The Nagara style of temple architecture is also known as the:

The "Nagara" style of temple architecture is the style of temples in northern India, and is therefore known as the North Indian style.

Features of the Nagara style:

• The temple is usually built on a raised stone platform (jagati), with steps leading up to it.
• The main shrine (garbhagriha) is topped by a tall, curved (curvilinear) tower called the "shikhara", which rises in a beehive-like shape.
• The shikhara is crowned by a round, ribbed stone disc called the "amalaka", and a pot-shaped finial called the "kalasha".
• The plan of the temple is usually square, with projections ("rathas") on the walls, giving a cross-shaped or star-like plan.
• Usually, there are no elaborate boundary walls or large gateways.
• The temple may have one or more halls (mandapas) in front of the sanctum.
• Images of the river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna are often placed at the entrance of the sanctum.

Types of shikharas:

• "Rekha-prasada" or "Latina": a simple, curved tower, square at the base.
• "Phamsana": broader and shorter, with a pyramid-like roof made of horizontal slabs.
• "Valabhi": a rectangular building with a barrel-vaulted (wagon-vault) roof.

Regional styles of Nagara:

• Odisha (Kalinga style): Lingaraja (Bhubaneswar), Jagannath (Puri), Konark Sun Temple.
• Central India: Khajuraho temples (Madhya Pradesh).
• Gujarat and Rajasthan: many temples, including the Dilwara temples.
• Early examples: the Gupta temples at Deogarh and Bhitargaon.

The three main styles of Indian temples:

• "Nagara": North Indian style.
• "Dravida": South Indian style, with a pyramidal tower (vimana) and tall gateway towers (gopurams).
• A third, mixed style: found in the Deccan, combining features of both.

Why not the other options?

• ✗The South Indian style is called Dravida.
• ✗The Deccan style is a mixture.
• ✗The Indo-Islamic style developed under the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughals.