Ram Temple at Ayodhya

• The original design was given by the Sompura family of Ahmedabad in 1988. The Sompura family for at least 15 generations has contributed to temple designs of over 100 temples worldwide. Example: Somnath Temple
• In 2022, a new design was prepared by the Sompuras, as per the Hindu texts, the Vastu Shastra and the Shilpa Shastra. 
• The Ram mandir will be 250 feet wide, 380 feet long and 161 feet high. 
• Predominantly designed in the Gurjara-Chaulukya (Maru-Gurjara) style of Nagara style of architecture. 
• Main structure will be built on a raised platform with three storeys. 
• The temple will have five mandapas in the middle of the garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum) and on the entrance passage. 
• It will consist of a total of 366 columns and these columns will have 16 idols each to include the incarnations of Shiva, the 10 Dashavataras, the 64 Chausath Yoginis, and the 12 incarnations of the goddess Saraswati. 
• Sandstone from Baansi in Rajasthan will be used. 
• Iron will not be used in the construction of the temple and the fusion of stone blocks with copper plates will be done. 
• Thailand is also symbolically contributing to the inauguration of the temple, by sending soil to the Ram Janmabhoomi. Prior to this the country has also sent water from two rivers in Thailand to honour the temple. 

Maru-Gurjara Architecture or Solanki style: The style originated from that of the dynasties preceding the Solanki dynasty, mainly the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty. Reached zenith from the 11th to 13th centuries, under the Chalukya dynasty of Gujarat (Solanki dynasty). Although originated as a regional style in Hindu temple architecture, it became popular in Jain temples. Features:Curvilinear ShikharaFree standing Kirti ToranaKunda or a temple tankHeavy carvings on ceilings of MandapaHigh plinths Balconies looking out on multiple side

Nagara style of temple architecture:

• Emerged sometime in the 5^th century CE, during the late Gupta period, in Northern India. 
• Seen in juxtaposition with the Dravidian style of southern India, which too emerged in the same period. 
• Nagara and Dravida may be called ‘Styles’, but they cover vast areas and time spans. 
• Different sub-schools emerged in western, central and eastern parts of the country. 

Features of Nagara Temple Architecture 

• Panchayatana style of temple making: Consisting of subsidiary shrines laid out in a crucified ground plan with respect to the principal shrine. 
• Garbha-Griha (sanctum sanctorum): Idol of the deity is placed and is most sacred part of the temple. Images of the river goddesses, Ganga and Yamuna, are placed outside the garbhagriha. 
• Assembly halls or mandaps, in front of the principal shrine.
• Unlike Dravida temples, water tanks or reservoirs are not present in the temple premises.
• Built on upraised platforms. 
• Shikharas: These are human-made representations of the natural and cosmological order, as imagined in Hindu tradition.
  • Depending on the period and geography, there is a large variation in what a shikhara looks like, or how it is used in a temple’s design.
  • Types of Shikharas: 
    • Latina or rekha-prasad: Square at the base and the walls curve inward to a point on the top.
    • Phamsana: Broader base and were shorter in height than the Latina ones; Slope upwards on a straight line.
    • Valabhi: Rectangular base with the roof rising into vaulted chambers;  Emerged in the Gupta heartland. 
    • Bhumija: Miniature spires, in horizontal and vertical rows; Created a grid-like effect on each face.
• Amalaka (horizontal fluted disc): At the vertical end of the shikhara. 
• Kalash: In spherical shape on top. 
• Vertical planes: 
  • Triratha temples.
  • Later, pancharatha, saptaratha and even navaratha temples came into existence.
  • Used as different panels to make narrative sculptures.
• Covered Ambulatory passageway (Pradakshina-path): Around the sanctum sanctorum. 
• Temple premises did not have elaborate boundary walls or gateways.

Regional schools of Nagara Style 

Central India/ Khajuraho school or Chandela School

• Chandelas in the centre of India around 1000 AD created this style of temple construction known as the Khajuraho School or Chandela School.
• It is made of sandstone.
• Generally north or east facing.
• These are relatively modest-looking shrines each having four pillars that support a small mandapa which looks like a simple square porch-like extension before an equally small room that serves as the garbhagriha.
• This temple is in the panchayatana style.
• The presence of this curving latina or rekha-prasada type of shikhara also makes it clear that this is an early example of a classic nagara style of temple.
• Examples: Khajuraho, Kandariya Mahadeo temple, in Madhya Pradesh

                                               Kandariya Mahadeo temple, Khajuraho

Western India/Solanki Style

There are two schools that developed in Gujarat & Rajasthan these are Solanki school in Gujarat and Jain Temples in Mount Abu.

Gujarat School

• The stone used to build the temples ranges in colour and type with sandstone being the most common construction material employed.
• Presence of a hundred-square-metre rectangular pond(suryakund). 
• A huge ornamental arch-torana leads one to the sabha mandapa (the assembly hall) which is open on all sides.
• Example: Sun temple, Modhera, Gujarat

Rajasthan School

• Use of white marble.
• The walls of the central small shrine are devoid of carving and are left plain as the temple faces the east.
• The ornamental detail spreads over the minutely carved ceilings, doorways, pillars, and panels.
• Example: Dilwara Temple, Mount Abu

East India Temple Architecture

There are three schools that developed in east India these are Assam, Bengal and Odisha School.

Assam School of Temple Architecture

• It appears that terracotta was the main medium of construction. The temple consists of four chambers:

• garbhagriha and,
• three mandapas locally called Calanta, Pancaratna and Natamandira.
• The style that came with the migration of the Tais from Upper Burma mixed with the dominant Pala style of Bengal and led to the creation of the Ahom style in and around Guwahati.

Bengal School of Temple Architecture

• Bengal witnessed a temple building spree from the late 15th century.
• Temple architecture in Bengal got inspired from the double-roofed (dochala) or four-roofed (chauchala) structure of thatched huts in villages, which housed local deities.
• Dochala (two-roofed style)
• Chauchala (four-roofed style)
• Temples were usually built on a square platform.
• Interior of the temples were relatively plain, but the outer walls of these temples were decorated with paintings, ornamental tiles or terracotta tablets.
• In the Bishnupur group of temples in Bankura district of West Bengal, such decorations reached a high degree of excellence.
• This style also incorporated elements of the dome and multilobe arch of Islamic architecture.
• Elements of Bengal Temple architecture were adopted outside Bengal as well. 

Odisha School of Temple Architecture

• The style consists of three distinct types of temples: Rekha Deula, Pidha Deula and Khakhara Deula.
• The former two are associated with Vishnu, Surya and Shiva temples while the third is mainly with Chamunda and Durga temples.
• Also known as Kalinga School
• The main architectural features of Odisha temples are classified in three orders, i.e., rekhapida, pidhadeul and khakra.
• The Architecture, basically a temple is made in two parts, a tower and a hall.
• The tower is called deula and hall is called Jagmohan.
• The walls of both the deula and the Jagmohan are lavishly sculpted with architectural motifs and a profusion of figures.
• The most repeated form is the horseshoe shape, which has come from the earliest times, starting with the large windows of the chaitya-grihas. It is dual or deula which makes three distinct types of temples in Kalinga Architecture.
• These temples usually have boundary walls.

Jagannath Puri, Odisha 

Temple Architecture in Hills

There are two schools that developed in Himalayan region of India these are Kumaon,Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir School.

Kumaon School

• The central tower is surrounded by four smaller towers on each side.
• The main entrance is located at the front of the central tower, while several other entrances are located at each of its sides.
• These entrances are all decorated with intricate carvings depicting various scenes from mythology.
• The main entrance faces east
• The main temple complex includes four large halls or mandapas.
• Jageshwar in Almora, Uttarakhand 

Himachal School

• Wooden buildings
• It looks like a hut, with an intricately carved wooden entrance, interior and ceiling.
• Laksna Devi Mandir, Himachal Pradesh

Kashmir School of Temple Architecture

• Wooden buildings with pitched roofs.
• The main garbhagriha and shikhara are made in a rekha-prasada or latina style, the mandapa is of an older form of wooden architecture.
• Pandrethan temple is built on a plinth built in the middle of a tank.
• The temple is moderately ornamented.
• Pandrethan temple or Pani Mandir, Badami bagh, Srinagar