Essay name: Arts in the Puranas (study)
Author:
Meena Devadatta Jeste
Affiliation: Savitribai Phule Pune University / Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute Pune
This essay studies the Arts in the Puranas by reconstructing the theory of six major fine arts鈥擬usic, Dance, Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, and Literature鈥攆rom the Major and Minor Puranas. This thesis shows how ancient sages studied these arts within the context of cultural traditions of ancient India.
Chapter 3 - Architecture in the Puranas
12 (of 62)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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rock cut Vih膩ras had generally one and sometimes two storeys.
The best idea of free standing Vihara is given by Dharmar膩ja
Ratha at Mahabalipuram which is carved out from a boulder,
in imitation of a multi-storeyed Vihara.
In the period before the 4th Century A.D. the Hindu
shrines were constructed of perishable material, but it is
only from the Gupta age onwards that building in stone becomes
general and we can trace the history of Hindu Temple from
this period although the small shrines had been erected much
earlier.
The fully developed Hindu Temple consisted of a main
shrine called Vimana, which had inside a small rectangular
Cella, the Garbhagrha. The Vimana was surmounted by a high
tapering tower, the 'Sikhara'. The inner cella was dark and
had only a door which led through a small vestibule to the
mandapa, a pillared assembly hall in front of which was often
a porch called ardha-mand apa.
