Editing Hindu temple architecture (section)

=== Medieval period (7th to 16th century)===
{{multiple image|perrow = 2|total_width=400
| image1 = Bhima Ratha Pancha Rathas Mahabalipuram India - panoramio (1).jpg
| image2 = Ganesha Ratha Mahabalipuram Sep22 A7C 02582.jpg
| footer = [[Bhima Ratha]] and [[Ganesha Ratha]] temples at Mahabalipuram, ca, 600s. }}
By about the 7th century most main features of the Hindu temple were established along with theoretical texts on temple architecture and building methods.<ref name=michellharle335/> From between about the 7th and 13th centuries a large number of temples and their ruins have survived (though far fewer than once existed).  Many regional styles developed, very often following political divisions, as large temples were typically built with royal patronage.  The [[Vesara]] style originated in the region between the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers that is contemporary north Karnataka. According to some art historians, the roots of Vesara style can be traced to the [[Chalukya dynasty|Chalukyas]] of Badami (500-753AD) whose Early Chalukya or [[Badami Chalukya architecture]] built temples in a style that mixed some features of the ''nagara'' and the ''dravida'' styles, for example using both the northern [[shikhara]] and southern [[Vimana (architectural feature)|vimana]] type of superstructure over the sanctum in different temples of similar date, as at [[Pattadakal]]. This style was further refined by the [[Rashtrakutas]] of [[Manyakheta]] (750-983AD) in sites such as [[Ellora]]. Though there is clearly a good deal of continuity with the Badami or Early Chalukya style,<ref>Michell, 149</ref> other writers only date the start of Vesara to the later [[Western Chalukya Empire|Western Chalukyas]] of [[Basavakalyan|Kalyani]] (983-1195 AD),<ref>Harle, 254</ref> in sites such as [[Lakkundi]], [[Doddabasappa Temple|Dambal]], [[Mahadeva Temple, Itagi|Itagi]], and [[Gadag]],<ref>Harle, 256-261</ref> and continued by the [[Hoysala empire]] (1000-1330 AD).
[[File:8th century Shiva spearing evil demon at Virupaksha Shaiva temple, Pattadakal Hindu monuments Karnataka.jpg|thumb|left|[[Pattadakal]] Hindu monuments, 7th-8th century.]]
[[File:Ellora cave16 001.jpg |thumb|[[Kailasa temple, Ellora|Kailasanatha temple]], remarkably carved out of one single rock was built by Rashtrakuta king [[Krishna I]] (r. 756–773 CE)<ref>Lisa Nadine Owen, Beyond Buddhist and Brahmanical Activity: The Place of the Jain Rock-Cut Excavations at Ellora, PhD thesis 2006, University of Texas at Austin p. 255</ref>]]

The earliest examples of [[Pallava art and architecture|Pallava architecture]] are rock-cut temples dating from 610 to 690 CE and structural temples between 690 and 900 CE. The greatest accomplishments of the Pallava architecture are the rock-cut [[Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram]] at [[Mahabalipuram]], a UNESCO [[World Heritage Site]], including the [[Shore Temple]]. This group includes both excavated pillared halls, with no external roof except the natural rock, and monolithic shrines where the natural rock is entirely cut away and carved to give an external roof. Early temples were mostly dedicated to Shiva. The Kailasanatha temple also called Rajasimha Pallaveswaram in [[Kanchipuram]] built by [[Narasimhavarman II]] also known as Rajasimha is a fine example of the Pallava style temple.

[[Western Chalukya architecture]] linked between the [[Badami Chalukya Architecture]] of the 8th century and the [[Hoysala architecture]] popularised in the 13th century.<ref name="golden">An important period in the development of Indian art (Kamath 2001, p115)</ref><ref name="golden1">{{cite web|title=History of Karnataka – Chalukyas of Kalyani |url=http://www.ourkarnataka.com/history.htm |author=Arthikaje |publisher=1998–2000 OurKarnataka.Com, Inc |access-date=2006-11-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061104095148/http://www.ourkarnataka.com/history.htm |archive-date=4 November 2006}}</ref> The art of Western Chalukyas is sometimes called the "[[Gadag]] style" after the number of ornate temples they built in the [[Tungabhadra]] – [[Krishna River]] [[doab]] region of present-day [[Gadag district]] in Karnataka.<ref name="gadag">{{cite web|title=Temples of Karnataka, Kalyani Chalukyan temples|url=http://www.templenet.com/Karnataka/kalyani_chalukya.html|author=Kannikeswaran|publisher=webmaster@templenet.com,1996–2006|access-date=2006-12-16}}</ref> Their temple building reached its maturity and culmination in the 12th century, with over a hundred temples built across the deccan, more than half of them in present-day Karnataka. Apart from temples they are also well known for ornate stepped wells (''Pushkarni'') which served as ritual bathing places, many of which are well preserved in Lakkundi. Their stepped well designs were later incorporated by the Hoysalas and the Vijayanagara empire in the coming centuries.

In the north, [[Muslim conquests of the Indian subcontinent|Muslim invasions]] from the 11th century onwards reduced the building of temples, and saw the loss of many existing ones.<ref name=michellharle335/>  The south also witnessed Hindu-Muslim conflict that affected the temples, but the region was relatively less affected than the north.{{sfn|George Michell|1995|pp=9-10, Quote: "The era under consideration opens with an unprecedented calamity for Southern India: the invasion of the region at the turn of the fourteenth century by Malik Kafur, general of Alauddin, Sultan of Delhi. Malik Kafur's forces brought to an abrupt end all of the indigenous ruling houses of Southern India, not one of which was able to withstand the assault or outlive the conquest. Virtually every city of importance in the Kannada, Telugu and Tamil zones succumbed to the raids of Malik Kafur; forts were destroyed, palaces dismantled and temple sanctuaries wrecked in the search for treasure. In order to consolidate the rapidly won gains of this pillage, Malik Kafur established himself in 1323 at Madurai (Madura) in the southernmost part of the Tamil zone, former capital of the Pandyas who were dislodged by the Delhi forces. Madurai thereupon became the capital of the Ma'bar (Malabar) province of the [[Delhi Sultanate|Delhi empire]]."}} In late 14th century, the Hindu [[Vijayanagara Empire]] came to power and controlled much of South India. During this period, the distinctive very tall [[gopuram]] gatehouse, (actually a late development, from the 12th century or later), was typically added to older large temples.<ref name=michellharle335>Michell (1988), 18, 50-54, 89, 149-155; Harle (1994), 335</ref>