This selection of links relate to the history of gardens, landscapes, tanks and other artificial outdoor features in the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia. They were last checked on 5th November 2000.
General. A number of links to world heritage sites can be found at http://fp.thesalmons.org/lynn/world.heritage.html.
Angkor Wat. There are a number of web sites about this monument, but few of them appear to offer anything that one of the many books do not do much better. Many of them are publicity for organisations such as UNESCO and various university projects. A collection of links can be found at http://www.thesalmons.org/lynn/wh-angkor.html. A collection of photographs is at http://www.leidenuniv.nl/pun/ubhtm/mjk/angkorwa.htm.
Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Sketchy information exists on the web. See in particular http://www.brad.ac.uk/university/newsandviews/95-02/World-wide_archaeology.html, as well as the world heritage listing.
Fatehpur Sikri. An impressive collection of photographs can be seen at http://www.visions-net.com/fs.htm. Plans of the city and another collection of photographs can be seen at http://archaeology.about.com/science/archaeology/library/atlas/blindia.htm and at http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MUGHAL/FAT2.HTM.
Harimandir, Amritsar. An account of the architecture and layout of the Golden Temple can be found by following the Art and Architecture link from the page http://sikhnet.com/goldentemple with its rippling water effects.
The 'Heritage of India' site at http://saigan.com/heritage/hindex.htm has a rather sketchy account of the history of temples, as well as historical notes and some good photographs.
Houses, Vedic; there is a detailed account of the literature on the construction of these at http://dept.arth.upenn.edu/meister/vedic.html.
Mandala; the role of the mandala in art and architecture is described in several places. See, among others, http://www.templenet.com/index.html, and http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/george/.
The Mughal Gardens at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Delhi are described at http://alfa.nic.in/rb/mughal/mughal.htm.
Stepwells. Several brief accounts of these can be found on the web. For one covering the areas near Delhi, look at http://www.softronindia.com/ourmonument/. A short account, mainly of the stepwells in Gujarat, is at http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/Culture/Archit/Stepw.html. Another short account of those at Ahmedabad is at http://www.ahmedabad.com/incity/stepwell.htm.
Sigiriya, Sri Lanka At http://www.saadhu.com/sigiriya/, there is a detailed account of the site, including the frescoes and history, as well as the garden. A web page in French at http://www.archeo.ens.fr/SigiriLattes.html discusses the layout of the gardens, and makes some comparisons with other landscapes and other times. At http://internettrash.com/users/thushara/sigiriya21.JPG there are plans of the garden.
Taj Mahal. The site at http://rubens.anu.edu.au/student.projects/tajmahal/home.html has a detailed description of the Taj, its surrounding landscape, and detailed accounts of particular features, such as the water supply system.
Temples (Hindu). At http://www.templenet.com/index.html there are articles on the theory behind the layouts of temples, their relationship to the world, cosmos, and mandalas, and accounts of many important temples. See also the VHP site at http://www.vhp.org/temple_info and the links there. Patrick George's site at http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/george/ has a section on Indian temples; it has drawings of temples, altars and halls.
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Last modified 15-Oct-2002
