The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c8.s4.1

c8.s4.1

Of temples with northern śikharas there are two particularly fine ones, namely, the Durga temple at Aihoḷe (No. 3) and that of Pāpaṇātha at Paṭṭadakal, the former being, undoubtedly, the finest and most imposing temple in the village (Plates IX—XI). It is most unique in that it is built upon the lines of the apsidal cave chaitya of the Buddhists, the position of the shrine being that of the dāgaba; and, like its prototype, two rows of columns separate the body of the hall into a central nave and two side aisles. Stone, as a building material, at a time when constructive arching was unknown, determined that the roof should be flat and not arched, but sufficient likeness to the chaitya was obtained by making the central roof lofty and that of the side aisles low and sloping, the slope being the nearest approach to the half vault of the chaitya. The entablature, four feet deep, sculptured with friezes of figures, foliage and arabesque, built over the columns on either side in order to raise the height of the nave, reminds one forcibly of the same as seen in the cave chaityas above the pillars, such as that in cave XXVI at Ajanta.¹ Upon plate XI will be found a small scale plan of cave XIX at Ajanta, and it is interesting to compare the two plans. It will be seen that the rock-wall periphery of the cave corresponds to the outer pillared periphery of the temple; and the walls of the temple are just the columns of the cave all linked up. The dāgaba of the cave, upon the face of which is the principal object of worship—the image of Buddha—is represented by the shrine with its image. The structural necessities of the temple required the addition of these extra columns in the hall. There is no doubt that this type of structure descended from a wooden prototype, which was originally provided with a thatched roof. Such a roof has been reproduced, in brick and mortar, over the old Buddhist chaitya at Tēr in the Nizām's dominions.² The temple faces the east.