Editing Architecture of India (section)

====Early====
Excluding earlier structures in timber-based architecture, hardly any remains of Nagara Hindu temples exist from before the [[Gupta dynasty]] in the 4th century CE. The [[Indian rock-cut architecture|rock-cut]] [[Udayagiri Caves]] are among the most important early sites.<ref>Harle (1994), 87–100; Michell (1988), 18</ref> The earliest preserved Hindu temples are simple cell-like stone temples, some rock-cut and others structural, as at [[Sanchi]].<ref name=meister254>{{cite journal |last=Meister |first=Michael W. |date=1988–1989 |title=Prāsāda as Palace: Kūṭina Origins of the Nāgara Temple |journal=Artibus Asiae |volume=49 |issue=3–4 |pages=254–256 |doi=10.2307/3250039 |jstor=3250039}}</ref> By the 6th or 7th century, these evolved into high [[shikhara]] stone superstructures. However, there is inscriptional evidence, such as the ancient Gangadhara inscription from around 424, that towering temples predated the 6th or 7th century, and they were made from more perishable material. These temples have not survived.<ref name=meister254/><ref name=meister370/>

[[File:KITLV 88210 - Unknown - Temples at Barakhar in British India - 1897.tif|thumb|The ninth century temple in [[Barakar]] shows a tall curving shikhara crowned by a large amalaka and is an example of the early Pala style. It is similar to contemporaneous temples of Odisha.]]
Early North Indian temples that have survived after the 5th century [[Udayagiri Caves]] in [[Madhya Pradesh]] include, [[Vishnu Temple, Deogarh|Deogarh]], [[Nachna Hindu temples|Parvati Temple, Nachna]] (465 CE),<ref name=meister370/> [[Lalitpur District, India|Lalitpur District]] (c. 525), [[Sirpur Group of Monuments#Hindu monuments|Lakshman Brick Temple, Sirpur]] (600–625 CE); [[Rajim#Rajiv Lochan Vishnu Mandir|Rajiv Lochan temple]], and [[Rajim]] (7th-century CE).<ref name=meister280>{{cite journal |last=Meister |first=Michael W. |date=1988–1989 |title=Prāsāda as Palace: Kūṭina Origins of the Nāgara Temple |journal=Artibus Asiae |volume=49 |issue=3–4 |pages=254–280 |doi=10.2307/3250039 |jstor=3250039}}</ref>

Pre-7th century CE South Indian style stone temples have not survived. However, early South Indian temples that have survived, though in ruins, include the diverse styles [[Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram|at Mahabalipuram]], from the 7th and 8th centuries. According to Meister, the Mahabalipuram temples are "monolithic models of a variety of formal structures all of which already can be said to typify a developed "Tamil Architecture" (South Indian) order". They suggest a tradition and a knowledge base existing in South India by the time of the early Chalukya and Pallava era when these were built. Other examples are found in [[Aihole]] and [[Pattadakal]].<ref name=meister280/><ref>Michael W. Meister and M.A. Dhaky (1983), ''South India: Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture'', Vol. I, Part I, Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|978-0691784021}}, pages 30–53</ref>

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. 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Michell|1995|pp=9–10}}: "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]]."</ref> In the 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, typically added to older large temples.<ref name=michellharle335>Michell (1988), 18, 50–54, 89, 149–155; Harle (1994), 335</ref>

The recently constructed Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is constructed as per the Nagara style.