Temple, Template, Text: making temples in medieval India

Temple of Bhojpur, Raisen district, M.P., India. Photographed by Yann.

The Cambridge Asian Archaeology Group is a discussion group based in the Department of Archaeology and the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge.  It organises regular seminars and lectures in Cambridge, including several likely to interest readers of this blog.

 For this term's programme of events, see:
http://www.mcdonald.cam.ac.uk/events/asian/

The next talk on South Asia is on Monday 12th March 2012, 4.00 - 5.00 pm,  in the South Lecture Room, Division of Archaeology, Downing site, Cambridge.  Professor Adam Hardy of Cardiff University will speak on the topic:
Temple, Template, Text: making temples in medieval India.    He writes...

At Bhojpur in central India a gigantic temple attributed to the renowned Paramara king Bhoja was left unfinished in the mid-eleventh century. Quarries and incomplete architectural parts are scattered around the temple, and engraved on the rocks are numerous architectural drawings which have been documented for the first time. Ascribed to the same monarch is the Samaranganasutradhara, a Sanskrit treatise on architecture. For the first time its prescriptions are being translated into architectural drawings, a necessary first step for discussing the relationship between a canonical text and the practice of architecture. The talk will discuss how medieval Indian temples were designed, bringing together the drawings, the text, and the evidence provided by buildings themselves.