The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c31.s1.6

c31.s1.6

Upon the outer walls of the temple are found images of all the principal deities, among which are Brahmā, Viṣṇu with his incarnations, and Śiva in his different forms. The śikhara has disappeared. The outer doors of the antechambers are flanked with perforated screens, those of the north, south and west doors being a very prettily-chased grating with the alternate perforations filled with lozenge-shaped flowers. Each of the panels of the east doorway is filled with a beautiful scroll of arabesque with little musicians filling each of the whorls (Plates CXXVIII and CXXIX). Above this door is the usual sculptured architrave with three little niches for the images of Brahmā, Śiva and Viṣṇu. These appear to have been cut out, possibly because Brahmā occupied the centre and was thus objectionable to the Liṅgāyats, in this position.¹