Unlock Elite Access: Level Up Your Preparation with Exclusive Content

History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

Trace the origin and development of temple architecture in India with reference to regional styles and variations.

  • UPSC 2017
  • Regional States during Gupta Era

Unlock the full answer · ₹1,499 ↓

Indian temple architecture has no independent origin before the Gupta period — earlier religious building in the subcontinent was dominated by the stupa, the chaitya hall, and the rock-cut vihara, none of which housed a permanent cult image inside an enclosed sanctum. What changed under the Guptas was theological before it was architectural: the consolidation…

You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of the History Optional PYQ Master Pack.

What the full answer covers

  • The Gupta-Period Origin of the Free-Standing Temple
  • The Nagara Style: North India's Curvilinear Tower
  • The Dravida Style: South India's Storeyed Vimana
  • The Vesara Style: The Deccan's Hybrid Idiom
History Optional PYQ Master Pack

History Optional PYQ Master Pack

Unlock this answer and 1,350+ more

  • 1,350+ solved UPSC History Optional PYQs from 1985 to 2025, Paper-1 and Paper-2
  • Topic-wise across Ancient, Medieval, Modern, Post-Independence and World History
  • Model answers with a clear structure and historian citations
  • Map section solutions included, at no extra cost
  • Read online on lotusarise.com, plus PDF download

₹1,499₹2,50040% off

Get History Optional PYQ Master Pack @ ₹1,499 →

One-time payment · No subscription · Instant access · UPI, cards, RuPay

See every Regional States during Gupta Era question (33 solved) →Already enrolled? Log in