India abounds with temples, ancient and medieval. Many of the buildings are World Heritage Monuments with their rare beauty and history.

The rock-cut caves temples of Badami and Ellora (near Aurangabad) are the earliest known works. The Khajuraho temples not only have erotic art, but also depict scenes from everyday lives. The shore temples of Mamallapuram enjoy the great backdrop of the ocean. In Orchha, they stand reflected in the river. In Osian, temples overlook sand dunes.

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Much of the greatest Indian sculpture from the 400’s until the Muslim conquest in about 1200 AD was made for Hindu temples.

Magnificent sculptures were carved at a 6th century cave temple on the island of Elephanta, off the coast, near where Mumbai now lies. Various legends concerning the god Shiva are portrayed in large panels cut into the rock and surrounding an enormous three headed torso of Shiva.

Further south, the Chalukyan temples at Badami, Pattadakal and Aihole were the earliest Hindu temples of monumental dimensions in the south. Built from the 6th to the 9th century A.D., cave temples were predominant, all richly decorated with sculptures of images of the gods.

During the 600’s and 700’s, a group of temples were carved out of gigantic outcrops of rock at Mamallapuram, then a thriving port city of the Pallava empire in southern India. Here, on a huge rock face, thirsty animals of all kinds gather to watch the descent of the Ganges River. This sculptural skill was transferred to freestanding temples, rathas, carved out of single rocks which in turn led to the construction of the famous shore temples.

The temple dedicated to Shiva at Ellora, dating from the mid 800’s, was carved out of the cliff like a giant piece of sculpture. This temple shows the influence of the Mamallapuram sculptures.

Hindu and Jain temples in Khajuraho, central India, were built between the mid 900’s and the late 1000’s. They rise from high bases to a series of high peaks. From a distance they resemble a mountain range. The walls and towers are decorated with hundreds of figures, including gods and goddesses, beautiful women, lovers, and mythical figures.

Some of the most spectacular early Hindu temples are in the state of Orissa, on India’s northeastern coast. They include the Mukteswar temple at Bhubaneswar (c1000), the Jagannath Temple in Puri (c1100) and the Sun Temple at Konarak (c1250).

The Cholas, who reigned in Tamil Nadu from the 900’s to the 1200’s, built huge, finely finished temples in places like Chidambaram, Kumbakonam and Thanjavur. They were also famed for magnificent bronze sculptures cast using the lost wax process, a method used in southern India since the 500’s. They created groups of figures, depicting the gods, especially Shiva or Vishnu, with their families and companions.

The Hoysala dynasty (1006 1345) also produced excellent art and architecture. The Hoysalas built about 50 temples throughout Karnataka. The finest are at Belur, Halebid, and Somnathpur. The temples have panels carved with rows of elephants and depict stories from the Indian epics.

In southern India, the temple complex was rather different from that of the north. The temple was surrounded by one or more walls. It was entered through gopura (high gateways) covered with sculpted figures. Often, there was a number of gateways leading from outer courtyards to inner courtyards. The total area covered by the temple complex might be vast. Such temples were great religious centres where Brahmin priests conducted worship, organized sacred readings, studied, taught, and debated.

By the time the Vijayanagar empire of Hampi extended its domination over much of south India in the13th century, the temple was central to city life, the focus for civic meetings, education, dance and theatre. The Vijayanagars added mandapas, large meeting halls, and water tanks. The gopuras were enlarged and embellished with brightly painted images of animals and local saints or rulers as well as deities. The Venkateshwara Temple in Tirupati, the Meenakshi temple in Madurai and the Srirangam Temple in Tiruchirapalli were build during this period. They are still very much in use today.