North Indian Temples | Architecture | History | Information | Vihara Darshani

Our country is also called as ‘the land of the temples’, where innumerable Hindu temples dot the landscape. A lot of these north india temples are very ancient and some are massive in size and beautiful in appearance. These north indian temples were designed, constructed and are being maintained based on spiritual principles an expressed in the ancient texts including the Vedas and Upanishads. The Hindu temples stand as the symbol of values and beliefs steeped in the Indian culture from thousands of years. Patronized generously by the rulers in the olden times, these temples also stood as a sign of their regal power and might, apart from being the symbol of art and architecture.

Even they are equally sacred, temples in different regions have their own distinct structural styles and the differentiation lies essentially in the shape and pattern of the Shikara (the superstructure). The style of construction is sometimes referred to as Nagara style, a type of temple mentioned in the Shilpa-shastras (a traditional canons of architecture), but exact correlation of the Shilpa-shastra terms with extant architecture has not yet established. It consists of two structures, the taller sanctum, the main shrine and the shorter mandapa (the front hall). The Shikaras normally resemble large cones and are decorated with many similar, nano images.