TOP 10 TEMPLES WITH BEAUTIFUL ARCHITECTURE IN INDIA

It was designed according to the Maharishi Vastu Architecture standards. It is fully built with Rajisthani pink sandstone and Italian marble.the temple is constructed purely out of stone. No metals like Iron or Copper were used. Standing at the marvellous height of 10 stories, the mandir consists of 234 highly decorated pillars, 9 domes and over 20000 statues of devotees and sadhus. The temple also contains life-sized elephants, over 134 in number. The temple is dedicated to Swaminarayan whose murti, a total of 11 feet, lies under the dome of the temple and in seated in abhayamudra. The mandir also home to the murtis of Sita Ram, Radha Krishna, Shiv Parwati and Lakshmi Narayan. Each murti is made up of paanch dhaatu or the five metals, in accordance to Hindu tradition.

Buit in the Dravidan style ,the temple covers a huge area in the center of Madurai as it is spread over 14 acres. The temple is surrounded with huge walls, which were built in reaction to the invasions. When viewed from above, the entire structure, represents a mandala. A mandala is a structure built according to the principles of symmetry and loci. There are different shrines built within the temple. Apart from the two main shrines, which are dedicated to Sundareswarar and Meenakshi, the temple has shrines dedicated to various other gods/goddesses like Ganesha and Murugan. The temple is also home to goddesses Lakshmi, Rukmini, and Saraswati.

Located on the shore of Arabian Sea, this magnificent temple is said to have been built of sandalwood in the Chalukya style by Gujarat’s artistic masons. It is 15 metres in height with seven stories with an additional 8.2 metre tall flag pole on the top. It is constructed in the Chalukya style of architecture. Somnath Temple reflects the skill of the Sompuras that are top masons of Gujarat. The temple is built in such a way that no piece of land can be seen from Somnath seashore till Antarctica.

Another Dravidian style temple with The largest hallway of all and spires touching the skyline. It has a 4000-feet long pillared corridor containing over 4000 pillars. Having 21 Gopurams (towers), just the size of the temple seems awe-inspiring. Besides other marvellous structures, "Hall of 1000 pillars" is the main attraction. It is an amazing example of a planned theatre like structure. There lies "Sesha Mandap" with its best sculptures, opposite to it.

The temple is spread over an area of over 400,000 square feet. It is enclosed by high walls. The temple complex contains not less than 120 shrines. The structure has the features of the Orissan style of temple architecture. A magnificent monolithic pillar with sixteen facets stands in front of the main entrance. Two large lions at the entrance are built which look as they are guarding the way to the Lord.

It is decorated with Vijayanagar-style sculptures and murals. The temple has a 9 tiered gateway, a pillared walkway, entrance gateways, shrines, courtyards and several other magnificent created structures in and around it. The temple showed its origin in the first half of the fifteenth century; however it was rebuilt by Krishnadevaraya in the 16th century. The murals in the temple depict various tales from the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata.

The massive temple complex is spread over an area 156 acres (6, 31,000 m²) with a perimeter of 1,116m (10,710 feet). Regarded as of the largest temple complexes in India, Sri Rangam Temple is said to be one of the biggest functioning Hindu temple in the world. Seven concentric walls, which reach to 32,592 feet, mark the boundary of this temple. It is made of 21 Gopurams (towers). The sheer grandiose of the temple seems awe-inspiring.

Golden Temple, or Sri Harmandir Sahib, is built on a 67 square feet platform and is encirclrd by a lake called the Amrit Sarovar. The temple is spread over an area of 40.5 square feet. Entrances to the temple are built on all the four sides. The shrine is figurative of the beliefs of Sikkhism. Its entrance is an elaborate archway, with intricate inlay work. The verses from the Granth Sahib have been engraved on the doorway and the temple's exterior is plated with gold.

The Lotus temple stands at a height of more than 40 metres. 27 giant white petals of marble in a lotus shape can be seen, rising from nine pools and walkways, which indicate the nine unifying spiritual paths of the Bahai’s faith. The temple comprises of the main house of worship; the ancillary block which is home to the reception centre, the library and the administrative building, and the restrooms block. All around the lotus are walkways with curved balustrades, bridges and stairs. The walkways which surround the nine pools represent the floating leaves of the lotus. Apart from serving for an aesthetic function, the pools were built to help ventilate the building.

Kailasa Temple is regarded as the world’s largest monolithic architecture.  A huge mountain was carved to build this structure and the mountain was cut out from the top to make this structure. In order to construct this temple, over 400,000 ton of rocks had to be scooped out. The carvers began from top of the mountain and made their way downward. The temple stands at a height of 60 feet (18.29 meters) tall and 200 feet (60.69 meters) wide. The temple has U-shape and has three stories.