The Indian Temple: Production, Place and Patronage

寺庙在7世纪到13世纪之间主宰了印度的景观。寺庙受到国王的保护，并得到捐赠的广泛支持，是宗教生活、社会经济权力和艺术创作的中心。探索这一重要现象的主要团队成员是亚当哈代博士（威尔士建筑学院，卡迪夫大学）。Oaud Ali博士（东方和非洲研究学院）和Michael Willis博士（大英博物馆）。该小组是印度历史和文化方面的专家，正在解决以下问题：（1）寺庙是如何设计和建造的？(2)作为建筑和梵文的赞助人，国王的角色是什么？(3)在中世纪社会中，寺庙的社会和政治作用是什么？我们的目标是实现对这些问题的综合理解，从而建立该领域跨学科研究的新模式。跨学科的方法结合了中世纪赞助和宗教机构在中世纪国家的作用的研究建筑史。这些问题在印度的背景下没有得到充分的研究。它们之间的相互关系尚未被探索，中世纪印度的建筑，政治和宗教历史长期以来一直被划分。这个项目是专门为弥合学科鸿沟而组织的，其组织结构吸引了来自不同领域和机构背景的团队成员。该项目的中心是Bhojpur的寺庙。位于印度中部的一座巨大建筑，世纪未完工。它与印度最著名的君主之一Bhoja国王有关。寺庙周围是采石场，上面有岩石图纸和未完成的建筑部件，这是一种独特的生存方式，可以深入了解中世纪的设计和建造过程。亚当哈代正在探索这些过程。这座未完工的寺庙的建造者是Bhoja国王，他是一位著名的博学者，撰写了关于艺术，哲学，瑜伽和诗学的重要作品。达乌德·阿里正在研究博贾的文学作品，他赞助艺术的动机，以及他作为一个理想国王的后中世纪声誉。这一时期的寺庙接受土地和其他收入作为捐赠。迈克尔·威利斯（Michael Willis）正在研究寺庙的地理分布及其捐赠，正如梵语铭文所记录的那样，从而揭示寺庙在中世纪国家社会和经济中的地位。每个小组成员正在编写一份关于其各自专题的专著，这些研究在专题上相互联系，并作为一套出版。印度的合作者将编写关于中世纪时期印度中部土地制度和该地区女神的专题论文，作为对这些专题论文的补充。该小组将由附属于卡迪夫大学和SOAS的研究助理加入。卡迪夫皇家艺术博物馆将制作一份大英博物馆中世纪雕塑收藏品目录，供在线出版。SOAS RA将编辑和翻译Bhoja国王关于建筑的论文，也用于在线出版。所有电子产出将通过项目网站传播。卡迪夫的一名博士生将研究11世纪的寺庙建筑。虽然该项目是仔细集中，其材料是典型的中世纪印度作为一个整体的研究。一个跨学科的研讨会将解决这一理论的影响，探索印度和欧洲在中世纪时期的相似之处。通过对传统设计原则的分析，该项目将有助于在南亚及其散居地继续寻找文化上合适的建筑。通过对中世纪寺庙的社会和政治背景的分析，该项目将有助于对抗寺庙作为理想化和非历史的印度教过去的象征的预测。

Temples dominated the landscape of India between the 7th and 13th centuries. Protected by kings and widely supported by endowments, temples were centres of religious life, socio-economic power and artistic production. The main team members exploring this important phenomenon are Dr Adam Hardy (The Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University). Dr Oaud Ali (School of Oriental and African Studies) and Dr Michael Willis (The British Museum).Established experts in aspects of Indian history and culture, the team are addressing the following questions: (1) How were temples designed and built? (2) What was the king's role as a patron of architecture and Sanskrit letters? (3) What was the social and political role of temples in medieval society? Our objective is to achieve an integrated understanding of these questions, establishing thereby a new model of interdisciplinary research in the field. The interdisciplinary approach combines architectural history with a study of medieval patronage and the role of religious institutions in the medieval state. These issues have not been adequately examined in the Indian setting. The interrelationships between them have not been explored, the architectural, political and religious histories of medieval India having long been compartmentalised. This project has been organised specifically to bridge disciplinary divides, with an organisational structure drawing team members from different fields and institutional backgrounds. The project centre-piece is the temple at Bhojpur. a massive structure in central India, left unfinished in the 11th century. It is associated with King Bhoja, one of India's most notable monarchs. Around the temple are quarries with rock drawings and unfinished architectural parts, a unique survival providing insights into medieval processes of design and construction. Adam Hardy is exploring these processes. The builder of the unfinished temple was King Bhoja, a renowned polymath who composed important works on art, philosophy, yoga and poetics. Daud Ali is examining Bhoja's literary output, his motivation for patronising the arts and his post-medieval reputation as an ideal king. Temples of this period received land and other revenue as endowments. Michael Willis is studying the geographical distribution of temples and their endowments, as documented by Sanskrit inscriptions, shedding light on the place of the temple in the society and economy of the medieval state. Each team member is preparing a monograph on his respective topic, the studies being thematically interlinked and published as a set. These will be complemented by monographs by collaborators in India on the agrarian systems of central India during the medieval period, and on the goddess lies of the region. The team will be joined by research assistants attached to Cardiff University and SOAS. The Cardiff RA will produce a catalogue e British Museum's medieval sculpture collection for online publication. The SOAS RA will edit and translate King Bhoja's treatise on architecture, also for online publication. All electronic outputs will be disseminated through the project website. A PhD student at Cardiff will research 11th century temple architecture. While the project is carefully focused, its material is paradigmatic for the study of medieval India as a whole. An interactional seminar will address the theoretical implications of this, exploring parallels between India and Europe in medieval times. The proceedings will be published online.Through its analysis of traditional design principles, the project will contribute to the continuing search for culturally appropriate architectures in South Asia and its diasporas. Through its analysis of the social and political context of medieval temples, the project will help to counter projections of the temple as a symbol of an idealised and ahistorical Hindu past.