Introduction to Indian Architecture. Bindia Thapar
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cooling system was devised, drawing water from a huge reservoir.
The months of Sawan (July) and Bhadon (August), when the monsoon is at its strongest, lend their names to two pavilions that project out over the Gopal Sagar tank. They are roofed over with a sandstone replica of the bangla roof (see p. 87), which contains a clever water system creating a semicircular arc of falling water. The pavilions flank the Gopal Bhawan, the main palace situated by the tank, making it look as if it is rising out of the water.
An elegant pavilion, the Keshav Bhawan, overlooks the Roop Sagar tank on the other side of the complex. It is a flat-roofed building with deep projecting eaves or chhajjas resting on symmetrically placed pillars with arched openings. The pillars are hollow and within them run pipes which continue within the structure over the arches. Heavy stone balls used to be placed on the roof so that when water gushed up through the pipes, these stone balls rolled to produce the sound of thunder.
The Nand Bhawan, another palace, uses a traditional, indigenous method to keep its interiors cool. Between its double roof are sandwiched upturned earthen water pitchers that serve the function of insulation. Fountains sprayed jets of colored water that created rainbows. Immense marble urns filled with water and a number of small pools further enhanced the enjoyment of water.
The Jahaz Mahal, Mandu
The Jahaz Mahal, or Ship Palace (seep. 98), was built in the 15th century by Ghiyas-ud-Din Khalji, much of whose 30-year reign was spent in amusement and pleasure. Standing on a narrow strip of land between two lakes, it is 122 meters long and a little over 15 meters wide. The façade is a bout 10 meters in height.
The lower part of the building has a series of continuous arcades, over which rests a wide chhajja on stone corbels. The upper part is articulated by a series of built-in arches over which runs a wide parapet decorated with glazed tile, in the typical provincial style of the region. The ground floor consists of three huge halls separated by corridors, with small enclosures at the extremities. At the rear of each hall, a small pavilion projects out into the lake.
The island palace of Jag Nivas, Udaipur, now converted into the Lake Palace Hotel, was built between 1743 and 1746.
The central pavilion is the largest and has a domed ceiling decorated with blue and yellow tiles. The other smaller pavilions were meant for the harem, and one can still see the stone frame-works that were used to hang curtains to ensure privacy. The room at one of the extremities has a channel from which the cistern was filled. The cistern was used also as a swimming pool. It has an elegant shape, and is one of the special features of the palace. On the upper floor is another cistern, fed with water through elegant spiral-shaped channels.
Water within Architecture
Even though the presence of water in the form of temple tanks had been a part of sacred architecture in India for many centuries, it was really the Mughals who perfected extraordinary ways of integrating it within the building. The concept of the charbagh had originated with Babur and found its most perfect expression in both Humayun's Tomb and the Taj Mahal, and in the pleasure gardens of Kashmir. Evolving from the fountains and channels of the charbagh, Mughal architects designed a system of water courses that ran under the building, creating an elaborate network of waterways that kept the floor cool during summer. In the Rang Mahal of Delhi's Red Fort, built by Shah Jahan, the main water channel that brought the water from the River Yamuna, along whose banks it was built, wove its way through the complex. Known as the Nahar-i-Bahisht or Stream of Paradise, the channel fed a warren of smaller channels that ran underground. Within the zenana of the Rang Mahal, this channel cascaded over a sloped and carved marble ramp to end in a shallow marble pool sculpted in the shape of a flattened, fully blooming lotus (see p. 114). From each petal of the flower spurted a jet of water, so that the petals and inlaid leaves seemed to move gently with the ripples.
In a pavilion at Mandu, spring water from the rockface crosses the marble floor in an inlaid channel and cascades down before it reaches a square pool, then exits through a delicate spiral.
Early Architecture
The beginnings of Indian architecture can be traced back to as early as the 3rd millennium BC, to the architecture of the civilisation that flourished in the valley of the Indus River. Archaeological excavations undertaken in the Indus valley have revealed the existence of well-planned cities, broad roads, excellent sanitation systems and the use of bricks in construction.
The 10-centimeter-tall "dancing girl" figure excavated at Mohenjodaro, now in the National Museum in Delhi.
The Indus valley civilisation (also referred to as the Harappa civilisation) extended west to east from northern Afghanistan to the Gangetic plain, and north to south from the Himalayan foothills to the Gulf of Cambay.
Indus Valley Excavations
Excavations carried out in the Indus valley sites of the two great cities, Mohenjodaro and Harappa, now in Pakistan, and at Dholavira and Lothal in Gujarat, India, show the existence of well laid out cities and towns, designed according to a predetermined common code of planning principles which formed the basis of urban design. These cities and townships were originally designed specifically as urban centers, and did not evolve from small hamlets or groups of dwellings.
Lothal, a flourishing seaport around 2440 BC on the Gulf of Cambay, was excavated in 1954. A mud-brick wall surrounds the rectangular site. Wide streets intersect and divide the town into smaller blocks, typical of cities and towns of the Indus valley.
It is evident from the similarity of planning between the main cities that it was directed by some central authority even though Harappa and Mohenjodaro, for instance, were separated by about 640 kilometers. Most of the cities were walled and had clearly demarcated citadels within which public buildings were located. At both Harappa and Mohenjodaro, there were two distinct sections separated by a wide space; to its west lay the citadel with big public buildings on raised plinths of sun-baked brick (excavations at Mohenjodaro show the existence of a tank called the Great Bath, while some of the larger buildings at the other sites may have been used as granaries); to the east, the lower city. The overall planning was based on a rectangular grid pattern, with the main roads oriented along the four cardinal points. The roads were broad and paved with brick. There is evidence of excellent sanitation systems with drains and manholes, and a sophisticated system of water supply.
Dwelling units, both big, almost resembling palaces, as well as small, were rectangular and planned around a square courtyard. The entrances of houses opened out onto small side streets rather than the main thoroughfares.
Most of the buildings were made of standardised kiln-baked brick, with sun-baked bricks used to construct plinths and flooring. Archaeological evidence also reveals that the size of the brick was standard across all the sites, which also indicates that there must have been close and sustained contact between the various cities of the civilisation. Mud mortar was used in the construction of walls, and mud plaster for inner walls and surfaces. Staircases and the thickness of the walls indicate that many of the buildings were two-storied structures, with the upper floor probably made of wood.
Excavations have also unearthed a number of objects, from seals, urns and pots to jewelry, statuettes, toys and agricultural implements. The seals carry inscriptions in a script yet to be deciphered, as well as elaborate intaglio designs depicting animals, plants, human figures and geometric motifs. Some statuettes depict the mother goddess, embodying fertility. Among the stone sculptures, those of the "priest-king" and the "dancing girl" are well known. The "priest-king" is a steatite bust of a bearded male with half-closed eyes that were once inlaid with shell. The slender "dancing girl" adopts a bold posture, one hand on hip and head tilted back.