The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c6.s1.9

c6.s1.9

One of the earliest inscriptions giving an account of the Chālukya family is engraved upon a large slab built into the eastern wall of the old temple of Meguṭi on the hill above the village of Aihoḷe, which is situated in the south-eastern portion of the Bijāpūr District. It is the time of the Western Chālukya king Pulikēśin II., and is dated in the Śaka year 556 (A.D. 634-5).² It gives us no information respecting the Chālukyas, but shows that they had, as neighbours and enemies, the Naḷas, the the Kadambas, the Mātaṅgas and the Kaṭachchuris whom they subjugated. It is, however, that they came originally from Ayodhyā. Further afield they came into contact with the Gaṅgas, the Āḷupas, and the Pallavas of Kāñchi or Conjeveram. They lived under the guardianship of the Saptamātṛi or ‘Seven Mothers,’ and their favourite deity is said to have been Kārtikeya, while the god Nārāyaṇa presented them with the boar standard.