The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c8.s10.3

c8.s10.3

The doorway of the hall is unlike any other at Aihole (Plate XXIII). Like the solitary doorway of the demolished temple on the south side of the temple No. 9, this has the water-pot, elephant and fat figure at the bottom on either side, but in that the likeness ends. The pillarettes of the jamb mouldings, on either side of the door, are here surmounted by *makaras* whose great tails of elaborate arabesque hang over the capitals and envelop the mouldings below. A similar arrangement to this may be seen on the door of the Jaina temple at Paṭṭadakal (see Fig. 22). Instead of the dedicatory block, above the door, containing an image of some sort, as is usual, it is a purely ornamental feature. Two *makaras* heads, looking opposite ways, are bound together by a little square button or brooch. A similar device adorns the outer doorway of the temple of Pāpanātha at Paṭṭadakal, described further on. Gaṅgā and Yamunā are here very important figures on either side of the door, the *makara* under Gaṅgā, though not shown on the drawing, being distinctly traceable on the corroded surface of the stone.