early temples in badami

8/10/2019 Early Temples in Badami

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The Badami Chalukyaarchitecture was a temple, building idiom that

evolved in the time period of 5th8th centuries. in the areaof Malaprabhabasin, in present day Bagalkot district(North Karnataka)

of Karnatakastate. This style is sometimes called the Vesarastyle

and Chalukya style. Their earliest temples date back to around 450 in

Aihole when the Badami Chalukyas were feudatories of the Kadamba of

Banavasi. The Badami Chalukyascontribution to temple building matched

their valor and their achievements in battle.

Badami Chalukya architecture
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Badami cave temples

Cave temple at Badami Karnataka

Badami cave templeshave rock cut halls with three basic features: pillared

veranda, columned hall and a sanctum cut out deep into rock.

Early experiments in rock cut halls were attempted in Aiholewhere they built

three cave temples, one each in Vedic, Buddhist and Jaina styles. Later they

refined their style and cut out four marvellous cave temples at Badami.

One noteworthy feature of these cave temples is the running frieze

of Ganasin various amusing postures caved in relief on each plinth.

The outside verandas of the cave temples are rather plain, but the inner hall

contains rich and prolific sculptural symbolism. Art critic Dr. M. Sheshadriwrote of the Chalukya art that they cut rock like Titansbut finished like

jewellers.
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The finest structural temples are located in Pattadakal. Of the ten temples in

Pattadakal, six are in Dravidianstyle and four in Rekhanagarastyle. The

Virupaksha temple in many ways holds resemblance to the Kailasanatha

temple in Kanchipuram which came into existence a few years earlier.

This is a fully inclusive temple, it has a central structure, nandipavilion in

front and has a walled enclosure that is entered by a gateway. The main

sanctum has a Pradakshinapathaand mantapa. Themantapais pillared and

has perforated windows (pierced window screens). The external wall surface

is divided by pilasters into well-spaced ornamental niches filled with eithersculptures or perforated windows. Art critic Percy Brownsays about the

sculptures that they flow into the architecture in a continuous stream. It is

said that the Virupaskha temple is one of those monuments where the spirit

of the men who built it, still lives.

Many centuries later, the serene art of the Badami Chalukya reappeared inthe pillared architecture of the Vijayanagar Empire. Their caves include finely

engraved sculptures of Harihara, Trivikrama, Mahisa

Mardhini, Tandavamurthi, Paravasudeva, Nataraja, Varaha, Gomateshvara

and others. Plenty of animal and foliage motifs are also included
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattadakalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dravidian_architecturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rekhanagara&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pradakshinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandapahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Brown_(scholar)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayanagar_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayanagar_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayanagar_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayanagar_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Brown_(scholar)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandapahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pradakshinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rekhanagara&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dravidian_architecturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattadakal


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Cave temple 1 may be the oldest in Badami. It is made of red sandstone

and has a hall with numerous pillars and a square shaped sanctum

hollowed in the control back wall. There are paintings of amorous

couples on the ceiling. Other features include Shivaand his consort

Parvati with a coiled serpent and the 18 armed lord Nataraja in 81dancing poses
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Badami Cave-I the first shrine has at its entrance Shivas door keepers; to the

right inside is the figure of Shiva of about five feet height and in the tandava

dancing pose with 18 arms. Beside him are Nandi, dancing Ganapati, etc.

There is a neatly carved perfect figure of Mahishasuramardini and several

other rockcut dwarf images of kubja ganas, Nagaraja or snake king,Vidhyadhara couple, etc., are on the ceiling.


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Cave temple 2 is dedicated to Vishnu(asTrivikrama) with one foot

mastering the Earth and the other the sky. Vishnu is also portrayed

as Varahaand Krishna.

Badami-Cave-2 the second cave and on its front are the guards or

dvarapalakas holding lotus in their hands. East and West walls of the cave

have large images of Bhuvaraha and Trivikrama. On the ceiling are engraved

Ananthashayana, Bramha, Vishnu, Shiva and Asthadikpalakas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishnuhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trivikramahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varahahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krishnahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krishnahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varahahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trivikramahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishnu


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Cave temple 3 dates back to 578 AD. The faade of the cave is nearly 70

feet wide, with carvings of ganason the plinth. It contains examples

of Deccanart, illustrating the culture and clothing of the 6th century. There

are high relief carvings of Vishnu with a serpent, Vishnu as Narasimha,

Varaha, Hariharaand Trivikrama.

Badami-Cave-3 the third cave is dedicated to Vishnu, and is the best and the

biggest, and it has splendid giant figures of Paravasudeva, Bhuvaraha,

Harihara and Narasimha. All these statues are engraved in a vigorous style.

An inscription found here records the creation of the shrine by Mangalesha

in 578. There are some paintings on the ceiling and the style indicates

maturity but has lost its original dazzling colour. The bracket figures on the

piers here are some of the finest.
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Cave temple 4 relates to 6th century Jainism. There is a carving of

the Tirthankara Parshavnatha (with a serpent at his feet). Mahavirais

depicted in a sitting posture.

Badami-Cave-4, the fourth cave is Jaina which lies a little east of cave III. Thesanctum is adorned by the image of Mahavira. The pedestal contains an old

Kannada inscription of the 12th century A.D. which registers the death of one

Jakkave. Scores of Jaina Thirthankara images have been engraved in the

inner pillars and walls. In addition to it, there are some idols of Bahubali,

Yakshas and Yakshis. Some scholars assign the cave to the 8th century
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early temples in badami

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