Rulers and buildings
Qutub minar
Rulers and buildings
In this chapter we will discuss about a few buildings and temples along with their
architecture and engineering skills.
The buildings are Kutub Minaret, Jama masjid, temples like Kandariya
Mahadeva, Rajarajeshwara temple, and Golden temple.
It is a five storeys
high minaret
• This is the first balcony-which
was constructed by Qutbuddin
Aybak. The remaining flours was
completed by Iltutmish around
1229
• Over the years it was damaged
by earthquakes and lightning
and repaired by Alauddin Khalji,
Muhammad Tughlak, Firoz Shah
Tughlak and Ibrahim Lodhi
Engineering skills and
construction
Superstructure is the part of the building above the ground floor.
Roofs, doors and windows were made by placing a horizontal beam
across two vertical columns, a style of architecture called trebeate or
corbelled
Between the 8th and 13th century the trebeate style was used to
construct temples and mosques along with stepped wells called
baolis.
KandariyaMahadeva
temple
• This is the largest and most
beautiful Hindu temple in the
medieval period. This type of
temple group are found at
Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh,
India. It was built by Vidyadhara.
• It is considered one of the best
examples of temples preserved
from the medieval period in
India.
• Kajuraho was once the religious
capital of the Chandela Rajputs
and today is one of the most
popular tourist destinations in India.
Rajarajeshwara
temple
It had one of the tallest Shikhara of that time.
All this done without the use of cranes as there were no cranes in those days.
• Rajarajeshwara Temple. ... at Thanjavur in
the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is a Hindu
temple of Lord Shiva. This temple is one of
India's most prized architectural sites.
• The Shikhara of the Rajarajeshwara temple
is twice as high as that of the Kandariya
Mahadeva temple.
Rajarajeshwara temple
• The temple is regarded as one of the existing 108
ancient Shiva Temples of Kerala. It also has a
prominent place amongst the numerous Shiva
temples in South India. It had the tallest shikhara
amongst
the
temples
of
its
time.
The
Rajarajeshwara temple has a top of about 90
tonnes. If any problem is encountered in the other
temples of South India, devotees seek a solution in
this temple through a prasna, a traditional method
of astrological decision making. The prasna is
conducted on a peedha (a raised platform) outside
the temple.
Jama Masjid
Built by Shah
Jahan
Jama Masjid
• Jama Masjid (Hindi: जामा मस्जजद, Urdu: ‫)جامع مسجد‬
of Delhi, is the principal mosque of Old Delhi in
India. Commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah
Jahan,he built this mosque in the year 1650 AD
and completed in the year 1656 AD, it is the largest
and best-known mosque in India. It lies at the
beginning of the Chawri Bazar Road, a very busy
central street of Old Delhi.
JAMA MASJID
The later name, Jama Masjid, refers to the weekly Friday
noon congregation prayers of Muslims, Jummah, which
are usually done in a mosque, the "congregational
mosque" or "Jama masjid". The courtyard of the mosque
can hold up to twenty-five thousand worshippers. The
mosque also houses several relics in a closet in the
north gate, including an antique copy of the Qur'an
written on deer skin
Picture of Jama Masjid
The golden temple in
Amritsar
Pictures of Golden temple
Golden temple
• The Harmandir Sahib also
Darbar Sahib and
informally referred to as
the Golden Temple is a
prominent Sikh Gurdwara
located in the city of
Amritsar, Punjab, India. It
was built by the fifth Sikh
guru, Guru Arjan, in the
16th Century.
GOLDEN TEMPLE
The main structure rises from the centre of the sacred pool, 150 metres
square, approached by a causeway about 60 metres long. An archway
on the western side of the pool opens on to the causeway, bordered
with marble, and, at close intervals, there are standard lamps, their
great lanterns set upon marble columns. The 52-metre square-based
Hari Mandir, to which the causeway leads, stands on a 20-metre square
platform. Its lower parts are of white marble, but the upper parts are
covered with plates of gilded copper. In the interior, on the ground floor,
is the Guru Granth Sahib, placed under a gorgeous canopy, studded
with jewels. On the second storey is a pavilion known as Shish Mahal or
Mirror Room, so designed as to have a square opening in the centre to
view from there the ground floor, with the further provision of a narrow
courtyard around the square opening.
Our heritage
Respect our heritage
Why temples were destroyed ?
• Temples were built to demonstrate their devotion to God
and their power and wealth, it is not surprising that when
they attacked one another's kingdoms they often
targeted these buildings.
• In the ninth century when the Pandyan king Shrimara
invaded Sri Lanka he defeated the King, Sena I, the
Buddhist monk and it was noted that he had removed all
the valuables and statue of Buddha was seized.
Why temples were destroyed?
• The next Sinhalese ruler , Sena II ordered his general to
invade Madurai, the capital of Pandyas.
• Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni was not a very important ruler
but by destroying temples- especially the one at
Somnath-he tried to win credit as a great hero of Islam.
Gardens, Tombs and Forts.
• Under the Mughals, architecture became more complex.
Babur, Humayuns, Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan
were personally interested in literature, art, and
architecture.
• Babur described his interest in planning and laying out
formal gardens, placed within rectangular walled
enclosure and divided into four quarters by artificial
channels. These gardens were called as Chahar Bagh
PICTURES OF CHAHAR BAGH
Humayuns tomb
• Constructed between 1562-1571
• It has a central towering dome
and the tall gateway.
• The tomb was placed in the
centre of a huge formal Chahar
Bagh.
• It has a central hall surrounded
by eight rooms known as eight
paradises.
Taj Mahal
• Built by Shah Jahan, in Agra on the bank
of river Yamuna.
• The dwelling was located at the edge of
Chahar Bagh, close to the river.
• Taj Mahal is also called as Mumtaz Mahal
as it was constructed in the memory of his
wife Mumtaz.
• Taj Mahal was constructed over a period of
twenty-two years, employing twenty
thousand workers. It was completed in
1648 C.E. at a cost of 32 Million Rupees.
• It is widely accepted as the Jewel of
Muslim art in India. It is universally admired
masterpieces of the world heritage. Today
it ranks 3rd amount the eight wonders of
the world.
PICTURES OF TAJ MAHAL
Region and Empire
• In Vijaynagar elephant stables of
the rulers were strongly
influenced by the style of
architecture.
• In Vrindavan, near Mathura,
temples were constructed in
architectural styles that were
very similar to the Mughal
palaces in Fatehpur Sikri.
• The "Bangla dome" was used by
the Mughals.
THANKS A LOT
ALL THE BEST ALWAYS