The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c8.s2.4

c8.s2.4

The very unusual position of the shrine, which is placed *within* the great hall, against the back wall, has a very primitive air about it. At first sight it would seem that the building was simply a hall or *maṭha* in which, by an afterthought, a shrine was clumsily inserted to convert it into a temple. That this was not so, is clearly shown by the fact that in the similar temples of the Kont-Guḍi group, the beam, from pillar to pillar before the shrine, has been placed on a higher level in the original construction in order to admit of the lofty doorway being seen to its full height, and lion brackets project under the raised beam, one on each side, to further decorate the entrance to the shrine. (See Plate VIII.) After very close examination of these temples I am fully persuaded that these peculiar shrines are original. Moreover, there are, on the north and south sides of the temple, three perforated windows, the central one occupying the central bay of the walling and the other two the adjoining ones; but, in the back wall, which has the same arrangement of bays, between the pilasters, there are only two panels with windows (unfortunately not shown in the plan), those on either side of the central bay which was left unpierced on account of the shrine within. Taking all these points into consideration, and noting the total absence of anything like a *śikhara* or tower, I feel constrained to place this temple at an earlier date than that of Mēguṭi, but how much earlier it is not possible to say with any approximation to accuracy. The architecture of Cave III at Bādāmi is a distinct advance upon this in general style.