Baijnath
One of the most remarkable monuments of the Bias valley is the temple of Baijnath. Baijnath is situated at an elevation of 1125 m and some 19 km from Kausani towards Bageshwar and 4o km east of Nagarkot, as the crow flies, close to the Mandi border and on the main road, which leads from the Punjab plains through Kangra, Kulu , Lahul, and Ladakh to Central Asia.
The temple is situated at the junction of the rivers Gomti and Saryu, where you are most welcome to feed the abundant fish found in the river, but angling or fishing is strictly prohibited.
Lying in a flat valley, the temple complex of Baijnath was constructed by the Katyuri kings. Baijnath in earlier times was known as "Kirgram" the famous capital of Kiratas. This fact is proved by the sanskrit inscriptions in Sharada script on the stone slabs found in the temple. Baijnath is dedicated to Lord Shiva in his form as Vaidyanath or the "Lord of Physicians".
Te temple was built by two wealthy brothers of Kiragram.The temple has Shiv Lingam enshrined in the Garbha Griha. The temple is orientated due west. It consists of a puri or adytum, 8 feet square inside and 18 feet outside, surmounted by a spire of the usual conical shape (Shikhara style), and a mandapa or front hall, 20 feet square inside, covered with a low pyramid shaped roof. 
Both the south and north wall of the mandapa are adorned with a graceful balcony window. The four corners are strengthened by means of massive buttress-like projections in the shape of half-engaged - miniature sikhara temples, each containing two niches in which image slabs are placed. Smaller niches in slightly projecting chapels are found between the corner projections and the entrance and balcony windows.
The adytum, which contains the linga known as Vaidyanatha, is entered through a small anteroom with two pillars in antis. This linga enshrined in the sanctum is one of the 12 jyotirlingas in the country. The roof of the mandapa is supported by four massive pillars connected by raised benches which form, as it were, a passage leading up to the entrance of the sanctum. The strong and sturdy build of the temple shows the rare expertise of the Kangra artesian.
The architrave's resting on these pillars divide the space of the ceiling into nine compartments, each of which is closed by means of corbelling slabs. In front of the mandapa rises a stately porch resting on four columns. "The shafts of these pillars", Fergusson remarks "are plain cylinders, of very classical proportions, and the bases also show that they are only slightly removed from classical design".
"The square plinth, the two toruses, the cavetto or hollow moulding between are all classical, but partially hidden by Hindu ornamentation, of great elegance but unlike anything found after wards". The same author at considerable length discusses the capitals of the pot-and -foliage type.
Both the south and north wall of the mandapa are adorned with a graceful balcony window. The four corners are strengthened by means of massive buttress-like projections in the shape of half-engaged - miniature sikhara temples, each containing two niches in which image slabs are placed. Smaller niches in slightly projecting chapels are found between the corner projections and the entrance and balcony windows.
A life sized stone Nandi, believed to be the carrier of Lord Shiva stands at the entrance. Also are other miniature shrines and memorial stones within the complex said to have been built around 804 A.D.
The temple of Baijnath, although situated at no great distance from the centre of the earthquake of the 4th April 1905, but suffered slight injury from that catastrophe. The neighbouring smaller temple of Sidhnath, on the contrary, completely collapsed. Every year during Shivratri Fair, pilgrims descend on Baijnath for the colourful fair and festivities.
Today most of the idols in the temple are kept in the museum. But, the largest statue of goddess Parvati in all of north India is still kept here. Yet another important figure in Indian history has left his impressions on Kasauni. The figure being the famous poet in Hindi literature, Sumitra Nandan Pant, who was a local from these parts and in whose poetry, there are frequent references to this place.
About Temple Architecture
Introduction
Almost all Indian art has been religious, and almost all forms of artistic tradition have been deeply conservative. The Hindu temple developed over two thousand years and its architectural evolution took place within the boundaries of strict models derived solely from religious considerations. Therefore the architect was obliged to keep to the ancient basic proportions and rigid forms which remained unaltered over many centuries.
Even particular architectural elements and decorative details which had originated long before in early timber and thatch buildings persisted for centuries in one form or another throughout the era of stone construction even though the original purpose and context was lost. The horseshoe shaped window is a good example. Its origins lie in the caitya arch doorway first seen in the third century B.C. at the Lomas Rishi cave in the Barbar Hills. Later it was transformed into a dormer window known as a gavaksha; and eventually it became an element in a purely decorative pattern of interlaced forms seen time and time again on the towers of medieval temples. So, in its essence, Indian architecture is extremely conservative. Likewise, the simplicity of building techniques like post and beam and corbelled vaulting were preferred not necessarily because of lack of knowledge or skill, but because of religious necessity and tradition.
On the other hand, the architect and sculptor were allowed a great deal of freedom in the embellishment and decoration of the prescribed underlying principles and formulae. The result was an overwhelming wealth of architectural elements, sculptural forms and decorative exuberance that is so characteristic of Indian temple architecture and which has few parallels in the artistic expression of the entire world.
It is not surprising that the broad geographical, climatic, cultural, racial, historical and linguistic differences between the northern plains and the southern peninsula of India resulted, from early on, in distinct architectural styles. The Shastras, the ancient texts on architecture, classify temples into three different orders; the Nagara or ‘northern’ style, the Dravida or ‘southern ‘ style, and the Vesara or hybrid style which is seen in the Deccan between the other two. There are also dinsinct styles in peripheral areas such as Bengal, Kerala and the Himalayan valleys. But by far the most numerous buildings are in either the Nagara or the Dravida styles and the earliest surviving structural temples can already be seen as falling into the broad classifications of either one or the other.
In the early years the most obvious difference between the two styles is the shape of their superstructures.
North Indian Temples 
The Nagara style which developed for the fifth century is characterized by a beehive shaped tower (called a shikhara, in northern terminology) made up of layer upon layer of architectural elements such as kapotas and gavaksas, all topped by a large round cushion-like element called an amalaka. The plan is based on a square but the walls are sometimes so broken up that the tower often gives the impression of being circular. Moreover, in later developments such as in the Chandella temples, the central shaft was surrounded by many smaller reproductions of itself, creating a spectacular visual effect resembling a fountain.
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