Thesis (M.Archit.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, 2007. / Indian architecture has its unique place in the architectural history of the world. It constantly inspires its people. It continues to fascinate many a tourist and thinker. It has a multi-layered, 4000 year old history with the Indus valley civilisation (approx. 2500 BeE) boasting of highly sophisticated space planning concepts. The progressive evolvement of Indian culture since then has seen further refinement of all its art-forms. The remnants of the built forms of such bygone eras hold immense architectural merit that makes a walk through any traditional town a meaningful memory, even today. If architecture is the reflection of culture, what should have been the richness of the culture that gave rise to such splendour in architecture! Yet, "In order to understand a culture, it is not enough to describe its buildings, but one wants to know the impulses that drove people to build them." (Ballantyne, 2004, 30). So then what were these impulses that drove the Indian people to create the stupendous architecture, the representations of which are marvelled at today? The main proposition of the dissertation is that the ancient Hindu concept of "Art as Experience" on which much of the conscious place-making by the Hindu people was based, evolved from profound metaphysical seeds that addressed the very basis of man's existence on earth. The research hopes to partially prove that the greatness of traditional Hindu architecture lies in its metaphysical moorings of Ultimate Reality and Ultimate Truth and in doing so understanding what Ultimate reality was in Indian philosophy and what bearing it had on Hindu architecture and addresses the questions of how traditional Indian Hindu architecture housed man: body, being and all within his unique context? How does Hindu architecture with its unique perception of man and his environment converse with universal perennials? What is the currect architectural scene in India? And what are the lessons that such a comparative study might teach one? The research tries to answer the above questions by looking in depth at the ancient Hindu architectural concept of "Art as Experience" that is believed to have given rise to the ancient Hindu architecture of India. Starting with examining Indian metaphysical constructs and within it the perception of known and unknown entities of reality; further exploring its relevance to architecture in terms of the role of body in architecture, the concept of micro and macrocosms, contextual appropriateness and the unique place that thresholds held in life, the research moves on to the role of an architect and the way in which the architecture created lent meaning to the everyday life of people, attempting to understand how ancient architecture was weaved into the lives of people and their beliefs. Further, some parallels with non-Indian architectural thought are discussed following which the need for a sensate environment for human beings to live in, the need for identity and meaning in architecture, the concept of place and culture as a generating force for architecture are also explored. Finally the current state of architecture in India is discussed. In the end, some lessons that could be learnt from history are enumerated that could help in creating architecture that integrates both the universal principles and the particularities of culture to bestow meaning and identity to the people it purports to serve. This research tries to examine the past to look for clues to a future of identifiable and authentic architecture - to bring the ancient and contemporary into the same framework in order to look for lessons within. Abstract submitted by Kshama Chari. S.no: 0514479E to Dept. of Architecture. University of Witwatersrand on 18 lui 2007.