Pallava architecture

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The Pallava architecture covers the period of political, economic and artistic dominance of the South Indian Pallava So in about -rich, phase 600-850 n. Chr. Then gradually took Chola power and appropriated some of the developed by the Pallava architecture ideas and forms that stand at the beginning of the Dravidian style .

The coastal temple of Mamallapuram (around 700) is considered to be the oldest or - after the Kailasanatha temple of Kanchipuram - the second oldest open-air temple in South India.

Spread

Pallava Empire around 645

In its heyday, the Pallava Empire comprised large parts of southern India with the exception of the southern tip, which was mostly controlled by the Pandyas , and the region in the west of the Western Ghats (today: Kerala ). To the north, the area was largely bounded by the Chalukya Empire.

Historical background

No stone buildings have survived from the previous Pallavas dynasties in southern India ( Satavahanas , Kadambas , Gangas ) - the only exception is the Pranaveshwara Temple near Talagunda in Central India. It must therefore be assumed that residential, palace and temple buildings of this time were built from tree trunks, twigs, clay or hewn wood. The neighboring and roughly simultaneous pandyas left only a few and rather small temple buildings.

Architecture phases

Pallava architecture can be divided into two phases, whereby stone palaces or even residential buildings have not survived from either phase, which suggests that such buildings were not made of stone, but continued to be made of wood or clay. The following subdivision therefore relates only to temple buildings:

Rock temple

The rock architecture is again divided into an early group of cave temples, which primarily include the three-portal temples, which were hewn out of ( granite ) rocks during the reign of Mahendravarman I (approx. 610–630) ; these include the temples of Mandagapattu , Kuranganilmuttam , Mahendravadi and Mamandur . A second group mainly comprises the free-standing but inaccessible monolithic experimental buildings of Mamallapuram ( Five Rathas ), which were built around 680 and which in turn became the model for the later open-air temples.

Kanchipuram, Kailasanatha Temple

Free building temple

For reasons of cost, practicality or aesthetic reasons, the rulers / donors and builders decided towards the end of the 7th century to give up the tradition of rock architecture; From now on only constructive outdoor temples such as the coastal temple in Mamallapuram , the Kailasanatha temple in Kanchipuram or the Talagirisvarar temple near Panamalai were built . These temples could all be built larger, higher and, overall, much more representative than was possible with the monolithic construction method. In addition, in some cases they were surrounded by a wall into which - for the first time in the stone architecture of South India - a gate ( gopuram ) was integrated, which in later buildings (e.g. at the Minakshi Temple in Madurai ) developed into the dominant architectural element of South India should.

Architectural jewelry

Rock temple

The rock temples show simple supports consisting of a lower and an upper block with an interconnected section with an octagonal cross-section; the blocks are ornamented in some cases ( rosettes ). The portals are often secured by guards ( dvarapalas ) who are supported on a club ( gada ) ( tribhanga ), but mostly adopt an elegant, casual posture. In Mamallapuram the cave temples are decorated much more elaborately; In addition, the first thematic stone reliefs were created in southern India ( Vishnu-Narayana , Mahisasurmardini , "Descent of the Ganga" or "Penance of Arjunas" etc.).

Free building temple

The ground floor of the Rathas and the open-air temple is clearly structured, but only in a few cases has figures (gods and guardians) on it. The actual architectural decoration often only begins in the eaves cornice , which is regularly decorated with small windows ( kudus ). A multi-tiered tower ( vimana ) rises above the square cella ( garbhagriha ) , the storeys of which are obscured by pseudo-buildings, blind or figure niches; the upper end of the tower structure forms a kind of "umbrella dome" with a kalasha jug at the top.

aftermath

The building and design principles developed under the late Pallava in Mamallapuram are recognized as world cultural heritage; they were continued, further developed and made even more representative by their successors, the Chola - the great temples of the Chola dynasty are also recognized as World Heritage Sites .

literature

  • Alexander Rea: Pallava architecture. Asian Educational Services, 1995 (facsimile of the 1st edition from 1909), ISBN 978-8120610071 .
  • Michael W. Meister (Ed.): Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture South India Lower Dravidadesa 200 BC-AD 1324. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 1983, ISBN 978-0812278408 .
  • George Michell: The Hindu Temple. Architecture of a world religion. DuMont, Cologne 1991, ISBN 3-7701-2770-6 , pp. 163ff.

Web links

Commons : Mamallapuram  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry on the website of the UNESCO World Heritage Center ( English and French ).
  2. ↑ Entry on the website of the UNESCO World Heritage Center ( English and French ).