The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c12.s1.2

c12.s1.2

About ten yards to the west of this temple is a group of far older shrines of much more interest to the antiquarian (Plates LVII—LIX). It is a cluster of nine shrines, arranged in no very definite order, known as the Navaliṅga or ‘Nine Liṅgas’, the arrangement being best seen on the accompanying plan (Plate LV). There are four halls attached to one another, three of them being in a line from east to west with small shrines off them. Each shrine contains a liṅga, and each is surmounted by its own śikhara or spire. It needs but a glance at the plan to see that this collection of shrines and halls is not the result of a premeditated design or it would have been more symmetrical. They were probably Vaiṣṇava, and Gaja-Lakṣmī holds the place of honour over every doorway. Above the antechamber to one shrine is a very perfect and well-carved architrave with the usual makaras with florid tails. In this instance, and it is very unusual, the makaras are covered with circular scales (Fig. 23).