Editing Architecture of India (section)

=== Bengal Architecture ===
{{Main|Architecture of Bengal}}
[[File:Bishnupur Cluster of Temples.jpg|left|thumb|Cluster of temples in Bishnupur]]
The '''architecture of Bengal''', which comprises the modern country of [[Bangladesh]] and the [[States and union territories of India|Indian states]] of [[West Bengal]], [[Tripura]], and [[Barak Valley]] in [[Assam]], has a long and rich history, blending indigenous elements from the [[Indian subcontinent]], with influences from different parts of the world. Bengali architecture includes ancient urban architecture, religious architecture, rural [[vernacular architecture]], colonial [[townhouse]]s and [[country house]]s, and modern urban styles.<ref name="Amit">{{citation |url=http://www.aishee.org/essays/classification.php |title=Classification of Terracotta Temples |author=Amit Guha |access-date=30 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131235044/http://www.aishee.org/essays/classification.php |archive-date=31 January 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Ancient Bengali architecture reached its pinnacle during the [[Pala Empire]] (750–1120); this was Bengali-based and the last Buddhist imperial power in the Indian subcontinent. Most patronage was of Buddhist [[vihara]]s, temples and [[stupa]]s. Pala architecture influenced Tibetan and Southeast Asian architecture.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}} The most famous monument built by the Pala emperors was the [[Somapura Mahavihara|Grand Vihara of Somapura]], now a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]. Historians believe [[Somapura Mahavihara|Somapura]] was a model for the architects of [[Angkor Wat]] in Cambodia.

'''Distinctive architectural elements are:-'''
* '''Deul Temple''' -  Originally influenced by Kalinga style, they were main temple style during 6th-10th century. It was the style of [[Jain]] and [[Hindu temple architecture]] of Bengal, where the temple lacks the usual [[mandapa]] beside the main shrine, and the main unit consists only of the shrine and a ''[[deul]]'' (shikhara) above it. It was revived in the 16th to 19th century. The later representatives of this style were generally smaller and included features influenced by Islamic architecture.
* '''Chala Temple''' - [[Chala Style|Chala style]] or Hut style temples were influenced by the vernacular architecture or rural Bengal. Thatched rooftops of the houses were either in form of ''do-chala'' type which has only two hanging roof tips on each side of a roof divided in the middle by a ridge or ''[[Chala Style#char-chala|char-chala]]'' type, the two roof halves are fused into one unit and have a dome-like shape. The ''char-chala'' temples started coming up around the 17th century and profoundly adopted by Mughal and later the Rajput in their architectural styles.
* '''Ratna Temple''' - The curved roof of the temple is surmounted by one or more towers or pinnacles called ''ratna'' (jewel). The ''[[Ratna Style|ratna]]'' style came up in the 15th-16th century. It was basically a mix of chala and deul architecture where small deul, or in some case domes, were used on the centre or corners of the chala (char chala) roof.
* '''Dalan Temple''' - With the comings of European colonists, a new form of temple style took place. Generally used by [[Zamindars of Bengal|Zamindars]] or elite Bengalis, Dalan style became prominent in the 19th century. The flat-roofed (dalan) temples was easier to build and had incorporated many European elements, specially the arches. In the long run, this style lost its special identity as religious architecture and got mixed up with domestic architecture.
{{multiple image
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| image1 = Rasmancha Bishnupur (38294403222).jpg
| caption1 = Pyramidal shaped structure over [[Rasmancha, Bishnupur|Rasmancha]]
| image2 = Jor Bangla Temple Arches Bishnupur.JPG
| caption2 = Terracota work at a temple of Jor Bangla
| image4 = Jorbangla Bishnupur WB From left Side.jpg
| caption4 = Jorbangla (Douchala style) Temple
| image6 = Hangseswari Temple, Bansberia.jpg
| caption6 = [[Hangseshwari Temple]], Ratna Temple
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| image3 = Pakbirra Jain Shrine of Purulia 03 (cropped).jpg
| image5 = Madan Mohan Temple of Cooch Behar Town at Cooch Behar district in West Bengal 03.jpg
| caption5 = Flat roofed dalan with dome, Madan Mohan Temple
| caption3 = Pakbirra Jain Shrine, Deul Temple
| header = Distinct Bengali Temple Style
}}

Deuls are located in the numerous rivers crisscrossed by stone-free alluvial and bush landscape of the southern [[Sundarbans settlements]] in the [[India]]n state of [[West Bengal]].
[[File:Thakur Dalan of Itachuna Rajbari at Khanyan.jpg|thumb|Thakur Dalan of Itachuna Rajbari at Khanyan|left]]
Most temples surviving in reasonable condition date from about the 17th century onwards, after temple building revived; it had stopped after the Muslim conquest in the 13th century. The roofing style of Bengali [[Hindu temple architecture]] is unique and closely related to the paddy roofed traditional building style of rural Bengal. The "extensive improvisation within a local architectural idiom" which the temples exhibit is often ascribed to a local shortage of expert [[Brahmin]] priests to provide the rather rigid guidance as to correct forms that governed temple architecture elsewhere. In the same way the terracotta reliefs often depict secular subjects in a very lively fashion.

In larger, and later, temples, small towers rise up from the centre or corners of the curving roof. These are straight-sided, often with conical roofs. They have little resemblance to a typical north Indian [[shikara]] temple tower. The [[Pancharatna (architecture)|pancharatna]] ("five towers") and [[Navaratna (architecture)|navaratna]] ("nine towers") styles are varieties of this type.

The [[bungalow]] style is a notable architectural export of Bengal. The corner towers of Bengali religious buildings were replicated in medieval Southeast Asia. [[Bengal roofs|Bengali curved roofs]], suitable for the very heavy rains, were adopted into a distinct local style of [[Indo-Islamic architecture]], and used decoratively elsewhere in north India in [[Mughal architecture]].<ref name="Petersen2002">{{cite book |author=Andrew Petersen |year=2002 |title=Dictionary of Islamic Architecture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9A-EAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA34 |publisher=Routledge |page=34 |isbn=978-1-134-61365-6}}</ref>

Structures like [[Rasmancha, Bishnupur|Rasmancha]], built by King Bir Hambir, has an unusual elongated pyramidical tower, surrounded by hut-shaped turrets, which were very typical of Bengali roof structures of the time. Madan Mohan Temple was built in the ''ekaratna'' style, surmounted by a pinnacle along with carvings on the walls depicting scenes from the [[Ramayana]], [[Mahabharata]] and the [[Puranas]]. Temples like [[Dakshineswar Kali Temple]], features the Navratna style of roof.

Bengal is not rich in good stone for building, and traditional Bengali architecture mostly uses brick and wood, often reflecting the styles of the wood, bamboo and thatch styles of local [[vernacular architecture]] for houses. Decorative carved or [[Molding (process)|moulded]] plaques of [[terracotta]] (the same material as the brick) are a special feature. The brick is extremely durable and disused ancient buildings were often used as a convenient source of materials by local people, often being stripped to their foundations over the centuries.