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| lattice window, Chennakesava temple, Belur..inditales.com |
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| Kappi Cennenigaraya Belur travel.earth |
Above image: Built in 1117 CE, the Kappe Chennigaraya temple is a minor shrine located at the south of the main sanctum of the Chennakesava temple complex, Belur............
In tropical countries like India during the summer season (April to June- July) the weather is unpleasant in most parts and it is further aggravated by humidity on the coastal regions. Being an effective down-to earth simple tool, Jali serves as an air-conditioner and diffuser of sunlight besides providing privacy. The advantages of incorporating jali in the buildings including Hindu temples, mosques and palaces are manifold and as such jali is multi-functional.
A jali is the term for a perforated stone or latticed screen, usually with an ornamental design in geometrical pattern. This form of decoration is common in Hindu temple architecture, Indo-Islamic Architecture and more generally in Islamic Architecture
Jali meaning "net") was an important element in Indian architecture of yore. The word refers to a nicely perforated ornate stone or latticed screen, usually with a striking geometrical pattern. In the Islamic architecture, use of calligraphy in jali may be noticed in many places. Not only does jali increase the aesthetic value of the building but also gives impetus to the beauty of the structure.
The use of jali in historical Hindu temples is not new prior to 11th century. Lots of Hindu temples had jali on the walls at many places except the main sanctuary. Its purpose was to illuminate the dark interior with natural light and allow free flow of cool air inside the temple.
It is true that in a Hindu temple the deities are venerated in a dimly lit sanctuary (sanctum) reminiscent of natural cave environment. Devotees worship the deities near the doorway in a spacious and better illuminated hall compared to garbagriha. In many temples natural light entering the temple through the big doorways and windows is too much and needs to be cut down to a comfortable level. Hence jali is prudently used in temple architecture as a producer of soft and diffused light indoors creating a unique ambiance conducive to devotion to god. Devotees in a soft light environment can easily focus their attention on the god enshrined in the sanctuary.
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| Buddhist temple main doorway Bedsa, MHissuu.com |
Above image; Almost 2nd century CE. Buddhist prayer hall, wooden fame in the arches section missing, Bedsa, MH
Use of wooden jali in Buddhist temple has been known for for several centuries. The jali was made of quality wood preferably teak wood, but historians say wooden jali does not last long in the Western Ghat regions of the Deccan primarily because of vagaries of weather and climatic changes. In regions like Kondane and Karla in the Western Ghats of the Deccan region the presence of 2000 year old teak wood ribs in the Buddhist prayer hall - chaityas suggests the use of jali has been known to Indian s for more than 2000 years. The wooden ribs supported the jali screens that functioned as diffuser of light on the arched doors. The jali wooden screens were set into the arched frames above the windows and doors of rock cut monuments. At Bedsa the monuments with jali date back to first or second century. As for Hindu temples since the 5th century stone jali had a role to play for aesthetics and decoration. Invariably, jali had multiple horizontal and vertical openings defined by horizontal and vertical bars, reinforced by angled struts. The later were used as anti-sagging besides offering additional support.
The Parvati temple, Nachna in central India, the Mundeshvari temple in Bihar, the Ladkhan temple, Chennakeshava temple, Belur (Karnataka), 12th century, Airavaraeswara temple (dedicated to Shhva), Darasuram, TN are some of the historical Hindu temple that were built with Jali.
It must be borne in mind that implementation of jali in the Hindu temple architecture was far their introduction in Indian Islamic architecture. Hindu temples older than 5th century CE had jalis/ lattice windows on the walls.t may go back to 5th century and beyond. During the mogul period use of jali in mosques, etc gained prominence but the concept was borrowed from the Hindu Buddhist temple architecture.
The following are the essential facts of Jali:
01. Jali reduces the temperature indoors by compressing the air passing through the holes. Air, when compressed and released, becomes cool just like an air-conditioner.
02. The diffusion of air occurs because of increase in velocity when passing through small holes in the jali-lattice screens. So, there is a good penetration of air indoors.
03. Jali proves to be effective in hot dry and humid climate zones. Humid areas like Kerala and Konkan have larger holes with less opacity than in the case of dry climate regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan.
04. The design style and hole size in jalis may vary depending on the climate of region.
05. Jali provides good ventilation, filters the sunlight and increases the movement of cross air findoors.
06. Jali helps reduce direct sun beam, haze and glare and at the same time maintains light intensity and illumination resulting in smooth and soft light. The recessed jali window does not allow rains to enter the temple.
07. In the place of a large window opening, jali with individual small holes of considerable dimension - equal depth and height will help reduce the glare and ingress.
08. Yet another advantage of Jali is everything outside is visible from indoors where as interior is not visible from outside; this being due to light difference.
09. Jali has many advantages over glass windows, the latter is brittle, once the doors are shut, indoors will be sultry less air-flow inside. Glass windows. do not reduce the glare.Nor do they allow free flow of cool air, Jali has aesthetic grace and privacy.
10. Architect Laurie Baker was the one who popularized the use of Jali in modern architecture based on his experience in Kerala.
09. It is true, the old traditional building practices have declined a lot. Wooden windows, stone jharokhas, wood-carved screens, pre-molded clay or cement block with voids, etc are occasionally used in modern building constructions that are dominated by solid walls and glass windows.
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| 12th C Airavateswara temple, Darasuram, TN .dreamstime.com |
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| Darasuram temple. .shutterstock.com |
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| Jali perforated windows Airavatheswara temple Darasuram Getty images |
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| Chennakesava temple, Belur,manishjaishree.com |
Above image: Chennakesava temple, Belur, Karnataka: Part of perforated store screen - Jali on square plan. Horizontal friezes ( a horizontal band -sculpted or painted work on the wall ) on the base of wall all around.
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lattice window, Chennakesava temple, belur..inditales.com
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| Mukteshwar temple Odisha. kevinstandagephotography.wordpress.com |
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| Mukteshwar temple Odisha. kevinstandagephotography.wordpress.com |
Above images: Jali- perforated windows in Mukteswar temple. Odisha. Dedicated to God Shiva, this beautifully ornamented Hindu temple was built in way back in 950 CE by Somavamshi dynasty.
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| Stone carved jali in a Hindu temple. commons.wikimedia.org |
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| Kedareshwara Temple, Halebidu.outlookindia.com |
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| Kedareshwara Temple, Halebidu.KA dreamstime.com |
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| Kedareshwara Temple, Halebidu.KA upload.wikimedia.org |
Above image: Interior of Kedareshwara Temple, Halebidu. KA dedicated to god Shiva. look at the lathe turned pillar and the jali- stone perforated scree on the side. Mainly soap stone is used to come up with intricate carvings of superb quality- roughly 1000 years ago.
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| Mukteshwar Temple at Bhubaneshwar .bibhudevmisra.com |
Above image: The Mukteshwar Temple at Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, was built between 960 - 975 AD by the Somavanshi Kings.
https://www.bibhudevmisra.com/2019/07/mukteshvara-temple-bhubaneshwar.html
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| Chalukys temple, Aihole, KA/matriwords.com |
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| 12th C CEChola temple. Darasuram Jala_stone trellis_windows |
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| Manikesvara Temple with lathe-turned stone pillarlouringwithpk.com |
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| Jali perforated stone window, Manikesvara Temple |
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| stone window screen Manikesvara Temple in |
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| Manikesvara Temple in Lakkundi - touringwithpk.com |
Lakkundi - 12th century Western Chalukya temple, Karnataka. Look at the stone jali at the entrance.
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| Aihole Hindu temple blogger.com |
Aihole in the Deccan. In the latter monument, timber-like sandstone jalis on the 3 sides of the walls to illuminate the hall, Siva is impaling a victim..........
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| Jali window, kopeshwar temple,,MHAlamy.com |
Above image: Top image - Jali perforated windowa in the temple entrance of kopeshwar temple, Khidrapur, Kolhapur district, Maharashtra. bottom image; stone jali on the wall on the side. The temple was built in the 12th century by Shilahara (Shelara) king Gandaraditya between 1109 and 1178 CE to the east of Kolhapur, on the bank of the Krishna river...........................
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Hindu temple in Kathmandu
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Above Image: : The Hindu temple dated dated to the 7th or 8th century,
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| Perforated stone window at Parvati Temple en.wikipedia.org/ |
Above image: Perforated stone window at Parvati Temple at Nachna-Kuthara. Panna dist. MP. dated to the 5th- or 6th-century Gupta era.
https://gosmartbricks.com/jali-an-important-element-in-indian-architecture/
https://twitter.com/vajrayudha11/status/1135051436511891456/photo/2
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