Editing Architecture of India (section)

===Dravidian style===
{{Main|Dravidian architecture}}
{{multiple image
| align = right
| direction = horizontal
| header = Dravidian architectural elements
| alt6 =
| image6 = 1834 sketch of elements in Hindu temple architecture, four storey vimana.jpg
| caption6 = A vimana with mandapam elements (Dravidian architecture)
| alt5 =
| image5 = 1834 sketch of prastaras, entablature elements in Hindu temple architecture.jpg
| caption5 = Entablature elements
| alt4 =
| image4 = 1834 sketch of athisthana, base elements in Hindu temple architecture.jpg
| caption4 = Athisthana architectural elements of a Hindu temple
| alt3 =
| image3 = 1834 sketch of pillar elements in Hindu temple architecture, 03.jpg
| caption3 = Pillar elements (shared by Nagara and Dravidian)
| alt2 =
| image2 = 1834 sketch of elements in Hindu temple architecture, two storey gopura.jpg
| caption2 = Two storey gopura (Dravidian architecture)
| alt1 =
| image1 = 1834 sketch of elements in Hindu temple architecture, single storey gopura.jpg
| caption1 = Single storey gopura (Dravidian architecture)
| perrow = 2
| total_width = 200
| caption_align = center
| header_align = center
| footer_align = center
}}

Dravidian style ''or'' the '''South Indian temple style''' is an architectural idiom in [[Hindu temple architecture]] that emerged in the southern part of the Indian subcontinent or [[South India]] and in Sri Lanka, reaching its final form by the sixteenth century. It is seen in [[Hindu temple]]s, and the most distinctive difference from north Indian styles is the use of a shorter and more pyramidal tower over the [[garbhagriha]] or sanctuary called a [[Vimana (architectural feature)|vimana]], where the north has taller towers, usually bending inwards as they rise, called [[shikhara]]s. However, for modern visitors to larger temples the dominating feature is the high [[gopura]] or gatehouse at the edge of the compound; large temples have several, dwarfing the vimana; these are a much more recent development. There are numerous other distinct features such as the ''dwarapalakas'' – twin guardians at the main entrance and the inner sanctum of the temple and ''goshtams'' – deities carved in niches on the outer side walls of the [[garbhagriha]].

''Mayamata'' and ''Manasara shilpa'' texts estimated to be in circulation by 5th to 7th century, is a guidebook on Dravidian style of [[Vastu Shastra]] design, construction, sculpture and joinery technique.<ref name=stellakramrisch76>Stella Kramrisch (1976), The Hindu Temple Volume 1 & 2, {{ISBN|81-208-0223-3}}</ref><ref>Tillotson, G. H. R. (1997). Svastika Mansion: A Silpa-Sastra in the 1930s. South Asian Studies, 13(1), pp 87–97</ref> ''Isanasivagurudeva paddhati'' is another text from the 9th century describing the art of building in India in south and central India.<ref name=stellakramrisch76/><ref>Ganapati Sastri (1920), Īśānaśivagurudeva paddhati, Trivandrum Sanskrit Series, {{OCLC|71801033}}</ref>

From 300 BCE – 300 CE, the greatest accomplishments of the kingdoms of the [[early Chola]], [[Chera Dynasty|Chera]] and the [[Early Pandyan Kingdom|Pandyan kingdoms]] included brick shrines to deities [[Kartikeya]], [[Shiva]], [[Mariamman|Amman]] and [[Vishnu]]. Several of these have been unearthed near [[Adichanallur]], [[Poombuhar|Poompuhar]] also known as, Kaveripoompuharpattinam and [[Mahabalipuram]], and the construction plans of these sites of worship were shared to some detail in various poems of [[Sangam literature]].

The [[Indian rock-cut architecture|architecture of the rock-cut temples]], particularly the ''rathas'', became a model for south Indian temples.<ref name=Brit>{{Cite web|url= http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/t/019pho0000472s1u00027000.html|title= The Rathas, monolithic [Mamallapuram]|access-date= 23 October 2012|publisher= Online Gallery of British Library|archive-date= 4 March 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304220049/http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/t/019pho0000472s1u00027000.html|url-status= live}}</ref> Architectural features, particularly the sculptures, were widely adopted in [[Dravidian architecture|South India]].<ref name=Unesco>{{Cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/249/|title=Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram|access-date=23 October 2012|publisher=UNESCO.org|archive-date=15 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200415074333/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/249/|url-status=live}}</ref> Descendants of the sculptors of the shrines are artisans in contemporary Mahabalipuram.<ref name="BruynBain2010">{{cite book|first1=Pippa de |last1=Bruyn|first2=Keith |last2=Bain|first3=David |last3=Allardice|author4=Shonar Joshi|title=Frommer's India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qG-9cwHOcCIC&pg=PA333|access-date=7 February 2013|date=18 February 2010|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-64580-2|pages=333–}}</ref>

{{multiple image
| align = left
| direction = horizontal
| header =South Indian Temples
| alt4 =
| image4 = MEENAKSHI TEMPLE- WEST TOWER.jpg
| caption4 = [[Pandyan art and architecture|Pandya Dynasty]]
| alt3 =
| image3 = Airavatesvara Temple Chariot.jpg
| caption3 = [[Great Living Chola Temples|Chola thalassocracy]]
| alt2 =
| image2 = View of Bhutanatha temple in Badami during monsoon.jpg
| caption2 = [[Badami Chalukya architecture|Badami Chalukya]]
| alt1 =
| image1 = Krishna Pushkarani - Hampi Ruins.jpg
| caption1 = [[Vijayanagara architecture|Vijayanagara Empire]]
| perrow = 2
| total_width = 330
| caption_align = center
| header_align = center
| footer_align = center
}}

The Badami [[Chalukyas]] also called the Early Chalukyas, ruled from [[Badami]], Karnataka in the period 543–753 and spawned the [[Vesara]] style called [[Badami Chalukya Architecture]]. The finest examples of their art are seen in [[Pattadakal]], [[Aihole]] and [[Badami]] in northern Karnataka. Over 150 temples remain in the [[Malaprabha]] basin.

The Rashtrakuta contributions to art and architecture are reflected in the splendid rock-cut shrines at Ellora and Elephanta, situated in present-day [[Maharashtra]]. It is said that they altogether constructed 34 rock-cut shrines, but most extensive and sumptuous of them all is the Kailasanatha temple at [[Ellora]]. The temple is a splendid achievement of Dravidian art. The walls of the temple have marvellous sculptures from [[Hindu mythology]] including [[Ravana]], [[Shiva]] and [[Parvathi]] while the ceilings have paintings. These projects spread into South India from the [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]]. The architectural style used was partly Dravidian. They do not contain any of the ''[[shikhara]]s'' common to the ''Nagara'' style and were built on the same lines as the Virupaksha temple at [[Pattadakal]] in Karnataka.<ref name="Dravidian">{{cite web|title=Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent, 20 September 1996|url=http://www.indoarch.org/|author=Takeo Kamiya|publisher=Gerard da Cunha-Architecture Autonomous, Bardez, Goa, India|access-date=2006-11-10|archive-date=2 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502190211/http://www.indoarch.org/|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

[[Vijayanagara architecture]] of the period (1336–1565) was a notable building style evolved by the [[Vijayanagar empire]] that ruled most of [[South India]] from their capital at [[Vijayanagara]] on the banks of the [[Tungabhadra River]] in present-day [[Karnataka]].<ref>See [[Percy Brown (scholar)|Percy Brown]] in Sūryanātha Kāmat's ''A concise history of Karnataka: from pre-historic times to the present'', p. 132.</ref> The architecture of the temples built during the reign of the Vijayanagara empire had elements of political authority.<ref>See Carla Sinopoli, ''Echoes of Empire: Vijayanagara and Historical Memory, Vijayanagara as Historical Memory'', p. 26.</ref> This resulted in the creation of a distinctive imperial style of architecture which featured prominently not only in temples but also in administrative structures across the [[Deccan Plateau|deccan]].<ref>See Carla Sinopoli, ''The Political Economy of Craft Production: Crafting Empire in South India, C. 1350–1650'', p. 209.</ref> The Vijayanagara style is a combination of the [[Chalukya]], [[Hoysala]], [[Pandya]] and [[Chola]] styles which evolved earlier in the centuries when these empires ruled and is characterised by a return to the simplistic and serene art of the past.<ref name="blossom">See Percy Brown in Sūryanātha Kāmat's ''A concise history of Karnataka: from pre-historic times to the present'', p. 182.</ref> The South Indian temple consists essentially of a square-chambered sanctuary topped by a superstructure, tower, or spire and an attached pillared porch or hall (maṇḍapa or maṇṭapam), enclosed by a peristyle of cells within a rectangular court. The external walls of the temple are segmented by pilasters and carry niches housing sculpture. The superstructure or tower above the sanctuary is of the kūṭina type and consists of an arrangement of gradually receding stories in a pyramidal shape. Each story is delineated by a parapet of miniature shrines, square at the corners and rectangular with barrel-vault roofs at the centre.

The [[Warangal Fort]], [[Thousand Pillar Temple]], and [[Ramappa Temple]] are examples of Kakatiya architecture.{{Sfn|Haig|1907|p=65-87}}