Defence Architecture in Early North Karnataka c13.2

c13.2

Malkhēd (Lat. 17⁰-15' & Long. 77⁰-7') is the most enchanting and inspiring name in the history of early Karnāṭaka to her people and also the scholars of history, for it was the prestigious capital of one of the most powerful dynasties with enlightened rulers patronising on a grand level the art and letters, namely the Rāṣṭrakūtas. But today, the place (Fig. 34) is nothing but a small village with mounds of ruins within two forts. There is not a single monument of the Rāṣṭrakūtas of any type worth the name excepting a small Jaina Basadi (Nemināth temple) of the usual type and style of the period. People as well as scholars, who with some have some ideas about the glory of Maḷkhēd, visit the place, will find themselves in a state of utter disillusion and deep disappointment. This is a hard fact.