Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c37.21

c37.21

Within the country occupied by this phase of architecture there are upwards of fifty temples, and by means of selecting certain examples the development of the style may be readily followed¹ Between the limits of the period, the dates of such examples and the sequence of their production, can only be largely conjectured, although these have been obtained by the sifting of several forms of evidence, as for instance inscriptions on or near the building, the local history, details of style, and the inference of certain elements in the construction What are probably the earliest buildings are at Kukkanur, a village near the railway junction of Gadag, two of which depict not only the initial character of the movement, but provide a stepping-stone midway between the ancient type as at Pattadakal, and the later development now being described. For in these two buildings at Kukkanur we see the only examples of this phase executed in the somewhat coarse sandstone of the earlier period, all the subsequent temples of the group being built of the more refined and tractable chloritic schist. The older of the two structures, the Navalinga, or "Nine Lingas," can scarcely be termed a temple as it comprises a cluster of nine cells around three pillared compartments, with a sikhara over each cell. These sikharas are in shape very similar to the type at Pattadakal, but the domical apex is already beginning to show signs of change. In the plastic decoration on the exterior there is that bold, almost coarse, modelling of their archetype above mentioned, and the pillars of the interior are substantial monoliths, with parts of their shafts turned into mouldings on a lathe.