Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c21.3

c21.3

IN a previous chapter reference has been made to the fact that at the ancient township of Aihole in Dharwar there are indications that this capital of the early Chalukyan dynasty was one of the cradles of Indian temple architecture. Such a probability is shown by several examples, all of a distinctly incipient character, and all erected apparently during the fifth and sixth centuries A.D. Most of them are temples of the flat roofed order, and similar therefore to those of the Gupta style of the more northerly latitude, thus displaying a characteristic which implies an early stage in the process of evolution of this structure. In the Chalukyan temples other stages of development may also be traced. For instance in the most primitive of all, the shrine is in the body of the building, with nothing on the exterior to mark its position from outside. Afterwards a tower was added over the shrine, not only to give this central feature dignity, but also as a means of distinguishing the temple from other buildings. Later, the shrine, or cella, was contained in a structure projected from the western end of the temple and surmounted by a tower. This last development caused the sanctuary to form a kind of annexe attached to the body of the temple, the shrine and tower combined comprising that portion of the structure known as the vimana.