SwapnilJirageTravelPost: Pattadakal - a jewel in the crown

http://travelindiathroughmyeyes.com/pattadakal-a-jewel-in-the-crown/

rameshkabra

10–13 minutes

**A bird’s eye-view of Pattadakal Temple Complex**

The World Heritage Site of Pattadakal is like a jewel in the crown of the Chalukyas of Badami. The group of 9 temples at Pattadakal are like small & big precious stones embedded in the crown. These temples though not as huge and grand as some of the temples of Tamil Nadu still have an enchantment & magnificence of their own. Virupaksha temple and Mallikarjuna temple are the largest of the lot and they have some amazing sculptures carved on the walls outside and exquisite carvings on the pillars & columns inside. They are bound to leave you mesmerized with their richness, variety & grace and also awe stricken at the craftsmanship of the artists in the 7th & 8th century – more than 1300 years ago !! They are truly poetry in stone !!

Historical narrative

The temples at Pattadakkal came up almost 50 to 100 years later than the temples at Badami & Aihole during the reigns of the famous & powerful Chalukya Kings – Pulakeshin II (610-642), Vikramaditya I (655-682) and Vikramaditya II (733-744). These mighty kings enlarged the Chalukyan Empire with their territorial conquests and as they became wealthy they spent a considerable amount in temple building and earned themselves a permanent place in history as discerning patrons of art and architecture.

Pattadakkal is situated on the banks of the river Malaprabha and the site is considered sacred as the river takes a 90 degrees turn here and flows northwards from here(Uttar vahini). Even though the Chalukyas ruled from Badami they used Pattadakkal as their Coronation capital due to the sanctity attached to it. As the village of Pattadakal is surrounded by long hill ranges of soft red sandstone, in earlier times it was known as ‘Kisuvolal’ (kisu= red, volal=valley city) and also ‘Raktapura’ (meaning red city after the colour of blood). Historians are of the view that even kings belonging to Nanda & Maurya dynasties used to come down to this place before the Chalukyas to celebrate their coronation ceremony known in Kannada as ‘Patta Banda Mahotsav’. It is believed that the name Pattadakkal was later derived by joining pattada + kisuvolal /kal !!

**At the peak of its glory the Chalukya empire extended from Maheshwar in the North to almost up to Kanchi in the South**

Pre-historic times

The excavations in the past few decades have led archaeologists to find Stone Age tools around Pattadakal and they believe that this place was inhabited even during the Palaeolithic & Mesolithic periods. Two Protohistoric Iron Age megalithic monuments have been discovered near Pattadakal and they are dated to be 5000 years old. Pattadakal is mentioned in ‘A Guide to Geography’ written by Ptolemy in the mid second century as an important prosperous trading centre having trade contacts with the Roman world.

World Heritage Site : Pattadakal was declared a World Heritage Site as early as 1987 and ASI is doing an excellent job in maintaining it.

A brief note on the temple architecture

The temples of Pattadakal are the earliest & finest examples of the blending of the North Indian: Rekha- Nagara- Prasada and South Indian: Dravida Vimana styles of temple architecture.

The earlier 5 temples Papanatha, Jambulingeshvara, Kadasiddeshvara, Kashi Vishveshara and Galaganatha belong to the Nagara style. They are smaller in size. The later temples Virupaksha, Mallikarjuna and Sangameshwara and Chandrashekhara are believed to be the precursor of the Dravidian style. Among these Galaganatha has some features of Dravidian style too ! Although Chalukyas and Pallavas of Tamil Nadu were regularly at war with each other, there were cultural exchanges too during periods of peace and the cultural creations of both the dynasties had been influenced by each other due to exchange of the artisans.

Having heard of the wealth of the Chalukyan Empire and their growing influence, Emperor Harshavardhana, the mighty ruler of Kannuaj had invaded the Chalukyan kingdom in AD 641 with the intention of annexing it but his army was strongly repulsed by Pulakeshin II. But unfortunately Pulakeshin II passed away only a year later in AD 642. He was married to two sisters Lokhmahadevi and Trailokamshadevi. To commemorate his victory over Pallavas at Kanchi, the two queens got two large temples constructed known as Lokeshvara and Trailokeshvara in AD 640 which later came to be known as Virupaksha & Mallikarjuna temples. In another historical account I read that these two queens got these temples built to commemorate the victory of their husband over Harshvardhan. These two temples adjacent to each other are similar in size and design though Virupsksha temple is more spacious inside and has a large mandap in front of it that houses a huge granite Nandi. This temple also has an ornamental gateway. Both the temples have large lingas in black granite and Virupaksha is still a live temple.

Our visit to Pattadakal

After completing our trip to Aihole and 35 mins drive from there through sunflower & cotton fields with vast swathes of rich black soil on both sides, we reached Pattadakal around 1.00 pm and after a quick bite at a road side stall outside the complex we started our tour of the heritage complex at around 1.30 pm under an overcast sky with our guide.

Pictorial tour of Pattadakal

**Jambulinga, Mallikarjuna & Kashi Vishveshwara temples**

The walls of both Virupaksha & Mallikarjuna temples are an open-air museum adorned with Shaivate sculptures of exceptional quality & precision and fortunately they are in a good state of preservation too. In fact the exterior wall of Virupaksha temple has 35 niches filled solely with the images of Shiva. Some Vishnu images could also be seen on the outer walls of Mallikarjuna temple. What is striking about these niches are the toranas (ceremonial door hangings) that project outwards and enhance the beauty & effect of the images. The images are interspersed with 18 stone windows to let in light and air and they have floral and animal patterns carved around them. The carvings on the pillar depict events from the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Krishna Leela, Shiva Leela, incarnations of Vishnu and also episodes from Panchantra.

The Jambulinga is a small structural temple and it typical of the attempted fusion of the southern layers with the northern style sikhara.

The Galaganatha temple is incomplete- it’s architecture resembles the early Chalukyan temples of 7th-8th centuries at Alampur near Kurnool on the banks of river Tungabhadra in Andhra Pradesh.

The Sangameshwara temple is primarily Dravidian in style built in the time of Vijayaditya.

The Kashivishvanatha temple in the Nagara style is small in size and has a richly decorated exterior and interior.

**Standing in front of outer wall of Virupaksha temple**

**Granite Nandi in the Mandap in front of Virupaksha temple**

**Lingodbhava murti at Virupaksha temple**

The above sculpture on the pillar of Virupaksha temple can be termed as the masterpiece of Pattadakal. This depicts Ravana lifting Kailash mountain with his hands. As the mountain swings the inmates of Kailash get scared and the fear on their face is beautifully expressed. The animals are shown running helter-skelter; a gana is throwing stone at Ravana and another aiming an arrow at him. Though Parvati is with the Supreme Protector she also holds on to him in fear. On account of unbearable weight of the mountain, Ravana’s leg is stuck in the earth. Despite all the turmoil, Shiva is totally calm & composed !! If you observe closely you can see that Ravana has given such a twist to the body that it shows the back of the legs in an ingenious turn seldom seen elsewhere !!

This depicts Gajendra Moksha at Virupaksha temple . Garud is depicted in human form. Gajendra leg is caught by a large turtle. I think it is the imagination & creative work of the sculptor to have depicted turtle instead of crocodile as mentioned elsewhere including Shrimad Bhagwat

**This sculpture grabs attention as it depicts Narasimha overpowering Hiranyakashyap in an inescapable grip from behind in the dual fight.**

The ceiling panel of the eastern porch of Virupaksha temple has a striking composition depicting Surya, the Sun god standing on a chariot yoked by seven horses and flanked by images of Usha & Pratyusha. The chariot is driven by Aruna.

**Bhisma sarasayya in Mallikarjuna tem**ple

**On the left side dwarpala resting his hand on the mace**

**A mithuna couple & a graceful feminine figure**

Ravan fighting Jatayu
and Ram killing Bali

**Take a look at perforated window with Naga sculpture**

**Shiva Sculptures & a rare sculpture of Ganesha**

There is an Archaeological Museum at the site. Due to paucity of time we spent only 10 mins there. I hope you enjoyed the virtual tour of Pattadakal. We didn’t realise how quickly 3 hours passed at the complex and we left the place a bit reluctantly to be able to reach Mahakuta before dark. About one km away from the main temple complex near the village is a Jain temple built in the 9/10th century during the period of Rashtrakutas. We made a quick 10 mins stop at the temple. The specialty of the temple is the presence of large statues of elephants on both sides of the entrance to the main chamber.

We spent two days at Badami and in one day we covered the three locations of Aihole, Pattadakkal and Mahakuta. I think those who want to explore these places in detail should keep one extra day so that they can spend one full day at Aihole and another day at Pattadakal and Mahakuta. The stay has to be at Badami because there are no options available at the other 3 locations.

References:

(1) The Penguin Guide to the Monuments of India (Volume I) by George Michell.

(2) In Praise of Aihole – Badami – Mahakuta- Pattadakal by Marg Publications

(3) Speaking Stones World Cultural Heritage Sites In India published by Good Earth with support from Department of Tourism, Govt. of India

(4) Paddakal by A Sundara published by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)

Please visit my Instagram accounts for pictures of Nature & Architecture : @rameshkabraexplorer & @artheritageofindia_rameshkabra

I am a life member of Nasik INTACH Chapter.

Next Saturday, I shall take you on a virtual tour of the historical city of Bijapur (now renamed as Vaijapur).