, Saturday, April 17,2010 08 the way htcafé TheGalaganathatemple in with exquisite carvings and a , which became afeature of North Indian templeslater

Andhra AIHOLE Pradesh Hubli

Bangalore

Kerala Tamilnadu GETTING THERE Aihole is in the district and is 132 km from Hubli, one of the twonearest railheads, the other being Bagalkot. It is 500 km from Bengaluru. Thereare State buses as well as private ones plying from (128 km away)and Bagalkot. Youcan even takeacon- ducted tour of the KarnatakaState Tourism DevelopmentCorporation (KSTDC). Theforerunners of form In the cradle of temple architecture,theycreated alegacywecan be proud of

tal of the Chalukyasand has more Mahishasuramardhini ( slay- time.Thereare excavated friezes than hundred temples from the ing the buffalo demon) and and statues lying around carelessly, AIHOLE, sixth, seventh and 12th and 13th cen- Ardhanadhishvra(half-man, half- some pieces unfinished. School chil- KARNATAKA turies. Ourguide calls this the cra- woman). Thereisasmall squat dren playcricket and goatswander dle of temple architecture, where towerontop,aforetaste of the nonchalantly among the ancient KALPANA SUNDER early Indian carversand architects shikaras which became aspectacu- structures. with no precedents to learn from lar featureofNorth Indian temples We leave Aihole wishing thatcon- came up with stunning worksofart. later.Inthe next temple we see the temporary lifewouldn’t cause fur- -mardhini (Durga) slaying magine alaboratory whereexper- Ourguide shows us liveboard shrine with aproper shikhara with ther damage to these wonderful the buffalo demon on atemple wall iments on architectural styles games carved on to the floorsofthe nine layers. temples. temples proceed in succession, from were conducted by anonymous temples and marks of fire. He tells The cave-likeLad Khan temple simple to architecturally complex. Iarchitects, sculptors, masonsand us thatthe temples were named ad (probably named after aMuslim Theother temple town Although, the temples heretoo, artists —different influences were hoc,asmanyofthem did not have wholived here) has two mantapas in It’s ashort drivetoPattadakal along were experimental in style,theyset absorbed and creativestructures deities inside.The names of manyof front of ashrine,latticed windows adustyroad. Outside the complexis the standards forfuturetemple emerged. This is exactly what hap- the temples arederived from the and carved pillars. We see imagesof abevyoffruit sellers, small boys building.Ofthe nine we see,eachis pened in Aiholeand Pattadakal in names of the families wholived Gangaand on the pillars peddling guide books, shouting, moreexquisite than the other.The northern Karnataka, both UNESCO thereortheir professions! The and our guide explains thatasfeet “Madam, history book please!” and entirefront of the Galagnatha WorldHeritage sites now. The can- famous Durga temple is misleading hadtobewashed beforeentering a legions of curious school children. Temple has collapsed, giving us a vasfor theseexperiments wasthe —itreferstothe durg or fortress- temple,this detail wasincorporated At first glance, one cannot help but glimpse of the stones, which are soft sandstone found in these parts. likeedificeand is actually dedicated to substitute real water.Amorous be wowedbyPattadakal. normally hidden from sight. Its Aihole today, is asmall hamlet to the . couples too arecarved on some pil- Immaculately-kept, sprawling conical towerresembles the Nagara wherelocal houses and small lars—was this the forerunner for lawns, well-laid pathways and a (North Indian) style. ancient shrines co-exist as if to say- An insideview Khajuraho?Itisthe oldest temple group of ochre-coloured ornate tem- Thereare two temples built by “I have historyinmybackyard!” Ourguide uses the term ‘apsidal’ to hereand has asecond sanctum ples (which look much moresophis- the queens of Vikramaditya in hon- describe it —arectangular struc- directly above the one on the ground ticated than the ones in Aihole) are our of his victory overthe Pallavas. It happens only in turewith asemi-circular rear. floor.Astone ladder leads youtoit. bunched together.All Chalukyan The Virupaksha temple built by Legend has it thatafter wiping out Vaguely reminiscent of our The temple has asloping two-tier kingswerecrowned here—the Lokeshwari has sculptures from the the entireKshatriyarace, Parliament building,welearn that roof and seems to have been ameet- name of this town when translated, epics in its mukha mandapam. Parasurama went in search of a theremay have been some Buddhist ing place sinceithas stone seats. means ‘place of coronation’. This People pray hereeventoday. All river to wash his bloodstained axe. influenceinits architecture. There We wander around seeing arelief place has the unique distinction of along the temple arecarvingsof On seeing the river Malaprabha, he areintricate latticed windows and a hereoralatticed windowthere, being amelting-pot of South Indian , , , exclaimed, “Aihole”meaning “Ah! riot of carvingsonthe walls and marvelling at the evolution of the (Dravidian) and North Indian and Rama likeancient comic books the river”. Aihole wasthe first capi- ceilings—, temple form overthe passage of (Aryan) styles of architecture. The wherepeople could read the stories of the Gods. Soft afternoon light fil- tersinthroughgaps in the ceiling, lending amysterious auratothe interiors. Much happened in India after these temples —Khajuraho, Bhubaneshwar, and count- less other masterpieces —but all hadtheir origins here. The unique charm of Aihole and Pattadakal is thatitgives us aglimpse of the beginningsoftemple architecture in India. Kalpana is aJapanese language TheVirupakshatemple wasbuilt to celebrateVikramaditya’s victory overthe Pallavas. It is partofthe Pattadakal complex(right), which is surrounded by well-kept lawns specialist based in .