Sol gel processing has been known for a long time.However this processing technique has known a very important development during the last two decades.The basic idea is to progressively create an oxide network by polymerization reactions of chemical precursors dissolved in a liquid medium. Sol gel processing is the special technique in preparing nanostructured materials which can be easily controlled.Thin film is the domain where sol gel processing is the most used,because drying stresses can be easily overcome.A method termed "template synthesis" entails synthesizing the desired nanostructured materials within the pores of a nanoporous membrane.Various porous "template" are employed and nanostructures are synthesized within the pores.Depending on the material and the chemistry of the pore well,a nanofibril or a nanotubule may be obtained. In this paper,the sol gel processing and its characteristics have been reviewed.An elucidation has been made on development of nanostructured materials prepared by sol gel method.