DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2371#0426
404
CHAPTER II.
CAVE-TEMPLES AT AIHOLE AND BADAMI IN THE
DEKHAN.
A little to the north-west of the village of Aihole,1 on the MMa-
prabha river, in the Kaladgi district, in the south of the Bombay
Presidency, is a small Brahmanical temple, probably one of the oldest
yet discovered. It consists of a hall, 18-J- feet by 13| and 8 feet
9 inches high, with two plain square pillars in front; on each side the
hall is a chapel, and behind it the shrine, each raised by five steps
above the level of the hall floor, and the front of each divided by
two pillars with square bases and sixteen-sided "shafts.2 In front of
this shrine has been an antechamber, at one time separated from
it by a carved doorway built in, but now destroyed. The chapel on
the right of the hall measures about 12 feet by 14, but is either
quite unfinished, or, having been originally like the other, it has
afterwards been enlarged. In the left side chapel is a sculpture, on
the back wall, of a ten-armed Siva dancing with Parvati, Ganesa,
Kali, a horse-headed Gana, Bhringi and others of his gam or fol-
lowers, all with very high headdresses as at Badami.
In the corners of the hall are larger figures—in one of Arddhanari.
the androgynous form of Siva—in another of Siva and Parvati vnt
the skeleton Bhringi; while out of Siva's headdress rise three fenw *•
heads representing the river goddesses Ganga, Yamuna, and bam
wati, or the female triad of Uma, Lakshmi, and Saraswati.3
In a third corner is another form of Siva, with cobra, &c, w n
the fourth, Siva and Vishnu, or Hara and Hari, standing together.
In the left end of the antechamber is Varaha, or the boar incarnation
of Vishnu, and in the right is Mahishasuri, a form of Durga, slayn>-
the buffalo-demon. On the roof are other carvings, and in the s
a plain chavaraiiga or base for an idol. __——-
1 It is the ancient Ayyavole, in Lat. 16° 1' N., Long. 75° 57' E. m tne &^
taluka. In tbe seventh and eighth centuries it was a capital of the Western
dynasty.—Lid. Ant, vol. viii. pp. 237, 287.
2 See First Arch. Report, Plate XLVIIJ, and p. 38.
3 See my Elcphanta, § 44 and notes.
CHAPTER II.
CAVE-TEMPLES AT AIHOLE AND BADAMI IN THE
DEKHAN.
A little to the north-west of the village of Aihole,1 on the MMa-
prabha river, in the Kaladgi district, in the south of the Bombay
Presidency, is a small Brahmanical temple, probably one of the oldest
yet discovered. It consists of a hall, 18-J- feet by 13| and 8 feet
9 inches high, with two plain square pillars in front; on each side the
hall is a chapel, and behind it the shrine, each raised by five steps
above the level of the hall floor, and the front of each divided by
two pillars with square bases and sixteen-sided "shafts.2 In front of
this shrine has been an antechamber, at one time separated from
it by a carved doorway built in, but now destroyed. The chapel on
the right of the hall measures about 12 feet by 14, but is either
quite unfinished, or, having been originally like the other, it has
afterwards been enlarged. In the left side chapel is a sculpture, on
the back wall, of a ten-armed Siva dancing with Parvati, Ganesa,
Kali, a horse-headed Gana, Bhringi and others of his gam or fol-
lowers, all with very high headdresses as at Badami.
In the corners of the hall are larger figures—in one of Arddhanari.
the androgynous form of Siva—in another of Siva and Parvati vnt
the skeleton Bhringi; while out of Siva's headdress rise three fenw *•
heads representing the river goddesses Ganga, Yamuna, and bam
wati, or the female triad of Uma, Lakshmi, and Saraswati.3
In a third corner is another form of Siva, with cobra, &c, w n
the fourth, Siva and Vishnu, or Hara and Hari, standing together.
In the left end of the antechamber is Varaha, or the boar incarnation
of Vishnu, and in the right is Mahishasuri, a form of Durga, slayn>-
the buffalo-demon. On the roof are other carvings, and in the s
a plain chavaraiiga or base for an idol. __——-
1 It is the ancient Ayyavole, in Lat. 16° 1' N., Long. 75° 57' E. m tne &^
taluka. In tbe seventh and eighth centuries it was a capital of the Western
dynasty.—Lid. Ant, vol. viii. pp. 237, 287.
2 See First Arch. Report, Plate XLVIIJ, and p. 38.
3 See my Elcphanta, § 44 and notes.