From the Ganges Plain to the Indonesian Islands: Eleven Building Traditions of South and Southeast Asia

Start with the northern Indian temple. Nagara architecture emerged in simple form in the fifth century AD with the first curved shikhara, or spire, and was the mainstream style by the seventh century. Its inner sanctum sits directly beneath the tallest spire, and unlike southern temples it has no enclosing boundary wall.

Move south to Karnataka, where Hoysala builders of the eleventh to fourteenth centuries worked in soft chloritic schist that could be carved far more finely than hard stone. Look for star shaped or staggered square shrine plans, lathe turned pillars and pierced jali screens. Three temples, at Belur, Halebidu and Somanathapura, were inscribed together as a World Heritage Site in 2023.

On the Malabar Coast, heavy monsoon rain and humidity shaped a different answer. Kerala builders used steeply sloped roofs and wooden joinery without nails, with carpenters called taccans fitting joints and wedges that are airtight and watertight yet can be taken apart. Texts such as the Tantrasamuchaya and Thachu Sastra codify the tradition.

Rajput building in the northwest is known for forts and palaces rather than shrines alone. Six of its hill forts, at Amer, Chittor, Gagron, Jaisalmer, Kumbhalgarh and Ranthambore, are inscribed together as a World Heritage Site. The style absorbed Mughal and later European influence, which helped give rise to Indo-Saracenic architecture.

In the Kathmandu Valley the Newar people built in finely worked brick and carved wood. Their defining contribution is the multi tiered pagoda roof, which scholars believe may have originated here before spreading to India, China, Southeast Asia and Japan, a diffusion credited in part to the Newar architect Arniko. The Durbar Squares of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur hold the greatest concentration.

Cross to Myanmar, where the Pagan Kingdom raised more than ten thousand temples, pagodas and monasteries between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, of which over 2,200 survive. Its two basic types are the solid stupa and the hollow gu temple built for meditation and worship, and its builders developed masonry vaulting independently, about a century before comparable vaulting spread in India.

The Khmer Empire, from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries, built temple mountains in sandstone and laterite to represent Mount Meru. Concentric walls and moats stand for the surrounding mountain ranges and cosmic ocean. Angkor Wat, built under Suryavarman II in the first half of the twelfth century, began as a Hindu temple to Vishnu and was later adapted for Buddhist worship.

Thai architecture traces a succession of kingdoms, Dvaravati, Angkor era, Sukhothai, Ayutthaya and Rattanakosin, and draws on Khmer, Chinese and later Western influence. Its homes answer a hot, wet climate by standing on stilts. Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Chaiwatthanaram and the Grand Palace in Bangkok are leading examples, and the style varies notably by region.

Vietnamese building moved through the Ly, Tran, Ho, Le and Nguyen dynasties under strong Chinese influence, then French colonial rule. Look for stilt houses with curved roofs, glazed tiles bearing dragon and phoenix motifs, and orientation guided by feng shui. The spiral Co Loa citadel of the second century BC and the moated Imperial City of Hue are leading historical monuments.

On Bali the tradition follows sacred spatial rules from Balinese Hindu philosophy: Tri Hita Karana, harmony among humans, nature and the divine, and Tri Mandala, a threefold division of space. A typical compound is an open set of small pavilions around a courtyard, enclosed by walls and built of thatch, bamboo, coconut wood and teak, with carved sandstone or andesite ornament.

The path ends in West Sumatra with the rumah gadang, or big house. Its tiered, upswept gables make a horn shaped roofline that now stands as a symbol of regional identity. In this matrilineal society the house is owned by women and passes from mother to daughter, serving at once as family home, meeting hall and ceremonial space.