Contribution of buddhism in architecture of india

Buddhism is a religion having its origin in Indian soil, which cherished and spread to different parts of the world. With the decease of Lord Buddha different forms of Architectural structures were erected to mark the burial place for Buddha and create a place of worship for followers of Buddhism. These structures were built using traditional material like mud, burnt bricks and stone which has close resemblance to Hinduism and Hindu Architecture as far as choice of material for construction is concerned. The Buddhist Architecture received recognition with development of places of worship which were more ornate and built forms as large domes with cardinal entrance points. Basically three important types of structures were built and used by followers of Buddhism namely Stupa, Chaitya halls and Viharas. Stupa were erected to preserve relics (leftover) of Lord Gautama Buddha, Chaitya halls were large congregational spaces meant for group prayers and worship which some times housed stupa, Viharas were monasteries constructed of bricks or excavated out of rocks where monks stayed and studied in cells built for them. This paper attempts to study how the origin and growth of a new religion, lead to evolution and development of new types of architecture in India. Such an assessment will help to ascertain relationship between structural-form development and with growth of religion and impact of religion on architectural development. This paper is a part of larger work aiming at studying and establishing relationship between architectural development and growth of religion with simultaneous impact on architecture of that era.