The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c10.s4: Group of Temples on the North Side of the Tank
The Chālukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c10.s4
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Group of Temples on the North Side of the Tank
c10.s4.1
On the north side of the tank is a group of temples of much later date than those that have been described, but they are not of any great interest. They face the south, a very unusual direction for Brahmanical temples. Save a perplexing little figure on the front of the tower of the principal temple, there are no others that might give a clue to the original dedication of these shrines. This solitary little image may be intended for Vishnu. Very similar images may be seen at the old Vaishnava temples near Jhālrapaṭṭan in Rājputānā.¹ In the shrines of two of the temples a *liṅga*, with its *śāluṅkā*, has been placed upon an older image pedestal, which is towards the back of the shrine and not in the centre as *liṅgas* are usually placed.
c10.s4.2
¹ Progress Report of the Archaeological Survey of India, Western Circle, for 1904-5, p. 32.
c10.s4.3
In addition to the temples described there are, in the village of Bādāmi, the old one of Virūpāksha in the middle of the village, built around with houses and in use, and that of Yellamā in ruins on the bank of the tank.