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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

The contributions of the Pallavas to Indian architecture.

  • UPSC 1986
  • Regional States during Gupta Era

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Between roughly 600 and 900 CE, the Pallava kings of Kanchipuram compressed into three centuries an architectural experiment that most civilizations spread across a millennium: the passage from carving temples out of a living rock face to assembling them, block by dressed block, as free-standing structures. This was not a series of unrelated royal commissions…

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What the full answer covers

  • The Point of Departure: Why the Pallavas Innovated
  • Phase One: The Mahendra Style — Rock-Cut Cave Temples (c. 610–630 CE)
  • Phase Two: The Mamalla Style — Monolithic Rathas (c. 630–668 CE)
  • Phase Three: The Rajasimha Style — Structural Temples (c. 700–728 CE)
  • The Final Phase: The Nandivarman Style and Architectural Exhaustion
  • Significance: The Origin Point of the Dravida Order
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