Kudu (architecture)
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In Indian architecture , the term kudu describes a horseshoe- arched window that first appeared at Buddhist cave temples , mostly with a keel arch point , later also similarly shaped blind niches above and to the side of the entrance portal. Kudu forms are common throughout India - but they are most striking on the facades of the Chaitya halls in northern India ( Ajanta , Ellora , Karli ).
etymology
The term kudu is possibly derived from the Tamil word kutu ("bird's nest", "bird cage").
architecture
The early kudu clearly show their origins in wooden architecture, because beneath the horseshoe-shaped arched stone rafters can be seen without function (because they are non-load-bearing) and the window windows show shortened wooden vaults. Interesting is the fact that the kudus are regularly elevated by keel arches , which appear here for the first time in world architecture, but - unlike round and pointed arches - are statically without any load-bearing significance.
sculpture
In the field of sculpture, too, kudu shapes were used early on as an abbreviation for a building with human heads peeking out of the small windows. The smaller chandrasalas , small horseshoe-shaped motifs, which - placed side by side and on top of one another - are combined to form abstract decorative panels ( udgamas ) and at North Indian temples at the Shikhara - are derived from the larger kudu forms, which often appear already in a row. Towers or as crowning of wall niches are used.
photos
Kudu motifs in the anteroom of the cave temple of Bedsa , Maharashtra (1st century BC?)
Kudu motifs on the roof of the Gupta Temple at Gop, Gujarat (6th century)
Kudu motifs on the Rathas of Mamallapuram , Tamil Nadu (7th century)
Kudu motifs at the Mahabodhi temple in Bodhgaya , Bihar (19th century)
literature
- Jeannine Auboyer u. a .: Handbook of Form and Style - Asia. Fourier Verlag, Wiesbaden 1988, pp. 28ff, ISBN 3-925037-21-7