This post is a continuation of the series on the visit to Hampi,Pattadakal,Aihole & Badami during early September 2012.
The group of 8th century CE monuments in Pattadakal are the culmination of the earliest experiments in the Vesara style of Hindu temple architecture . The town displays both Dravidian (Southern) and the Nagara (Northern, Indo-Aryan) styles of temple architecture. UNESCO in 1987 included Pattadakal in its list of World Heritage sites. Pattadakal ( place for coronation of Chalukya kings), the capital of the Chalukya dynasty of Southern India, who built the temples in the seventh and eighth centuries. There are ten temples including a Jain sanctuary surrounded by numerous small shrines and plinths . Four temples were built in Dravidian style, four in Nagara style of Northern India and the Papanatha temple in mixed style. Tha Papanatha, Kasi Visweswara, Jambulinga and Galaganatha Temples are noted for their curvilinear shikara (Rekha Nagara style). The Mallikarjuna, Sangameswara & Virupaksha Temples having a square roof of receding tiers represent the Dravida Vimana style. The Lokeswara(Mallikarjuna) and Trailokeswara (Virupaksha) temples were built respectively by Lokamahadevi and Trailokamahadevi - the Queens of Vikramaditya II to commemorate his victory over the Pallavas of Kanchi:745-750 AD.Chalukyan sculptural art is noted for its grace and vigor, rich imagination and delicate details. Here you can see besides figures of Gods, Goddesses & human figures - narratives from the Ramayana, Mahabharata & the Bhagavath Gita can be seen.
