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Which were the three main traditional styles of temple architecture in India?1. Nagara, Kalasha and Madapa2. Vesara, Dravida and Ratha3. Nagara, Vesara and Dravida4. Nagara, Vimana and Shikara

Answer» Correct Answer - Option 3 : Nagara, Vesara and Dravida

The correct answer is Nagara, Vesara and Dravida.

  • Two broad orders of temples in the country are known:-
    1. Nagara styles of temple architecture in North India. 
    2. Dravida styles of temple architecture in South India. 
  • The Vesara style of temples as an independent style created through the selective mixing of the Nagara and Dravida orders is mentioned by some scholars. 
  • Hence Nagara, Vesara and Dravida is the correct answer.

  • The basic form of the Hindu temple comprises the following:
    • cave-like sanctum (Garbhagriha literally ‘womb house), which, in the early temples, was a small cubicle with a single entrance and grew into a larger chamber in time.
    • The Garbhagriha is made to house the main icon which is itself the focus of much ritual attention.
    • The entrance to the temple may be a portico or colonnaded hall that incorporates space for a large number of worshippers and is known as a Mandapa.
    • From the fifth century CE onwards, freestanding temples tend to have a mountainlike spire, which can take the shape of a curving Shikhar in North India, and a pyramidal tower, called a vimana, in South India.
    • At the top of the temple, Kalasha or Sikhara has been placed.
    • The Vahan, i.e., the mount or vehicle of the temple’s main deity along with a standard pillar or Ahvaz is placed axially before the sanctum.


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