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Mayamatsar
Samarangana
Sutradhar
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Indian
art has history of about 5000 years. Due to absence of information storage
media, no primary reference is available for perishable art forms before
Indus valley civilization.
Ancient civilizations found in excavation at Mohenjo-daro, Harappa and
Lothal near Kathiawar and to some extent sites at Chanhu-daro throw
some light on architectural concepts of ancient Indians.
Mohenjo-daro may be described as an urban concentration
of isolated primitive village centers. The ruins were described "as
barren as would be the remains of some present day working town such
as Lancaster."
Town planning The
site was systematically laid out on a regular plan in such a way that
the principle streets ran north and south in order to take full advantage
of the prevailing winds. The development of drainage system in private
housed and streets are superior due to use of terra cotta.
Structures: The architecture as one would expect of a commercial urban
civilization was, of startling utilitarian character, with a uniform
sameness of plan and construction that typifies the products of the
Indus culture pottery. The building consisted of houses, markets, storerooms
and offices. Many of the structures consisted of brick ground storey
with one or more additional floors in wood. It reflects a completely
business point of view, from the city plan as a whole to the almost
total lack of architectural ornamentation.
The bricks found in other civilization of Sumer and Babylon were sun-dried
while that in Mohenjo-daro were baked. It implies vast amounts of timber
to fire the kilns was available indicated heavily forested area. It
was like a desert at the time of Macedonian invasion.
The regularity of the city plan and the dimension of the individual
houses are far superior to the arrangement of Greek and Kushan cities
and crowded and ill built metropolices of Egypt and Mesopotamia.
Vedic civilization (1500-800BC)
Due to agricultural nomadic background, the architecture is not monumental
not permanent. No urban development is found. The population was largely
distributed in small settlements located in the plains and forests.
Their building materials were wood, bamboo thatch and brick. Huts of
round and square shapes as well as tower like structures are reported.
Fire altars and sacrificial halls are mentioned in Vedas. The description
of early architectural forms in the Vedas are complemented by representations
of many of them in Buddhist relipses of the first century BC at Bharhut
and Sanchi. The layout of the Indo-Aryan village is preserved in later
manuals of Indian architecture. It had represented earthly needs of
the residents and metaphysical symbolism.
A number of rock cut tombs of the Vedic period have been found at Mennapuram
and Calicut in Malabar.The chief importance of the Vedic period lies
in the development of architecture as a science and the invention types
that survive in the Hindu and Buddhist architecture.
In the Pre-Mauryan dynasties (Saisunga- Nanda period) only monuments
that are positively recognized as pre Mauryan are the enormous mounds
at Lauri Nandangarh. They are cone shape presumably sites of royal burials.
They are Prototypes for Buddhist relic mounds.
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