The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c29.s2: The Temple of Sarasvatī
The Chālukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c29.s2
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The Temple of Sarasvatī
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Some of the best work in this group is to be found in the neighbouring small temple of Sarasvatī, the goddess of learning, which stands on the south side of Trikūṭeśvara and close to it, facing north. On the outside of the temple there is not much calling for special notice beyond the remains of a very neat basement round the hall, but the pillars within claim particular attention, since they are most beautiful specimens of Cālukyan work. The four central ones, supporting the beams of the central compartment of the ceiling of the open hall, are of one pattern, the rest being in pairs. These four rise straight from the floor to the roof; the others stand upon the surrounding low wall or seat. Each of the central pillars is moulded from the ground to about half way up the shaft with the same horizontal mouldings as are usually found on the basement of the walls of richly-finished shrines. The shaft rises from a square with recessed corners to an octagon and thence to the round at the thinnest part of the shaft, near the neck below the capital. The lower member of the capital is a flattened disc, surmounted by a larger spreading octagonal member. All the mouldings, up to the capital, are profusely decorated. The facets on the bases and the octagonal sides have well-cut little figures, but these have been much injured. The little groups on the octagon represent the aṣṭadikpālas, which are so often repeated, in some way or another, in these temples. The hanging festoon of beads, above these, is also a favourite bit of detail, which is very elegant and appropriate to its position. The bracket, above the capital, which supports the ends of the cross beams, is also richly wrought; and the little square flower, with the deep incisions between each, makes, when repeated as it is here, an exceedingly neat string course ornament (Plate CXVIII).
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The pair of pillars in advance of these, which stand on the corners of the stone seat, one on each side of the entrance, are the most elaborately worked of all; and there are, perhaps, no other pillars throughout the whole extent of Cālukyan handicraft left to us which are equal to these for the crowded abundance of minute work which covers their surfaces. The ornament consists of repetitions of miniature shrines, tiny pilasters, panels containing Liliputian gods, goddesses and attendants, rampant lions, and a host of other detail.
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The little pilasters are worked out in all their *minutiæ* as completely as they would have been on their full scale; and the figures which fill all the little panels, some of which are no more than an inch or two in height, are carved in high relief, and are almost detached from the pillar. They are adorned with necklets, bracelets, anklets, and a profusion of other jewellery, each bead and jewel being fashioned with the most careful and delicate touch. Here, again, we find the same brackets over the capital, but even more fully decorated than those above the first pillars described. The scroll forming a band along the top of these is very effective, being so deeply cut that the dark shadows of the interstices contrast sharply with the high lights of the design.
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Although these pillars are so elaborately carved, yet, for good taste, the ornament is far too crowded with detail; and so, in contrast with them, stand the other pillars beside them. The various patterns of pillars in this little temple are so totally different in treatment that, had they been found isolated, they would have suggested different periods or widely different localities. The pillars of the third pair are not copies of any stereotyped pattern, for, as far as I know, they are not met with again within the limits of Chālukyan work in the Bombay Presidency. The great charm about them is the beautiful diaper pattern around their shafts, of which there is just sufficient to make us wish for more. It is a simple lozenge-shaped diaper, each division being filled with a flower; and the deeply-cut channels between each, making the flower-cubes stand out in sharp relief, enhance the crisp effect of the work.
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The ceiling of the hall, or what remains of it, is particularly worthy of notice. It is a close copy of a purely wooden construction translated into stone, line upon line. It rises above the square space between the central four pillars, and, in section, it is vaulted. Deep
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Fig. 33.—Basement wall of Sarasvatī temple, Gadag.
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ribs cross and recross each other, and, from their intersections, hang lotus buds as pendants. Running round the principal ribs are square connecting bars, completely detached from the rest of the roof. The illustrations will explain the arrangement better than description (Plate CXXII). What was, no doubt, the prettiest feature of all, the central pendant, has, unfortunately, been broken away.
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The simple decoration of the outside of the basement wall surrounding the hall is exceedingly neat and effective, and is in marked contrast with the overloaded walls of Trikūṭēśvara (Fig. 33). There is quite as lavish a display of ornamental detail in this little temple as there is in the other, but it is generally applied with better judgment and taste. The simple, straight-lined cornice adds to its general appearance; it is lighter and more graceful than the heavier curved cornice which was so much used.
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Within the shrine is an image of Sarasvatī seated upon a high pedestal or throne but sadly mutilated, having her four arms lopped off at the elbows. Her image has already been described in the Introductory Note (Fig. 3).
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Amongst the inscriptions collected together at the temple of Trikūṭēśvara, and now permanently built into the wall of the courtyard, one records a grant made in A.D. 1062 to the god Trikūṭēśvaradeva in the time of the Western Chālukyan king Āhavamalladēva II. A second records a grant in A.D. 1101, and has the emblems of a *liṅga*, a priest and a bull. A third is dated in A.D. 1193, and relates to the Hoysaḷa dynasty. It is a grant of Vīra Ballaḷadēva who, having wrested the country from the Yādava dynasty of Dēvagiri, had fixed upon Lokkiguṇḍi (Lakkuṇḍi) as his capital. In this inscription, which begins with an invocation to Viṣṇu, it is stated "they have named the god Trikūṭēśvara on account of his three stationary *liṅgas*, and they call him Chatuhkūṭēśvara because of one more which is capable of motion" (perhaps the priest). A fourth records a grant by the prime minister of the Hoysaḷa king Vīra Ballaḷadēva in A.D. 1199, the emblems upon it being a *liṅga*, a priest and a bull. A fifth speaks of the *agrahāra* (lands or villages conferred upon Brāhmaṇs for religious purposes) village of Kratuka (Gadag) in the Beḷvola Three-hundred. It records a grant made in A.D. 1213 to the god Trikūṭēśvara while the Yādava king Siṅghaṇadēva was reigning. And, lastly, there is an inscription recording a grant by a Vijayanagara king, dated in A.D. 1539.¹
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¹ *Indian Antiquary*, II, 295 et seq.