The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c7.27

c7.27

One of the prettiest features in a Chālukyan temple is the domical ceiling which is often found in the central bay of the hall. It is not a dome in the European sense of construction, that is, it is never built of voussoirs with radiating joints. It is constructed of ring upon ring of stones laid with horizontal or level bedding, each ascending ring smaller than the lower, and closing in towards the top which is closed by a single slab. These rings are held in their place by the immense weight of roofing material above them pressing down upon the haunches of the dome all around. The inside of the dome is carved into ascending concentric circles, each circle being beautifully cusped. From the apex hangs a graceful pendant or rosette. As the dome springs from the square formed by the four beams resting upon the four central pillars of the hall, there are left triangular spaces at the corners which are generally filled in with very rich arabesque. This is, sometimes, as in the case of the Ittagi ceiling, so undercut as to hang away from the body of the slab like so much petrified foliage. Beside these domical ceilings there are flat ones which are divided by cross ribs into small square compartments filled, as in the case of the Ganjigatti one, with images of the *aṣṭadikpālas* or regents of the eight points of the compass, or, as in the case of that at Baṅkāpur, with lotus rosettes arranged to form very dainty designs.¹