DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27191#0403
Chap. IV.
PATTADAKAL.
353
TT
204. Plan of Great Temple
at Pattadakal.
Scale xoo ft. to 1 in.
of the Kailas, as may be gathered from the annexed wood-
cut (No. 204).1 Antecedently to the
discovery of their relative dates we could
readily believe the southern temple to be the
older of the two, but certainly not distant
in date, and this has been fully confirmed
by the results of more recent research.
Though not the oldest, this is the most
important as well as the largest temple of
this style in the Kanarese districts. It is
the only one now in use in Pattadakal;
the others, mostly of great age and interest,
are used as dwellings or cattle - sheds.
Four of the larger are all of the same
style—the ^ikharas being all square pyra-
mids, divided into distinct storeys, and
each storey ornamented with imitation
cells, alternately oblong and square. Their
ornamentation is coarser or more archaic
than that of the later Chalukyan style, and
the domical termination of the spires is
less graceful. They are wanting, too, in
that general elegance of form and detail
which are so characteristic of the latter, but
are not without a purpose-like boldness of form, expression of
stability, and a certain amount of grandeur, though this is more
readily observable in the larger temples in the south of India
than in those of Pattadakal. If we compare it with the more
modern temples, however, it will be seen how much the latter
lost by the gradually growing steepness of outline and attenua-
tion of details. The more modern forms are not without a
certain degree of elegance which is wanting in the more ancient,
but in all the higher characteristics of design, the older are by
far the finest examples.
The Virupaksha temple stands in an enclosure 224 ft. in
length from east to west, and varying in width from 105 ft. in
front with a large gateway on the east and a smaller one on
the west (Woodcut No. 204). This court has been surrounded
by small shrines or cells, some of which remain. The temple
itself faces the east and has entrance porches also on the north
and south sides. The hall or mandap measures 50 ft. 8 in.
from north to south by 45 ft. 10 in. from east to west, and its
roof is supported by sixteen massive pillars, each of one block
1 There are four photographs of this temple in the ‘ Architectural Antiquities of
Dharwar and Mysore,’ plates 54-57 ; and one in ‘ Archseological Survey of Western
India,’ vol. i. plate 38.
VOL. I. Z
PATTADAKAL.
353
TT
204. Plan of Great Temple
at Pattadakal.
Scale xoo ft. to 1 in.
of the Kailas, as may be gathered from the annexed wood-
cut (No. 204).1 Antecedently to the
discovery of their relative dates we could
readily believe the southern temple to be the
older of the two, but certainly not distant
in date, and this has been fully confirmed
by the results of more recent research.
Though not the oldest, this is the most
important as well as the largest temple of
this style in the Kanarese districts. It is
the only one now in use in Pattadakal;
the others, mostly of great age and interest,
are used as dwellings or cattle - sheds.
Four of the larger are all of the same
style—the ^ikharas being all square pyra-
mids, divided into distinct storeys, and
each storey ornamented with imitation
cells, alternately oblong and square. Their
ornamentation is coarser or more archaic
than that of the later Chalukyan style, and
the domical termination of the spires is
less graceful. They are wanting, too, in
that general elegance of form and detail
which are so characteristic of the latter, but
are not without a purpose-like boldness of form, expression of
stability, and a certain amount of grandeur, though this is more
readily observable in the larger temples in the south of India
than in those of Pattadakal. If we compare it with the more
modern temples, however, it will be seen how much the latter
lost by the gradually growing steepness of outline and attenua-
tion of details. The more modern forms are not without a
certain degree of elegance which is wanting in the more ancient,
but in all the higher characteristics of design, the older are by
far the finest examples.
The Virupaksha temple stands in an enclosure 224 ft. in
length from east to west, and varying in width from 105 ft. in
front with a large gateway on the east and a smaller one on
the west (Woodcut No. 204). This court has been surrounded
by small shrines or cells, some of which remain. The temple
itself faces the east and has entrance porches also on the north
and south sides. The hall or mandap measures 50 ft. 8 in.
from north to south by 45 ft. 10 in. from east to west, and its
roof is supported by sixteen massive pillars, each of one block
1 There are four photographs of this temple in the ‘ Architectural Antiquities of
Dharwar and Mysore,’ plates 54-57 ; and one in ‘ Archseological Survey of Western
India,’ vol. i. plate 38.
VOL. I. Z