Describe the architectural features of the temples of Nagar style.

Plan and axial sequence

• The typical Nagara plan is a square garbhagriha, often with an antarala, then a mandapa, and sometimes an ardha-mandapa on one east–west axis.
• A raised jagati or pitha lifts the temple; moulded plinth courses (khura, kumbha, kalasha) read as a stone basement before the wall begins.
• Walls are broken into ratha offsets—tri-ratha, pancha-ratha, sapta-ratha—so the tower’s vertical bands continue the same projections.
• Panchayatana groups place four subsidiary shrines at the corners of the jagati around a central shrine, as at some Khajuraho and Osian complexes.
• A covered or open pradakshina path may run around the sanctum; later latina temples often omit a full ambulatory in favour of a compact cella.

Elevation and shikhara

• The latina or rekha-prasada shikhara is a continuously curving tower that rises over the garbhagriha and is the hallmark of mature Nagara.
• An amalaka (ribbed circular stone) and a kalasha finial crown the latina tower; a neck (griva) sits just below the amalaka.
• Phamsana roofs are pyramidal, stepped roofs over mandapas; valabhi or wagon-vault roofs appear on rectangular shrines such as the Teli-ka-Mandir type.
• Shekhari and bhumija elaborations multiply miniature spires (urushringas) on the main tower, as at Kandariya Mahadeva, Khajuraho.
• The Kalinga family of Odisha (Lingaraja, Mukteshvara, Konark) is a regional Nagara branch with rekha deul and pidha jagamohana, not a Dravida style.

Ornament and examples

• Doorways carry river goddesses, dvarapalas, and a decorated lintel; wall niches hold dikpalas and narrative panels.
• Early stone examples include the Dashavatara temple at Deogarh (Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh) and the brick temple at Bhitargaon (Kanpur Dehat).
• Later high Nagara includes Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh), Modhera Sun temple (Gujarat), and the Odisha rekha deuls.
• Dravida vimana with storeyed talas and a stupi is the southern contrast; Vesara is a Deccan meeting of the two, not a third Nagara tower type.