The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c9.1

c9.1

I N a secluded glade, at the foot of the eastern slope of the table-land which rises between it and Bādāmi, three miles to the west, is a little group of temples within a high enclosure wall. The largest and principal one, facing the entrance, is dedicated to the god Mahākūṭeśvara. It is of the same early type as those at Aihoḷe and Paṭṭadakal, but, perhaps, earlier than the latter (Plates XXVI and XXVII). In the centre of the enclosure is a large masonry tank, which is known as the Viṣṇu-puṣkariṇī, or the ‘Lotus Pool of the god Viṣṇu’. Through it passes a constant stream of pure fresh water from some mountain spring, and thence out into the adjoining gardens, where it irrigates groves of screw palms and supplies another pool, called the Pāpavināśana Tīrtha, or the ‘Tank of Ablution’. On the north side of the first tank is the temple of Mahākūṭeśvara, while, to the south of it, stands the temple of Mallikārjuna. Beside these two principal temples there are a score of more of small shrines scattered about. The towers of Mahākūṭeśvara, and some of the others, are in the Dravidian style; the rest are in the Northern.