The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c29.s1.3

c29.s1.3

The exterior walls of the large pillared hall claim special attention. That portion, which in other temples is generally open, that is the part between the top of the parapet walls and the beams under the cornice, is here closed in with richly chased diaper-pattern stone screens. The surface is divided into scrolls with little figures within them. Each alternate square, in each alternate row, is perforated, some having little lozenge flowers left in them. The top part of the parapet or basement, immediately below this, has a slope outwards, it being the back of the seat which runs round the hall inside, and is decorated with panels containing figures which are separated from one another by pairs of little pilasters, while above them runs a scroll band. Beneath this, and separated from it by a row of little śikharas, are similar panels of sculpture, separated by single pilasters; and, under these, again, are the usual basement mouldings as found in nearly all Cālukyan temples. Among the little images in these panels, many of which stand almost detached from the wall, are Bhairava, Narasiṃha, Lakṣmī, Gaṇapati, Śiva, Viṣṇu, Brahmā, Kṛṣṇa, Mahiṣāsuramardanī, dancing figures, musicians, ascetics and elephants. These Brahmanical images clearly show that the temple could not have been originally Jaina as has been supposed.