The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c11.s3.5

c11.s3.5

The water-pot and foliage ornament forms a very conspicuous feature upon the outer wall of the porch, and it occurs again at the bottom of the hall doorway, on either side. At the upper corners of the shrine doorway are two superb makaras with splendid flowing tails (Fig. 22). Their position here is rather exceptional, and one would have expected to see a delicately cusped toraṇa stretching across from jaw to jaw. Each of the elephants flanking the outer doorway has a rider upon it.² The rider on the north side is canopied by a five-hooded snake¹; that on the south side is too much damaged to say whether it had the same or not. They may possibly be portrait images of the man who built the temple and his wife.