• Dr. M. Kala

The character of Hindu temples reflected local architectural styles and the material and skills to which they related. The information which survived explains that the temple building, especially in stone and brick was carried out as a result of royal patronage. The building of the temple in stone was an expensive affair and expresses the physical power and economic resources of the ruler. The distinctive architectural styles of Hindu temples have so developed due to broad geographical, climatic, cultural, racial, historical, and linguistic differences between the northern plains and the southern peninsula of India. Hindu temples have been classified into three different orders; the Nagara or ‘northern’ style, the Dravidian or ‘southern ‘style, and the Vesara or hybrid style which is seen in the Deccan between the other two. During Pallava period, a cultural temple is not only a place of worship but they act as a center for an intellectual and artistic life. The temple complex housed schools, hospitals, and courts for the community. The construction of the temple is an art, a science, and a complicated creative study with a blend of mathematics, logic, geography, geology, science, ecology, art, sculpting, music, light and sound, religion, social sciences, and astrology. The historical information about the construction of temples which is available today is mostly inscribed on the stones slabs, metal plates, palm leaves, and manuscripts. The knowledge and skills of the construction techniques were passed on verbally from generation to generation among the temple architects. The fact that Pallava craftsmen had to deal with entirely new material of unknown potentialities may account for the bare, almost archaic interior of the Mahendra cave temples. The Pallava period became the origin of many such fields. The achievements of the Pallavas in the field of architecture are very important. It was the period of the origin of Dravidian architecture. Several kinds of religious buildings were constructed. Generally, they are classified into cave temples and structural temples.

Pallava - cultural - Hindu temples - historical - Nagara - Dravidian - Vesara - craftsmen - Mahendra - architecture - manuscripts - community - worship - architects.

"PALLAVA ART AND ARCHITECTURE", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.5, Issue 12, page no.1101-1110, December-2018, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1812D58.pdf

"PALLAVA ART AND ARCHITECTURE", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.5, Issue 12, page no. pp1101-1110, December-2018, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1812D58.pdf