SSC
The style of temple architecture popular in northern India is known as:
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Answer: Option B ā Nagara
Detailed Solution
The "Nagara" style is the temple architecture style that was popular in northern India, from the Himalayas to the Vindhyas.
Features of the Nagara style:
The temple is usually built on a raised stone platform (jagati), with steps leading up to it.
The main feature is the tall, curvilinear tower called the "shikhara" (spire), built over the sanctum (garbhagriha). It curves gradually inwards towards the top.
At the top of the shikhara is a ribbed stone disc and a pot-shaped finial (kalasha).
Unlike South Indian temples, Nagara temples usually do not have elaborate boundary walls or large gateways.
The temple often has several halls (mandapas) in front of the sanctum, arranged in a line.
Sub-styles of the Nagara shikhara:
- Latina (rekha-prasada): a single, simple curving tower; the most common type.
- Phamsana: broader and shorter, with a roof of horizontal slabs rising like a pyramid (used for halls).
- Valabhi: rectangular, with a barrel-vaulted roof.
- Shekhari and bhumija: towers with many smaller towers (urushringas) or miniature spires.
Regional schools of the Nagara style:
- Odisha: Lingaraja Temple and Jagannath Temple.
- Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh): its many temples of the 10th-11th centuries.
- Solanki (Maru-Gurjara) style of Gujarat and Rajasthan: Modhera Sun Temple (1026 CE) and the Dilwara Jain temples at Mount Abu.
- Gupta-period temples were early forms.
Other styles:
- Dravida: the South Indian style, with pyramidal towers and gateway towers; found in Tamil Nadu (Pallavas, Cholas, Pandyas, Vijayanagara, Nayakas).
- Vesara: a mixed style combining features of Nagara and Dravida, found in the Deccan under the later Chalukyas and Hoysalas (for example, at Belur, Halebidu and Somanathapura).
- The ancient texts on architecture are called the "Shilpa Shastras" and "Vastu Shastras"; texts such as the "Manasara" and "Mayamata" describe these styles.
Why not the other options?
- āDravida is the South Indian style.
- āVesara is the mixed style of the Deccan.
- āIndo-Saracenic is a colonial-era style that mixed Indian, Islamic and European features.
Quick tip
Remember: Nagara = north Indian style (curvilinear shikhara; no big gateways; sub-types Latina, Phamsana, Valabhi; Khajuraho, Odisha, Modhera); Dravida = south (pyramidal towers, tall gateways); Vesara = mixed (Hoysalas, later Chalukyas).
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This question tests your understanding of Monuments & Religious Places, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers India's important monuments, temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras and pilgrimage sites, who built them and when, their architectural styles, and India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Questions ask who built a monument, where it is located, or which dynasty or style it belongs to. For example, the Qutub Minar was begun by Qutbuddin Aibak, and the Sun Temple at Konark was built by the Eastern Ganga king Narasimhadeva I. Revise the UNESCO World Heritage Sites as a list, noting the most recent additions. Practise the monuments and religious places questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.