Indian Architecture Of Hindu PeriodSouthern India

Early Chalukyan Temples

Early Chalukyan Temples

Aihole, Badami and Pattadakal near Bijapur in Karnataka are centers of

Early Chalukyan art.
During 450 AD, the Chalukya style originated in Aihole and was perfected
in Badami and Pattadakal

The Chalukya artists experimented with different styles, blended the IndoAryan Nagara and Dravidian styles, and evolved Chalukya style.

Aihole was the first capital of the early Chalukyas.

Aihole is to the west of Badami, along the Malaprabha river, while
Pattadakal is to the east.

Pulakesi I, one of the greatest rulers of this dynasty, moved the capital to
Badami nearby. Badami was then known as Vatapi.

The first phase of temple building in Aihole dates back to the 6th century,
the second phase to the 12th century.
Their style includes two types of monuments.
The rock cut halls (caves) &
Structural temples

Features
Usage of curved towers
decorated with blind arches
came from northern India.
Pilastered walls with panel
inserts are a southern Indian
style.
The usage of Deccan style is in
their balcony seating, angled
eaves and sloping roofs, and
elaborately carved columns and
ceilings
In short, they artistically brought
together the prevailing styles in
their neighbourhood to create the
Chalukyan style.

Features
Typical features unique to Early
Western Chalukyan architecture include
mortarless assembly,
an emphasis on length rather than
width or height,
flat roofs,
richly carved ceilings, and,
sculpturally, an emphasis on relatively
few major figures, which tend to be
isolated from each other rather than
arranged in crowded groups.
The aesthetic sensibility of sculpture
from this period also seems to retain a
certain classical quality whose impulse
does not carry over into later periods of
Indian art

Aihole
Aihole is a temple complex in
the Bagalkot district of
Karnataka, India. It is a very
popular tourist spot in north
Karnataka. Aihole is to the
east of Pattadakal, along the
Malaprabha River, while
Badami is to the west of both.
The prominent temple groups
at aihole are the Kontigudi
group and the Galaganatha
group.
A group of three temples is
referred to as the Kontigudi
group of temples. One of
these is the Lad Khan temple,
another the
Huchiappayyagudi temple
and the Huchiappayya math.

Galaganatha Group
of Temples at Aihole

Konti Gudi at Aihole

Aihole was the first capital of

the early Chalukyas.
Here they built over 125
temples in various styles and
is said to be a laboratory of
experiments in rock cut
architecture.
Aihole, was the cradle of
ancient Hindu temple
architecture.

LadKhan temple

The LadKhan temple

consists of a shrine with two
mandapams in front of it.
The shrine bears a Shiva
lingam.
The mukha mandapa in
front of the sanctum has a
set of 12 carved pillars.
The sabhamandapa in front
of the mukha mandapam
has pillars arranged in such
a manner as to form two
concentric squares.
There are also stone grids
on the wall carrying floral
designs.

Ladkhan Temple at Aihole,

late 7th early 8th century

This is the north face of the

temple
The porch fronts a square
mandapa.

The temple's sloping

two-tiered roof, which
imitates wood
construction, is
furnished with stone
"logs" that cover the
joints between the
roofing slabs.
In the center of the
mandapa, a Nandi
faces the small interior
shrine, which abuts the
rear wall of the
mandapa.
Instead of the usual
tower, a rooftop shrine
is positioned over the
center of the mandapa.

The Huchappayyagudi temple has a

curvilinear tower (shikhara) over the
sanctum (unlike the Lad Khan temple).
The interior of the temple has beautiful
carvings.

Huchappayyagudi temple
Aihole Galaganatha group of temples

The Galaganatha group is one

of nearly 30 temples on the bank
of the river Malaprabha. The
main shrine of the Galaganatha
temple enshrining Shiva Galaganatha has a curvilinear
shikhara, and has images of
Ganga and Yamuna at the
entrance to ths shrine.
The Huchimalligudi temple at
Aihole, built in the 8th century
shows an evolution in the temple
plan, as it shows an
ardhamandapam or an antechamber annexed to the main
shrine.

Durga Temple
Aihole, late 7th century

The best known of the

Aihole temples is the
photogenic Durga or the
fortress temple.
It is apsidal in plan, along
the lines of a Buddhist
chaitya, a high moulded
adisthana and a tower curvilinear shikhara.
A pillared corridor runs
around the temple,
enveloping the shrine, the
mukhamandapa and the
sabhamandapa.
All through the temple,
there are beautiful
carvings.

 The name "Durga" refers to a fort, not to the goddess;

apparently at one time the building was used as a
military outpost (durg). It is not known to which deity
the temple was originally dedicated.
The entrance is east
The temple's unusual apsidal form is thought to
imitate the earlier Buddhist chaitya halls. An inner wall
of similar shape encloses the sanctuary
An incomplete tower perches on the roof above the
sanctuary

Temples of Pattadakkal
Pattadakal is a town lies on the
banks of the Malaprabha River in
Bagalkot district of North Karnataka
region. It is 22 km from Badami and
about 10 km from Aihole.
The group of 8th century monuments
in Pattadakal are the culmination of the
earliest experiments in the vesara style
of Hindu temple architecture.
This is a huge complex of temples
attractively located next to the river,
which may have been used in rituals.
Entering the complex is the
Jambulinga Temple, its shikhara
recalling the temples of Bhubaneshwar
(Orissa) with a projecting horse-shoe
each bearing a figure of dancing Shiva.

 Next to it is the Galaganatha

Temple unlike anything else in
the region. The conical shikhara
is like the (north Indian) nagara
style with horizontal layers
separated by tiny cushion-like
motifs.
Compare this temple roof with
the shikharas of the next two
temples, the Virupaksha and
the Mallikarjuna, which are
based on the southern Indian
temple shikhara format.
These two temples have tiered
pyramidal, not conical, roofs
made up temple replicas.

Virupaksha temple at Pattadakal

Galaganatha temple, Pattadakal

(built in nagara style)

Mallikarjuna and Kasivisvanatha temples

at Pattadakal

 The temples were built in the 8th

century.
The uniqueness of this place
derives from the presence of both
the dravidian or the Southern and
the Nagara or the Northern (IndoAryan) styles of temple architecture.

Jain Narayana temple at Pattadakal

There are ten temples including a

Jain sanctuary sourrounded by
numerous small shrines and plinths.
Jain Temple is built in the
dravidian style by the Rashtrakutas
of Manyakheta. It has some very
beautiful sculptures & probably
dates from the 9th century
Four temples were built in
dravidian style, four in nagara style
of Northern India and the
Papanatha temple in mixed style.
The group of mounuments in
Pattadakal was designated a World
Heritage Site in 1987.

Papanatha temple at Pattadakal (built in the

vesara style dated to 680).

Virupaksha temple wall sculpture

The Virupaksha Temple has a wonderful Nandi porch in

front, a porch leading into a pillared hall, and the garbha
griha at the rear end of the building.
Around the temple wall are some very high quality
sculptures set inside little niches. The sculptures (within and
on the exterior wall), as well as the architecture here, mark
an obvious advance of ideas and skills from those of some
of the earlier shrines.

Temples of Pattadakkal

Temples of Pattadakkal

Temples of Pattadakkal

Badami
The Badami Chalukya
architecture was a temple
building expression that evolved
in the time period of 5th 8th
centuries AD. in the area of
Malaprabha basin, in present day
Bagalkot district (North
Karnataka) of Karnataka state.
It formed a neutral protective
wall for the capital of the
Chalukyas.
Embraced by the horseshoeshaped curved cliff is a lake that
supplied water.
Badami town, which is relatively
small, lies in front of the lake
looking out on to this aweinspiring craggy cliff.

 The local pink sandstone

was used for building the
temples.
The loveliest is the
Bhutanatha Temple that
stands under the shadow of
the cliff, reflecting its beauty
on the surface of the lake.

Badami Cave temples

On the southern side of the cliff is a

stairway that leads to four exquisite
rock-cut shrines carved into the
hillside.
The first cave is for Shiva; the next
two for Vishnu (with superb
sculptures), and the furthest is a Jain
shrine.
Within the shrine is the sanctum, the
center of worship.
Like a sculptural building, the hall in
front has rows of carved pillars.
These famous temples are carved
out of sandstone, housing a shrine, a
hall, an open verandah and pillars.
The exquisite carvings and
sculptures make these cave temples
noteworthy.

 The shrine of Nagamma, the local serpent goddess, within

a massive tamarind tree is another example of the
architecture.
Important carvings are of hindu deities Ganapati,
Shanmuka, Mahishasura Mardhini, Ardha Nariswara,
Sankara Narayana, Vishnu, Trivikrama, Astadikpalakas
and Adisesha.
Three rock-cut Badami Cave temples were built between
the 6th and 8th centuries.
Fourth cave temple dating back to 12th century with
carvings of Jain Tirthankaras Mahavira, Parshwanatha
and Padmavati.
The structure of these temples is a perfect
fusion of North Indian Nagara style and
South Indian Dravidian style of architecture.
Each cave embraces a sanctum, a hall, a
verandah and pillars. Beautiful carvings and
exquisite sculptures adore the site of Cave
Temples.

Cave No. 1

Dedicated for Lord Shiva

Carved on the (right) side

entrance wall of Cave No. 1 is
the most dramatic sculpture to
be found at Badami.
It is rare image of an eighteenarmed dancing Shiva. Here as
Nataraj, the cosmic creator,
Shiva waves his arms in
vigorous movement,
accompanied by his young son
Ganesh and musicians on
drums.
He holds in each hand a symbol
of his many varied attributes: the
trident of destruction and the
damru (drum) of creation.

One foot is securely on the ground while he is about to raise the

other. Shiva, the original parent of the world, who is as old as the earth
(is young) is portrayed here as a youthful, ruddy (red from the stone),
and very appealing male god.

Cave No. 2

Dedicated for Lord Vishnu

The second cave is

perched on a sand stone
hill.
Lord Vishnu is the holy
deity of this cave
manifested as a dwarf or
Trivikrama.
Lord is in the position of
conquering the Earth by
his one foot and rules the
sky with his other foot.
The temple also
showcases Lord Vishnu
as a 'Varaha' or as a boar,
riding the Garuda all
surrounded by beautiful
lotus flowers.

Cave No. 3

Vishnu image

The third cave is about 70

feet wide a masterwork of 6th
century.
The delicate creativity and
image sharpness are the
prominence of the cave
showcasing the ancient art.
The art depicting ancient
dresses, jewelry, hairstyle
and the lifestyle of the
glorious past will leave one
mesmerize.
The high alleviation of Vishnu
manifested in many forms Vishnu with a serpent, Vishnu
as Man-Lion, Shiva Vishnu
and Vishnu as Trivikrama are
the other attractions of the
cave.

Cave No. 4

Jain image of Parshvanath,

Cave fourth is dedicated to

Jain Thirthankaras.
They are the Jain caves lying
towards the east of cave-3.
The main attraction of the
cave is the sculpture of Lord
Mahavira decking the shrine
besides the images of
Padmavathi and other
Thirthankaras.
The cave also leads towards
the southern part of Badami
Fort, after climbing few steps
a cranny is formed between
Cave II & III, that leads to the
fort where an old gun placed
by Tippu Sultan is an
attraction in itself.

Thank You..