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Chalukya

Travel

Bhongir : where history meets geology

A pleasant 50km drive from Hyderabad takes one to a small town called Bhongir, where history meets geology. Long before you enter the town, its trademark egg-shaped hillock looms into view. The hillock is actually a giant rock, called a batholith. A batholith is a huge igneous rock that is formed when molten magma cools and solidifies, often running kilometers deep into the earth. The Bhongir batholith is said to be comparable in size to the one in Uluru, Australia, a World Heritage Site.

Bhongir was named Tribhuvanagiri after the Chalukya ruler Tribhuvanamalla Vikramaditya, who is believed to have built a fort on top of the rock in the 12th century. Tribhuvanagiri became Bhuvanagiri, which eventually became Bhongir. Later, the fort passed through the hands of the Kakatiyas, the Bahmanis and the Qutb Shahi Sultans of Golconda. Most of the present structure dates back to the Bahmani and Qutb Shahi era, and you’ll notice similarities with the forts at Golconda, Bidar and others built by the various Deccan Sultanates.

The climb to the top was lovely the day we went – there was a light drizzle throughout, like a gentle spray. On a blazing hot day, I’m not sure how fun it’ll be! There are steps hewn into the rock for the most part, and railings for support when the slope gets steeper. It takes about an hour, plus or minus, maybe longer if you stop frequently to take pictures.

At the very top, there is a pavilion that looks strikingly similar to the Balahisar Baradari, the topmost pavilion in the Golconda Fort. When you reach it, you realize it’s a bit larger than it appears from below, dwarfed by the huge hillock. The panoramic views of the countryside are breathtaking, and you can’t help wondering what it must have been like to be a ruler standing up here and surveying your kingdom. In reality though, the Qutb Shahi kings did not actually stay here. They stationed a governor in Bhongir, and used this fort to imprison people who tried to grab the throne.

Since the hillock is almost egg shaped, it has sheer drops all around, attracting adventure sports enthusiasts. Bhongir even has a rock climbing school that teaches bouldering, rock climbing and rappelling.

You can combine a trip to this fort with a visit to the famous Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple in Yadagirigutta, just about 14kms away. Also combinable is Kolanupaka, home to a stunning Jain temple, only 30 kms away.

November 16, 2016

World Heritage Site : Pattadakal

Chalukya architecture had its beginnings in Aihole and was honed in Badami, but it was in the riverside town of Pattadakal that it reached its zenith. Bearing testimony to this, is a cluster of 10 exquisite temples in the Dravidian and Nagara styles of architecture, that the Chalukyas combined to create their own distinctive idiom. Pattadakal, called Pattada Kallu in Kannada, was where the coronations of the Badami Chalukya kings were held from the 7th century onwards. The town was also called Raktapura in the past, probably because of the red (rakta means blood and pura means city) sandstone with which the temples are built.

The World Heritage Site of Pattadakal includes 9 Shiva temples built between the 7th and 9th centuries. The 10th is a Jain temple built in the Dravidian style, about half a km away. It was probably built later by the Rashtrakutas, who succeeded the Badami Chalukyas.

Pattadakal Group of Badami Chalukya Temples

The oldest of the Shiva temples in Pattadakal is the Sangameshwara Temple, built in the Dravidian style, and the last one to be built was probably the Kasi Visveshwara temple, in the Nagara style. One simple way to tell which style each temple is built in, is to look at the shikharas. Typically, shikharas in Nagara temples are gently convex, while those in Dravidian temples are pyramidal.

Pattadakal Group of Badami Chalukya Temples. The difference between Dravidian style and Nagara style shikharas

Dravidian shikhara (left) Nagara shikhara (right)

The loveliest structure in the complex is definitely the Virupaksha temple. It is also the biggest, and the most elaborate. It was built by Queen Trilokyamahadevi in the first half of the 8th century, to commemorate her husband Vikramaditya II’s victory over the Pallavas. The temple is said to be inspired by the Kailashanatha temple of Kanchipuram, and the design of the Kailash temple in Ellora in turn, is said to be based on this one. The interiors as well as the exteriors of this temple are replete with elaborate carvings from Hindu mythology, and the pillars leading to the sanctum are breathtaking, depicting scenes from the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. Apparently, these carvings were done after the pillars were built – this meant, there was absolutely no room for even a single mistake! While all the temples have small nandis in front of them, this one has a smooth, shiny and colossal bull in a pavilion of its own (called a nandi-mandapa) in front of the temple. The Virupaksha temple and its nandi-mandapa are the only ones in the complex that are still in active worship.

A pillar in the Virupaksha temple depicting Bhishma lying on a bed of arrows (Mahabharata)

The Mallikarjuna Temple adjacent to the Virupaksha Temple was built soon after, by Vikramaditya II’s second queen, and it is like a smaller version of the latter. The other structures here are the Galaganatha, Papanatha, Jambulinga, Chandrashekhara, Sangameshwara and Jambulinga temples.

And that brings us to the end of my series of posts about the temples that the Badami Chalukyas built. As I mentioned earlier, the best place to stay in while visiting this circuit is Badami, only 3 hours from Hampi, another World Heritage Site.

Here are the earlier posts from the series:
Aihole
Badami
Mahakuta

Eid Mubarak, Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year to all of you!

I’ll see you in 2016!

December 24, 2015

Travel

Mahakuta

The next stop in my Chalukya series is Mahakuta, a very small town about 15km from Badami. Here too, the Badami Chalukya legacy lives on in the form of a group of 6th-8th century temples in their signature architectural style. The temples are all dedicated to Lord Shiva. The largest of these are the Mahakuteshwara and Mallikarjuna temples. It is believed that the Mahakuteshwara temple was built by Kirtivarman I, the son of the first Chalukya king Pulakesin I. The rest of the temples in the complex were built by later kings of the dynasty, and have shikharas typically seen in the Nagara school of architecture. Badami Chalukya Temples in Mahakuta The hub of activity in Mahakuta is the rectangular Pushkarini tank, fed by natural spring water.

The afternoon we went, dozens of young boys from the village were playing in the water. They were very sweet, friendly, and excited to be photographed!

A small shrine with a Chaturmukha or four faced Shivalinga (quite uncommon, apparently) sits in the tank.

Mahakuta has played a huge role in helping historians unravel the story of the Chalukyas. The Mahakuta Pillar, a sandstone pillar with inscriptions in Sanskrit and Old Kannada, providing a wealth of information about the Badami Chalukyas, was found lying here. It is believed to date back to the reign of Kirtivarman I’s successor, Mangalesha ie, the late 6th century. Today, it is kept in the Archaeological museum in Bijapur, about 150km from here.

While not as expansive as those in Badami, Aihole and Pattadakal, most of the temples here are still in active worship, and the vibrant atmosphere makes Mahakuta a worthwhile stop if you have a couple of hours to spare.

December 16, 2015

Travel

Badami Caves: exquisite art in the Capital Of The Chalukyas

Badami, about 35km from Aihole, was the capital of the Badami Chalukyas for 3 centuries. The town was originally called Vatapi. Legend has it that two demon brothers called Vatapi and Ilvala lived here. Vatapi would disguise himself as an animal, and Ilvala would offer his meat to weary travelers, who would eat it unsuspectingly. Ilvala would call out to Vatapi, and the latter would come back to life (thanks to a boon he’d received), bursting out of the person’s stomach and killing him. Vatapi and Ilvala would then eat the poor dead passerby. This went on until a sage named Agastya came by. He played along with the demons’ trick, but immediately digested Vatapi, before Ilvala could call him. This ended the menace the two brothers were causing in the region 🙂

Badami is most famous for its complex of four Chalukyan rock cut cave temples. Gouged out of almond (called badam in India) colored sandstone that is believed to give Badami its present name, every cave has pillared verandahs in front, and a sanctum right at the back. They were all excavated not at the same time, but during the reigns of various Badami Chalukya rulers. (I wrote a little about the dynasty here)

The lowest cave is dedicated to Lord Shiva, and is believed to have been built in the 6th century, during the reign of the second Chalukya ruler. It is decorated with sculptures of Shiva in various forms, and the most exquisite ones are those of Nataraja (Shiva in his cosmic dance), Harihara (half Shiva and half Vishnu) and Ardhanareeshwara (half Shiva and half Parvati).

Shiva as Ardhanareeshwara

The second cave is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and has magnificent depictions of him in his Vamana avatar as Trivikrama and in his Varaha avatar as a boar, among others.

Vishnu as Trivikrama in his Vamana avatar

The third cave is the largest and probably the most spectacular, and is also believed to be the oldest of the lot. It is dedicated to Lord Vishnu as well, and has images of his Narasimha avatar, Varaha avatar, Vamana avatar and also one of him seated on a coiled serpent.

Vishnu seated on a coiled serpent. In his Varaha avatar on the right.

The topmost cave is absolutely breathtaking, and is the only Jain shrine in the complex, dedicated to Lord Mahavira. The columns in this cave are decorated with Jain tirthankaras. Inside the sanctum, Mahavira is seated in deep meditation.

Mahavira seated in meditation in the sanctum

The sparkling (manmade) Agastya lake in front of the caves, separates the rocks from the stunning Bhootanatha group of temples. They are built in the Chalukyan style of architecture with features from the Dravidian temples of the south and the Nagara temples of the north. One cluster was built in the 7th century by the Badami Chalukyas, while the other was built in the 11th century or so, by the Kalyani Chalukyas.

Bhootanatha Group of Temples, Badami

Many scenes in the Bollywood movie Guru were shot in Badami. You can see the caves in this song. The scene in which Abhishek and Aishwarya get married was shot at the Bhootanatha group of temples.

By road, Badami is about 3 hours from Hospet. Many people choose to do a day trip from Hampi/Hospet to the Chalukyan trio of Aihole, Badami and Pattadakal. Since Badami has many decent hotels, and we didn’t want to rush through everything in a day, we stayed a couple of nights here.

November 30, 2015

Travel

Aihole : a treasure trove of Chalukyan architecture

Yet again, I’ve neglected my blog for months, but I’ve now accepted that my enthusiasm is always going to wax and wane, and that’s okay. So from Bhutan in my previous post, let’s go deep into the Bagalkot district of Karnataka in Southern India, to talk about the Chalukyas, a powerful dynasty who ruled between the 6th and 12th centuries. At their peak, their territories included all of Karnataka and most of Andhra Pradesh. The dynasty was established by the first king Pulakesin I, after overthrowing the reigning Kadamba dynasty. His first capital was Aihole, but he soon shifted it to Badami. So he and his descendants are called the Badami Chalukyas.

There were three distinct Chalukyan dynasties – the Badami Chalukyas (6th to 8th centuries), the later Kalyani Chalukyas (11th to 12th centuries) with their capital at Basavakalyan near Bidar, and the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi, near present day Eluru in Andhra Pradesh. This and the next few posts are going to be about the legacy left behind by the Badami Chalukyas.

Aihole, a sleepy and primitive village by the Malaprabha river is a wondrous treasure trove of Chalukyan architecture. Many consider it a cradle of temple architecture in South India, and with good reason – there are at least a 100 temples scattered across the village in varying states of preservation. They range from early rock cut cave temples to later structural temples built in the distinctive Chalukyan idiom, which combines Nagara (Indo-Aryan architecture seen in Odisha, etc) and Dravida (the kind you see in Tamil Nadu, etc) features. Some clusters of well preserved temples are enclosed by compound walls, while others are just a part of the village. Let me show you some of the most prominent temples in Aihole.

Among the oldest is Ravana Phadi, a cave temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, dating back to the 6th century.

Ravana Phadi, Aihole, built by the Badami Chalukyas

The most recognized structure in Aihole is the beautiful Durga Temple with its unusual apsidal shape (imagine one side of a rectangle replaced by a U). It is believed to date back to the late 7th century.

Durga Temple, Aihole, built by the Badami Chalukyas

The Lad Khan temple in the same compound almost looks like it was built with logs of wood. They say the curious name comes from a Muslim General who used the structure as his residence for a while. The complex also has a small archaeological museum. My favourite exhibit there was the birds eye view of Aihole that shows the distribution of temples around the village.

Lad Khan Temple, Aihole, built by the Badami Chalukyas

The Hucchimalli Gudi (Gudi means temple) stands in its own enclosure along with a beautifully carved step well.

Hucchimalli Gudi, Aihole, built by the Badami Chalukyas

Step well, Hucchimalli Gudi, Aihole, built by the Badami Chalukyas

Some more temples from around the village:

Aihole is about 140km from Hampi/Hospet. The nearest town where you can get good accommodation is Badami, 35km away. If you are crazy about monuments, you could easily spend hours or even days exploring Aihole, given the number of ruins in the village. But for most other people, 3-4 hours should be adequate to visit the most important temples.

November 23, 2015