The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c8.s2.3

c8.s2.3

There is no temple at Aihole, nor elsewhere that I know of, which impresses one so much with its cave-like character. Its general massiveness, the simplicity of its construction, and its plan and details, have much more in common with cave architecture than with that of later mediæval temples—and with cave architecture not of the latest. It is peculiarly wooden-looking in its construction, making allowance for the more massive nature of stone-work. This might seem a contradiction of the previous statement did we not know that cave architecture is itself, in great measure, derived from wooden forms. The walls are not walls in the ordinary sense of stone masonry, but are composed of posts, at intervals, joined up by screens and lattice windows. The flat roof, and its want of elevation, are cave-like characteristics. But, more than with anything else, one is struck with the great massive pillars, with their roll bracket-capitals, which evince a simpler and more dignified style than many of those more-decorated ones in Cave III at Bādāmi; and they, certainly, have the appearance of greater age than the latter.