The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c7.33

c7.33

The pillars, ceilings and door frames were the principal parts of a temple which were reserved for special decoration. Figure 2 shows a pillar from a temple at Rāmappā lake, some thirty miles to the north-east of Warangal, as an example of extreme decoration. In the detail, thus lavishly applied, it is generally the workmanship and beautiful patterns used rather than the scheme of distribution that pleases most. In the more ornate examples the amount of ornamental detail crowded over the surface of one temple would suffice for two or more if sparingly and judiciously applied. The great temple of Haḷēbīḍ is an example of this excess, for it has no plain surfaces to act as a foil to the fretted detail (Fig. 1).