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Budding architects recreate Indian temple art and architecture; see photos
In an activity, architecture students were asked to create innovative three-dimensional temple shikhara with inspiration from ancient Indian temples
Apeejay Institute of Technology-School of Architecture & Planning (AIT-SAP) organised an interactive exercise for its students to explore the epigraphic and artistic beauty of Mandala Art, a geometric design or pattern representing the cosmos or deities. This form of art is most common in Hindu and Buddhist traditions. The second-year architecture students took part in the activity under the guidance of assistant professor Ar Aastha Kalia.
The exercise aimed at equipping budding architects with the ability to design, understand and play with two-dimensional aspects of sacred structures and construct three-dimensional shikhara based on different Indian temple styles. The students studied shapes, forms, fractals, and the evolution of temple forms. Take a look at some of the structures designed by students:
The students were given a modern pseudo façade of an existing temple in Bisrakh, Greater Noida, dedicated to Lord Shiva. They also took inspiration from other temple styles, from Nagara to Vesara and Dravida, to create their design so as to link it to Indian heritage.
Not just this, students also got an opportunity to study the icons and images used in temple architecture or were meant for worship. “Temple iconography is more concerned with the concept, interpretation, and validity of the icon in terms of the themes detailed in the scriptures or mythological texts and with the prescriptions of Shilpa Shastra. There is not much discussion on the styles of architecture or the art forms, per se,” mentioned Ar Kalia. Through this exercise, students could observe, identify, and replicate motifs and icons from temple art and architecture.
