•   Nagara style is one of the styles of temple architecture.

•   It is the temple construction style of North India.

Key Features:

•   The entire temple is built on high stone platforms.

•   Generally, they do not have large enclosures and entrances.

•   The temple had only one peak or shikhara above the Garbagriha.

•   There was a Kalasha placed on the Shikara of a temple.

•   In front of the main shrine, there are meeting halls called mandapas.

•   Sikhara (the tower) slowly bending inwards and capped by a spheroid plate (Amalaka).

Parts of a Nagara Styled temple:

•   Garbagriha – It is the main part of the temple. It is the place the chief deity lives. The word Garbagriha means “womb chamber”.

•   Pradikshina Patha – It is a circumambulatory path around the Garbagriha.

•   Mandapa – It is a columned hall where devotees gather for prayers.

•   Shikara or Vimana – The spire standing like a mountain is known as Shikara (north) or Vimana (south). While the Vimana is pyramidal, the Shikara is a curved structure.

•   Amalaka – It is a disc made of stone atop which the Kalash (Kalasha) sits. It is mostly found in the Shikaras of northern temples. 

•   Kalash or Kalasha – It is a pot-shaped formation above the Amalaka which forms the apex of a temple.

•   Antarala or vestibule – The transitional way that connects the Garbagriha and mandapa is known as Antarala.

•   Jagati – The raised floor on which the temple is built is called “Jagati”.

•   Vahana – Every god has a Vahana (vehicle) and every temple houses the Vigraha of the temple’s chief deity’s Vahana along with the Dhvaj pillar.

3 types of Nagara Styles are there:

1.  Odisha School (Jagannath puri temple).

2.  Chandel School (Khajuraho temples).

3.  Solanki School (Modhera Sun temple).