A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c18.29

c18.29

Almost all the arts and crafts were organized in castes and guilds of their own, and work was clearly done on a corporate basis, for we hear little about individual artists, not even the names of the architects, sculptors and painters who added so much beauty to life in the country. One of the very few and notable exceptions to this rule is Śri Guṇḍan Anivāritachāri, the builder of the Lokeśvara temple (now called Virūpāksha) at Pattadakal, who procured many privileges for his class from the contemporary Chālukya ruler of Bādāmi besides winning for himself the title Tenkanadiśeyasūtradhāri, ‘the architect of the South’. It was he who designed the sculptures of scenes from the Rāmāyaṇa which adorn the walls of this temple. Śri Guṇḍan is said to have been an expert in planning cities, constructing palaces, vehicles, thrones and bedsteads. Several Hoysala sculptors ‘signed’ their creations, the most famous names among them being Malitamma, Baicoja, Caudaya, Nanjaya, and Bāma.