Veshara

One of the three developed styles in
medieval Hindu temple architecture,
the others being the Nagara and the
Dravida. The Veshara style is primarily
found in western India and the Deccan
and was the least significant and widespread of the three styles. Whereas the
Nagara style was characterized by vertical uplift achieved by a temple’s towers
(shikharas), and the Dravida style by
lower temples covering enormous tracts
of ground, the Veshara style’s most identifiable feature is a barrel roof above the
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Veshara
sanctuary, which has its roots in the
rock-cut caves (chaityas) first sculpted
by the Buddhists. This sort of roof is
midway between the Nagara towers and
the Dravida horizontal tiers, just as the
Deccan was the intermediate region
between the two.