanctuary, which would become uncommon by about the 8th century A.D.. The Mahabodhi Temple, Bhitargaon, Deogarh, and Gop already all show high superstructures of different shapes. The Chejarla Kapoteswara temple demonstrates that free-standing chaitya-hall temples with barrel roofs continued to be built, probably with many smaller examples in wood.

TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

The basic elements of the Hindu temple remain the same across all periods and styles. The most essential feature is the inner sanctuary, the garbha griha, or womb-chamber, where the primary Murti, or cult image, of a deity is housed in a simple, bare cell. Around this chamber, there are often other structures and buildings, in the largest cases covering several acres. On the exterior, the garbhagriha is crowned by a tower-like shikhara, also called the vimana in the south. The shrine building may include an ambulatory for parikrama (circumambulation), one or more mandapas (congregation halls), and, sometimes, an antarala antechamber and porch between the garbhagriha and the mandapa.

There may be further shrines or other buildings, connected or detached, in large temples, together with other small temples in the compound. The whole temple compound is usually enclosed by a wall, and the temple itself, or sometimes the whole compound, is often raised on a plinth (adhiṣṭhāna). Large areas of the structure are often decorated with carvings, including figurative images of deities and other religious figures. Beyond these basic but crucial similarities, the temple's visible stylistic forms vary greatly and have a complex development.

By about the 7th century A.D., most of the main features of the Hindu temple were established, along with theoretical texts on temple architecture and construction methods. Already, three styles of temple had been identified.  They are Nagara, Dravida, and Vesara, though they were not yet associated with regions of India, and the original meanings may not fully align with modern uses of the terms. In Karnataka, the group of 7th- and 8th-century temples at Pattadakal famously mixes forms later associated with both the north and the south, as does that at Aihole, which still includes apsidal chaitya hall-type plans.

For most modern writers, nagara refers to north Indian styles, most easily recognised by a high and curving shikhara over the sanctuary, dravida or Dravidian architecture is the broad South Indian style, where the superstructure over the sanctuary is not usually extremely high, and has a straight profile, rising in series of terraces to form a sort of decorated pyramid (today often dwarfed in larger temples by the far larger gopuram outer gateways, a much later development).  The ancient term vesara is also used by some modern writers to describe a temple style with characteristics of both the northern and southern traditions. These come from the Deccan and other fairly central parts of India.

There is some disagreement among those who use the term about the exact period and styles it represents, and other writers prefer to avoid it. Some describe temples as vesara and assign them to the northern tradition, but others regard them as a kind of northern Dravida.

EARLY STAGE

There are hardly any remains of Hindu temples before the Gupta dynasty in the 4th century B.C.; no doubt there were earlier timber structures. The rock-cut Udayagiri Caves are among the most important early sites. The earliest preserved Hindu temples are simple cell-like stone temples, some rock-cut and others structural, as at Sanchi. By the 6th or 7th century A.D., these evolved into high stone superstructures with shikhara roofs. However, there is inscriptional evidence, such as the ancient Gangadhara inscription from about 424 A.D., states Meister, that towering temples existed before this time, and these were possibly made from more perishable material. These temples have not survived.

Examples of early major North Indian temples that have survived after the Udayagiri Caves in Madhya Pradesh include Deogarh, Parvati Temple, Nachna (465 A.D.), Lalitpur District (c. 525 A.D.), Lakshman Brick Temple, Sirpur (600–625 A.D.); Rajiv Lochan temple, Rajim (7th-century A.D.).

No pre-7th century A.D. South Indian-style stone temples have survived. Examples of early major South Indian temples that have survived, some in ruins, include the diverse styles at Mahabalipuram, from the 7th and 8th centuries A.D. However, according to Meister, the Mahabalipuram temples are "monolithic models of a variety of formal structures, all of which already can be said to typify a developed 'Dravida' (South Indian) order". They suggest that a tradition and a knowledge base existed in South India by the time the early Chalukya and Pallava eras were in place, when these were built. Other examples are found in Aihole and Pattadakal.

From roughly the 7th and 13th Centuries A.D., a large number of temples and their ruins have survived (though far fewer than once existed). Many regional styles developed, very often following political divisions, as large temples were typically built with royal patronage. In the north, Muslim invasions from the 11th century A.D. onwards reduced temple construction and led to the loss of many existing temples. The south also witnessed Hindu-Muslim conflict that affected the temples, but the region was relatively less affected than the north. In the late 14th century, the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire emerged and came to control much of South India. During this period, the distinctive, very tall gopuram gatehouse was a late development, dating to the 12th century A.D. or later, and was typically added to older, large temples.

The South Indian temple consists essentially of a square-chambered sanctuary topped by a superstructure, tower, or spire and an attached pillared porch or hall (maṇḍapa or maṇṭapam), enclosed by a peristyle of cells within a rectangular court. The temple's external walls are segmented by pilasters and carry niches housing sculpture. The superstructure or tower above the sanctuary is of the kūṭina type and consists of an arrangement of gradually receding stories in a pyramidal shape. Each story is delineated by a parapet of miniature shrines, square at the corners and rectangular with barrel-vault roofs at the centre.

LATER STAGES

North Indian temples showed an increase in wall height and elaborate spires by the 10th century. On the shikara, the oldest form, called latina, with wide shallow projections running up the sides, developed alternative forms with many smaller "spirelets" (urushringa). Two varieties of these are called sekhari, in which the sub-spires extend vertically, and bhumija, in which the individual sub-spires are arranged in rows and columns.

Richly decorated temples—including the complex at Khajuraho—were constructed in Central India. Examples include the Lingaraj Temple at Bhubaneshwar in Odisha, the Sun Temple at Konark in Odisha, and the Brihadeswara Temple at Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. Indian traders brought Indian architecture to Southeast Asia through various trade routes.

Styles called vesara include the early Badami Chalukya, Western Chalukya, and Hoysala Architectures. Other regional styles include those of Bengal, Kashmir, and other Himalayan areas, Karnataka, Kalinga architecture, and Māru-Gurjara architecture. Hoysala architecture is the distinctive building style developed under the rule of the Hoysala Empire in the region historically known as Karnata, today's Karnataka, India, between the 11th and the 14th centuries A.D. Large and small temples built during this era remain as examples of the

Hoysala architectural style, including the Chennakesava Temple at Belur, the Hoysaleswara Temple at Halebidu, and the Kesava Temple at Somanathapura. Other examples of fine Hoysala craftsmanship are the temples at Belavadi, Amrithapura, and Nuggehalli. A study of the Hoysala architectural style has revealed a negligible Indo-Aryan influence, while the impact of the Southern Indian style is more distinct.  A feature of Hoysala temple architecture is its attention to detail and skilled craftsmanship. The temples of Belur and Halebidu are proposed for UNESCO World Heritage Site status. Approximately 100 Hoysala temples survive today.

Vijayanagara architecture of the period (1336–1565 A.D.) was a notable building style developed by the Vijayanagar empire, which ruled most of South India from its capital at Vijayanagara on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in present-day Karnataka. The architecture of the temples built during the reign of the Vijayanagara empire had elements of political authority. This resulted in the creation of a distinctive imperial architectural style that was prominent not only in temples but also in administrative structures across the Deccan.

The Vijayanagara style is a combination of the Chalukya, Hoysala, Pandya, and Chola styles, which evolved over the centuries when these empires ruled, and is characterised by a return to the simple, serene art of the past.

The Warangal Fort, Thousand Pillar Temple, and Ramappa Temple are examples of Kakatiya architecture.

JAIN ARCHITECTURE

Jain temple architecture is generally similar to Hindu temple architecture and, in ancient times, to Buddhist religious architecture. Normally, the same builders and carvers worked for all religions, and regional and period styles are generally similar. The basic layout of a Hindu and most Jain temples consists of a small garbhagriha, or sanctuary, for the main murti, or cult image, over which the high superstructure rises, followed by one or more larger mandapa halls.

The earliest survivals of Jain architecture are part of the Indian rock-cut architecture tradition, initially shared with Buddhism and, by the end of the classical period, with Hinduism. Very often, a number of rock-cut Jain temples and monasteries share a site with those of other religions, as at Udayagiri, Bava Pyara, Ellora, Aihole, Badami, and Kalugumalai. The Ellora Caves are a late site that contains temples of all three religions, as earlier Buddhist ones give way to later Hindu excavations.

There is considerable similarity between the styles of the different religions, but often the Jains placed large figures of one or more of the 24 tirthankaras in the open air rather than inside the shrine. These statues later became very large, depicting nude figures in the kayotsarga meditation position (similar to standing at attention). Examples include the Gopachal rock-cut Jain monuments and the Siddhachal Caves, with groups of statues and several single figures, including the 12th-century A.D. Gommateshwara statue, the modern Statue of Vasupujya, and, largest of all at 108 feet (32.9 meters) tall, the Statue of Ahimsa.

Regional differences in Hindu temples are largely reflected in Jain ones, except that Māru-Gurjara architecture, or the "Solanki style," has become, to some extent, a pan-Indian, indeed pan-global, Jain style. This is a particular temple style from Gujarat and Rajasthan (both regions with a strong Jain presence) that originated in both Hindu and Jain temples around 1000 A.D. but became enduringly popular with Jain patrons, spreading to other parts of India and the global Jain diaspora of the last century. It has remained in use, in somewhat modified form, to the present day, and has also become popular again for some Hindu temples in the last century. The style is seen in the groups of pilgrimage temples at Dilwara on Mount Abu, Taranga, Girnar, and Palitana.

The main buildings of the largest Dilwara temples are surrounded by "cloister" screens of devakulikā shrines, and are fairly plain on their outer walls; in the case of the Vimal Vasahi, this screen was a later addition, around the time of the second temple. Surrounding the main temple with a curtain of shrines became a distinctive feature of the Jain temples of West India, still employed in some modern temples.

Mostly funded by private individuals or groups, and catering to a smaller population, Jain temples tend to be at the small or middle end of the range of sizes, but at pilgrimage sites, they may cluster in large groups – there are altogether several hundred at Palitana, tightly packed within several high-walled compounds called "tuks" or "tonks".  Temple charitable trusts, such as the very large Anandji Kalyanji Trust, founded in the 17th century and now maintaining 1,200 temples, play a significant role in funding temple construction and maintenance.

INDO-ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE

EARLY STAGES

The earliest examples of Indo-Islamic architecture were constructed during this period by the Delhi Sultanates, most famously the Qutb Minar complex, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. The complex comprises Qutb Minar, a brick minaret commissioned by Qutub-ud-Din Aibak, and other monuments built by successive Delhi Sultans. Alai Minar, a minaret twice the size of Qutb Minar, was commissioned by Alauddin Khilji but never completed. Other examples include the Tughlaqabad Fort and Hauz Khas Complex.

Significant regional styles developed in the independent sultanates that emerged when the Tughlaq empire weakened in the mid-14th century A.D. and persisted until most were absorbed into the Mughal Empire in the 16th century. Apart from the sultanates of the Deccan Plateau, Gujarat, Bengal, and Kashmir, the architecture of the Malwa and Jaunpur sultanates also left some significant buildings.

Notable buildings of the Bahmani and Deccan sultanates in the Deccan include the Charminar, Mecca Masjid, Qutb Shahi tombs, Madrasa Mahmud Gawan, and Gol Gumbaz.

The style of the Bengal Sultanate mostly used brick, with characteristic features being indigenous Bengali elements, such as curved roofs, corner towers, and complex terracotta ornamentation. which were blended. One feature in the sultanate was the relative absence of minarets. Many small and medium-sized medieval mosques, with multiple domes and artistic niche mihrabs, were constructed throughout the region.

The largest mosque in the Indian subcontinent was the 14th-century A.D. Adina Mosque. Built of stone demolished from temples, it featured a monumental ribbed barrel vault over the central nave, the first such giant vault used anywhere in the subcontinent. The mosque was modelled on the imperial Sasanian style of Persia. The Sultanate style flourished between the 14th and 16th centuries A.D.. A provincial style influenced by North India evolved in Mughal Bengal during the 17th and 18th centuries. The Mughals also copied the Bengali do-chala roof tradition for mausoleums in North India.

MUGHAL EMPIRE

The most famous Indo-Islamic style is Mughal architecture. Its most prominent examples are the series of imperial mausolea, which began with the pivotal Tomb of Humayun and culminated in the Taj Mahal. It is known for features including monumental buildings with large, bulbous onion domes, surrounded by gardens on all four sides, and delicate ornamentation work, including pachin kari decorative work and jali-latticed screens.

The Red Fort at Agra (1565–74 A.D.) and the walled city of Fatehpur Sikri (1569–74 A.D.) are among the architectural achievements of this time, as is the Taj Mahal, built as a tomb for Queen Mumtaz Mahal by Shah Jahan (1628–58 A.D.). Employing the double dome and the recessed archway, the depiction of any animal or human—an essential part of Indian tradition—was forbidden in places of worship under Islam. The Taj Mahal does feature tilework with plant motifs. The architecture of the Mughal Period, with its Turco-Mongol rulers, has shown a notable blend of Indian and Islamic styles. Taj Mahal in Agra, India, is one of the most famous buildings in the world.

LATER REGIONAL STYLES

RAJPUT ARCHITECTURE

Mughal architecture and painting influenced the indigenous Rajput styles of art and architecture. Rajput Architecture comprises different types of buildings, which may be broadly classed as either secular or religious. The secular buildings vary in scale. These include temples, forts, step-wells, gardens, and palaces. The forts were built specifically for defence and military purposes during the Islamic invasions.

Rajput Architecture continued well into the 20th and 21st centuries, as the rulers of the princely states of British India commissioned vast palaces and other buildings, such as the Albert Hall Museum, Lalgarh Palace, and Umaid Bhawan Palace. These usually incorporated European styles as well, a practice that eventually led to the Indo-Saracenic style.  

SIKH ARCHITECTURE

Sikh architecture was also highly influenced by Mughal architecture and spread with the Sikh religion. The Golden Temple in Amritsar and Hazur Sahib are examples.

MARATHA ARCHITECTURE

The Maratha Rule from the 17th to 19th Centuries A.D. emerged during the decline of the Mughal Empire. Prominent buildings such as Shaniwar Wada and Lal Mahal in Pune are a few examples.

BENGALI ARCHITECTURE

The architecture of Bengal, which comprises the modern country of Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, and Assam's Barak Valley, has a long and rich history, blending indigenous elements from the Indian subcontinent with influences from around the world. Bengali architecture includes ancient urban architecture, religious architecture, rural vernacular architecture, colonial townhouses, country houses, and modern urban styles.

The bungalow style is a notable architectural export of Bengal. The corner towers of Bengali religious buildings were replicated in medieval Southeast Asia. Bengali curved roofs, suitable for the very heavy rains, were adopted into a distinct local style of Indo-Islamic architecture and used decoratively elsewhere in north India in Mughal architecture.

Bengal is not rich in good building stone, and traditional Bengali architecture mostly uses brick and wood, often reflecting the wood, bamboo, and thatch styles of local vernacular architecture. Decorative terracotta (the same material as the brick) and carved or moulded plaques are special features. The brick is extremely durable, and disused ancient buildings were often used by local people as a convenient source of materials, who stripped them to their foundations over the centuries.  

EUROPEAN COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE

As with the Mughals, under European colonial rule, architecture became an emblem of power, designed to endorse the occupying power. Numerous European countries invaded India and created architectural styles reflective of their ancestral and adopted homes. The European colonisers created an architecture that symbolised their mission of conquest, dedicated to the state or religion.

The British, French, Dutch, and Portuguese were the main European powers that established colonies in India.

BRITISH COLONIAL ERA: 1757–1947

INDO-SARACENIC

Britain's legacy in India remains, among other things, in its infrastructure. The major cities during the period of British rule were Madras, Calcutta, Bombay, Delhi, Agra, Bankipore, Karachi, Nagpur, Bhopal, and Hyderabad, which saw the rise of Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture.

Black Town was described in 1855 A.D. as "the minor streets, occupied by the natives, are numerous, irregular, and of various dimensions. Many of them are extremely narrow and ill-ventilated ... a hollow square, the rooms opening into a courtyard in the centre.”

Garden houses were originally used by the upper class as weekend retreats for recreation. Nonetheless, the garden house became an ideal full-time dwelling, deserting the fort in the 19th Century. Mumbai (then known as Bombay) has some of the most prominent examples of British colonial architecture. This included the Gothic revival (Victoria terminus, University of Mumbai, Rajabai Clock Tower, High Court, BMC Building), Indo-Saracenic (Prince of Wales Museum, Gateway of India, Taj Mahal Palace Hotel), and Art Deco (Eros Cinema, New India Assurance Building).

Madras and Calcutta were similarly bordered by water, and the division of India was in the north, with the British in the south. An Englishwoman noted in 1750 A.D., "the banks of the river are as one may say, absolutely studded with elegant mansions called here as at Madras, garden houses." Esplanade-row in front of the fort with lined palaces. Indian villages in these areas consisted of clay-and-straw houses, which later evolved into brick-and-stone metropolises. The Chepauk Palace in the city, designed by Paul Benfield, is said to be the first Indo-Saracenic building in India. Since then, many of the colonial-era buildings in the city have been designed in this style, most apparent around Fort St. George, built in 1640 A.D.

Most of these were designed by English architects Robert Fellowes Chisholm and Henry Irwin. The best examples of this style include the Madras High Court (built in 1892 A.D.), Southern Railway headquarters, Ripon Building, Government Museum, Senate House of the University of Madras, Amir Mahal, Bharat Insurance Building, Victoria Public Hall, and the College of Engineering. The Triumph of Labour, also known as the Labour statue, at Marina Beach, is an important landmark of Madras. Indo-Saracenic architecture evolved by combining Indian architectural features with European styles. Vincent Esch and George Wittet were pioneers in this style.

The Victoria Memorial in Calcutta is the most effective symbol of the British Empire, built as a monument in tribute to Queen Victoria's reign. The building's plan consists of a single large central part, covered by a larger dome. Colonnades separate the two chambers. Each corner holds a smaller dome and is floored with a marble plinth. The memorial stands on 26 hectares of garden surrounded by reflective pools. During the period of British rule, wealthy Bengali families (especially zamindar estates) employed European firms to design houses and palaces.

The Indo-Saracenic movement was strongly prevalent in the region. While most rural estates featured elegant country houses, the cities of Calcutta had widespread 19th- and early-20th-century urban architecture comparable to that of London, Sydney, and Auckland. Art Deco influences began in Calcutta in the 1930s. Neoclassical buildings are characterised by their magnificence of scale, prominent use of columns, geometric forms and symmetry, predominantly blank walls, and triangular pediments. Examples of Neoclassical architecture in India include the British Residency (1798 A.D.) and Falaknuma Palace (1893 A.D.) in Hyderabad, St. Andrew's Church in Madras (1821 A.D.), Raj Bhavan (1803 A.D.) and Metcalfe Hall (1844 A.D.) in Kolkata, and Bangalore Town Hall (1935) in Bangalore.

ROMANESQUE-ITALIANATE

The Italianate architectural style was popularised in early Victorian Britain and subsequently became an attractive form adopted in India in the later parts of the 19th century A.D..The main characteristics of this style include imposing cornice structures, prominent cornice and corbels, roman arches, arch-headed or pedimented windows, flat or ‘hip’ roof, and windows with distinctive moulded caps. The one outstanding building in this class was the East Indian Railway Head Offices at Calcutta, built in 1884 A.D..

ART DECO

The Art Deco movement of the early 20th century quickly spread across much of the world. The Indian Institute of Architects, founded in Bombay in 1929, played a prominent role in propagating the movement. Guided by their desire to emulate the West, the Indian architects were fascinated by the industrial modernity that Art Deco offered. The western elites were the first to experiment with Art Deco's technological facets, and architects began the transformation by the early 1930s. Mumbai has the world’s second-largest collection of Art Deco structures, after Miami. The New India Assurance Building, Eros Cinema, and buildings along the Marine Drive in Mumbai are prime examples.

In Kolkata, the sole example of the Art Nouveau style, which preceded Art Deco, is the Esplanade Mansions opposite the Raj Bhavan, built in 1910.

OTHER COLONIAL POWERS

The Portuguese had colonised parts of India, including Goa and Mumbai. The Madh Fort, St. John the Baptist Church, and Castella de Aguada in Mumbai are remnants of Portuguese Colonial rule. The Churches and convents of Goa, an ensemble of seven churches built by the Portuguese, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Portuguese were among the first European traders to discover the sea route to India as early as 1498. The first Portuguese encounter with the subcontinent was on 20 May 1498 A.D., when Vasco da Gama reached Calicut on the Malabar Coast.

The settlements along the Hooghly river — a branch of the Ganges — attracted maritime traders from as many European nations, turning that part of Bengal into a little Europe. The Portuguese set up a post at Bandel, the Danish at Serampore, the Dutch at Chinsurah, and the French at Chandernagore. A British military base came up in Barrackpore. Thus, influencing neighbouring regions' architecture to create a distinct Indo-colonial architecture.

The history of Pondicherry is recorded only after the arrival of the Dutch, Portuguese, British, and French traders. In 1674 A.D., the French East India Company set up a trading centre at Pondicherry, and this outpost eventually became the chief French settlement in India. The city has many colonial buildings, churches, temples, and statues, which, combined with the town planning and French-style avenues in the old part of town, still preserve much of the colonial ambience.

REPUBLIC OF INDIA (1947 ONWARDS)

In recent years, the population has been moving from rural areas to industrial urban centres, leading to a rise in property prices across many cities in India. Urban housing in India balances space constraints and is intended to serve the working class. Growing awareness of ecology has influenced architecture in India over the past few decades.

Climate-responsive architecture has long been a feature of India's architecture, but has been losing its significance as of late. Indian architecture reflects its various socio-cultural sensibilities, which vary from region to region. Certain areas are traditionally held to belong to women.  Villages in India feature courtyards, loggias, terraces, and balconies. Calico, chintz, and palampore—of Indian origin—highlight the assimilation of Indian textiles in global interior design. Roshandans, which are skylights-cum-ventilators, are a common feature in Indian homes, especially in North India.

At the time of independence in 1947, India had only about 300 trained architects in a population of 330 million, and only one training institution, the Indian Institute of Architects. Thus, the first generation of Indian architects was educated abroad.

Some early architects were traditionalists, such as Ganesh Deolalikar, whose design for the Supreme Court imitated the Lutyens-Baker buildings down to the last detail, and B.R. Manickam, who designed the Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore, reminiscent of Indo-Saracenic architecture.

In 1950, Swiss architect Le Corbusier, a pioneer of modernist architecture, was commissioned by Jawaharlal Nehru to design the city of Chandigarh. His plan called for residential, commercial, and industrial areas, along with parks and transportation infrastructure. In the middle was the Capitol, a complex of three government buildings – the Palace of Assembly, the High Court, and the Secretariat. He also designed the Sanskar Kendra in Ahmedabad. Corbusier inspired the next generation of architects in India to work with modern, rather than revivalist styles.

Other prominent examples of modernist architecture in India include IIM Ahmedabad by Louis Kahn (1961), IIT Delhi by Jugal Kishore Chodhury (1961), IIT Kanpur by Achyut Kanvinde (1963), IIM Bangalore by B. V. Doshi (1973), Lotus Temple by Fariborz Sahba (1986), and Jawahar Kala Kendra (1992) and Vidhan Bhawan Bhopal (1996) by Charles Correa. Skyscrapers built in the international style are becoming increasingly common in cities. This includes The 42 (2019) and The Imperial (2010) by Hafeez Contractor.

Other 21st-century projects include IIT Hyderabad by Christopher Benninger (2015). Notable ongoing projects in India include the city of Amaravati, Kolkata Museum of Modern Art, Sardar Patel Stadium, World One, and Navi Mumbai Airport.