The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c7.13

c7.13

In order to follow the transition from the earlier to the later style, the purely Dravidian temple of Virūpāksha at Paṭṭadakal supplies a good starting point (Plate XLV). From this to the Jaina temple at Lakkuṇḍi, or the temple of Kallēśvara at Kukkanūr, is a small step. The storeys in the towers of the latter are a little less prominent. In Virūpāksha the crest of the shrine walls on each face are surmounted by three free-standing miniature roofs—a long wagon-vaulted one in the middle and a square one at each corner. In the Jaina temple the central one is broken up into an overlapping repetition of itself, and all are reduced in importance by being made less conspicuous. Here we find the commencement of the central niche on the upper course of each storey, which, later on, by its closer repetition, one above the other, represents, fairly approximately, the vertical band up the faces of the northern tower. The topmost member, under the finial, has more mouldings introduced and has a greater inward curve, which, if still further hollowed out, with a few more vertical corrugations, such as we see crowning the tower of Dodda Basappā at Ḍambaḷ, would resemble the ribbed *amalsari* and neck of the northern type.