The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c34: Belgāum
The Chālukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c34
- Language
- English
Contents
- c34.s1 Old Temples in the Fort — 3 parts
- c34.s2 The Temple Near the Barracks — 3 parts
Belgāum
Old Temples in the Fort
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T HERE are three old temples in the fort at Belgāum. Two of these are Jaina and one Brahmanical. They have already been described in Dr. Burgess' *Report of the First Season's Operations in the Belgaum and Kaladgi Districts*.
The Jaina Temple Facing North
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This temple, which consists of an outer, open, pillared hall, an inner closed hall, an antechamber and shrine, faces the north. This is not unusual in Jaina temples, which face any of the four cardinal points. The *śikhara* is of the stepped-out variety, in pyramidal form, like that on the north side of the lake at Bādāmi, already described; and the roof of the hall is in the same style. In the *śikhara* is the small upper shrine so often found in Jaina temples (Plates CXXXV and CXXXVI).
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The outer walls of the temple are very plain, being decorated only with flat horizontal bands. The pillars of the outer hall are of the round polished style so common in these temples, such as are seen in the temple at Baṅkāpur, though not quite so elaborately moulded. In this hall is a fine domical ceiling, with central pendant, after the style of the Hāngal one; and, like that, it has the *aṣṭadikpālas*, of which one is missing, in the corners above the pillars. Arranged around, within the dome, are eight *makara* brackets, but the images which rested on these have disappeared. Running round the lower octagonal part of the dome, is a row of little seated and standing Jinas in niches.
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Upon examining the plan¹ it would seem that this open hall was a later addition, for standing out into the floor are two pillars, with their superstructure, of what seems to be the porch of the inner hall. This porch would not have been necessary had the outer hall been part of the original plan. A portion, only, of the parapet wall of this hall now remains in the north-west corner. Upon it are carved pairs of small figures.
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¹ *Report of the First Season's Operations*, Plate IV.
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The door of the inner hall, which was probably the original outer door of the temple, is richly carved, and on the dedicatory block above it is a seated Jina. The pillars in this hall are of the variety used in the temple at Dēgāmve, with the square block in the middle of the shaft. Upon these blocks is incised arabesque ornament.
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The door of the antechamber has perforated side screens, more elaborately carved, if anything, than those at Unkal. Above this door is a dancing male figure, remarkably like a *tāṇḍava* image of Śiva. It appears to have had eight arms, which are now broken off, and to wear a crown, but the face is mutilated. This image may have been inserted by the Liṅgāyats who appropriated many Jaina temples.¹
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¹ See *Report of the First Season's Operations*, Plate V
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The shrine doorway is also elaborately carved, and has a seated Jina upon the dedicatory block. Within the shrine is a throne for an image, but the latter has disappeared.
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There were two stone tablets near this temple, which were taken to the museum of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, both of which record a grant to the high priest in A.D. 1205, for the purpose of a Jaina temple of the Raṭṭas which had been built by king Bicha.²
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² *Journal of the Bom. Br. R. A. S.*, X, 184
The Jaina Temple Facing South
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This temple, or what remains of it, for the shrine does not now exist, stands at a short distance to the north-east of the last. It consists, at present, of a closed hall with a deep verandah before it at the south end or front. Save for some very neat ornament upon the outside parapet wall of the verandah, the exterior is quite plain. The superstructure of the original roof has gone, and the building has been made watertight with a coating of concrete and plaster (Plate CXXXIV). Upon the front edge of the roof three sculptured slabs remain.³ There were, no doubt, two others, one at either extreme end. The centre slab has upon it a seated Jina with the hands in the lap and an attendant standing on each side of him. On the west one is a *devī* or goddess, four-armed, holding in her upper hands the *aṅkuśa* and *pāśa*, the symbols of Brahmī. Her lower hands are broken away. Upon the east slab is another *devī* whose identity it is not difficult to determine, for the *chakra* and the *śaṅkha*, which she carries, declare her to be the female counterpart of Viṣṇu. Now it will be noticed that the central slab is of a different shape, and has a different style of carving to the others. On the dedicatory block above the shrine door is Garuḍa. These facts seem to point to the possibility of the temple having been a Vaiṣṇava shrine, and possibly dedicated to a Vaiṣṇava goddess, the three central slabs then containing Brahmī, Vaiṣṇavī and Mahēśvarī, in this order from west to east. At some period, perhaps when the neighbouring Jaina temple was built, this one, being in disuse at the time, was appropriated.
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³ When I first visited the temple the one on the west side had fallen, and was lying upon the ground on its face, partly embedded in the earth. It has since been replaced in its old position.
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As in the Dēgāmve temple, the front row of pillars had figure brackets supporting the consoles under the eaves, but these have been removed. The cornice is in a very dilapidated state and the falling masses from it have badly damaged the basement stones. The larger image upon the verandah wall, on either side of the entrance, looks like that of Viṣṇu as a *dvārapāla*.
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The hall is divided into one long central nave, from front to back, and a long side chapel on each side. These latter were closed off from the central nave by perforated screens fixed between the pillars, a portion of which still remains in the north-west corner. In the middle of each of the side walls is a big niche for an image, but they are now empty. Another temple provided with long side chapels like this one is that of Sōmeśvara at Nāregal, ten miles south-east of Ron, in which, in the west side one, are still two images—of Nārāyaṇa and Lakshmī—remaining in place on the long running altar. Dividing these chapels from the centre hall are also perforated screens.
The Temple Near the Barracks
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All that remains of this temple is the closed hall; the shrine, antechamber, porches and outer hall, if it had one, have disappeared. When British troops were first quartered in the fort this building appears to have had another room added to it, where the shrine once stood, and was thus, with other additions, converted into a Sergeants’ Mess with this cryptic label attached, “ Qrs. No. 2 ”. The interior was then whitewashed, but the beautifully moulded pillars and a finely-carved antechamber doorway were spared that degradation. The outside walls are moulded in much the same simple style as the Jaina temples just described, while the doorways are fully decorated. There are indications of porches which stood before the north and south doorways and a porch or outer hall before the eastern door (Plate CXXXV).
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There are four fine pillars within, of the style of those at Dēgāmve, but of better proportions and finer detail. In the walls are elaborately framed niches for images which are now empty.
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The inner doorway, which was that leading into the antechamber when that existed, is very richly sculptured. There is a splendid architrave above it, whereon are sculptured the three gods Brahmā, Śiva and Viṣṇu, Śiva occupying the centre in his tāṇḍava form. Between them are dancing figures and musicians, together with little images of dēvīs. On the dedicatory block is Gaṇeśa, who is generally found in this position of honour in later Śaiva temples, and more especially in those further north. Upon the pilasters of the door jambs, one on either side, are Brahmā and Viṣṇu. Beyond the pilasters is a vertical narrow band of perforated scroll work (Plate CXXXVI).