Overview
The Nagara Style is a Hindu style of temple architecture prevalent in Northern, Central, Western and Eastern India, especially in regions around Malwa, Rajputana and Kalinga. Temples in this style are found across Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra, parts of Andhra Pradesh bordering Odisha, and the southwest and Sundarbans areas of West Bengal. It is one of the two principal styles of Hindu temple architecture, the other being the Dravidian style.
The use of simple curved shikharas (spires) in temples began in the fifth century, and the earliest examples are classified as Early Nagara Style. By the seventh century, this had developed into the Mainstream Nagara Style. The tradition continued to evolve across different regions of North India, producing distinctive regional expressions while retaining shared architectural principles.
The Nagara Style comprises three sub-styles or schools that differ slightly from one another: the Orissa school, the Chandel school and the Solanki school. Temples in this tradition are typically built on a simple stone platform. They may have one or more shikharas, though the earliest examples carry only a single spire. The garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum) is always located directly below the highest shikhara. A further characteristic feature is the absence of boundary walls, which are widely employed in the Dravidian style.
Several temple complexes and individual structures built in the Nagara Style have been recognised as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
References
Adapted from the English Wikipedia article on the Nagara Style.