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classical age, after the Gupta Age of Ancient
India. The Mughal period integrated the Turkish
and Iranian cultural style of the Mughals with the
Indian traditions. Thus, it led to a unique cultural
assimilation. With the coming of the Mughals,
architecture got a boost. The Mughals built
magnificent forts, palaces, gates, mosques, etc.
They also laid out many beautiful gardens with
water running through them. Some of the
Mughal gardens such as the Nishat Bagh in Sikandar Lodi’s Tomb
Kashmir, the Shalimar Bagh at Lahore, and the
In Odisha, there are breathtaking magnificent
Pinjore Gardens in the Punjab, foothills exist till
temples at Bhubaneshwar, Konarka and Puri. In
today.
the south, the famous Brihadeshwara temple at
BUILDING TEMPLES, MOSQUES,
Thanjavur was built by Rajaraja Chola. With the
HAVELIS AND BAOLIS
coming of the Muslims, Mosques became an
In this period, many beautiful temples were integral part of Indian architecture. Mosques had
constructed all over India. Jain temples called certain special features like large courtyards,
Dilwara in Mount Abu built in marble are exqui- minarets or towers, domes decorative Islamic
site in their beauty. The Khajuraho temples built calligraphy and geometrical shapes. Mihrab or
by the Chandellas attract tourists from all over niche on an inside wall indicating the direction of
the world, even today. Mecca.
Havelis : Majestic and grand Havelis were built
in Rajasthan. A special feature of these havelis
was the colorful paintings on the walls.
Courtyards are also special feature of these
havelis giving them a spacious look
Baolis : It was believed that if a just king is
ruling, there will be enough rain, i.e., no water
scarcity. At the same time, making precious water
available by constructing tanks and reservoirs
Tughlaqabad Fort was highly appreciated. For constructing a large
reservoir just outside Dehli-i-Kuhna, Sultan
Iltutmish got universal respect. The reservoir was
called the Hauz-i-Sultani or the ‘King’s
Reservoir’. Big and small tanks and reservoirs
were constructed by rulers for people’s use.
Sometimes, these were part of a temple, mosque
or gurudwara. These tanks are known as baolis.
These special kinds of wells had steps leading to
the water in the well stored underground. Baolis
were especially built in Haryana and Gujarat.
Adhai Din ka Jhonpra
Social Science-7 52
