Places to visit at Pattadakal

 Virupaksha Temple is the largest and grandest of all temples in Pattadakal built in the 8th century, built by queen Lokamahadevi in 745AD to commemorate her husband’s victory (Vikramaditya II) over the Pallavas of Kanchi. She is also credited to have built the Virupaksha temple influenced by the architecture of the Kailasanatha temple at Kanchipuram.

 The Virupaksha is a large complex consisting of a tall vimana with axial mandapas and peripheral sub-shrines round the court, enclosed by a wall with gopura-entrances in front and behind, all designed and completed at one time. A giant stone sculpture of Nandi sits to the temple’s east.The sanctum has an ambulatory, and installed on the square pedestal is a black Shivalinga.

 The Virupaksha temple later served as a model for the Rashtrakuta ruler Krishna I (757 -783 A.D.) to carve out the great Kailasa at Ellora.

 Kadasiddheswara Temple is said to have been built in the middle of seventh century AD. It is very close to its twin temple, the Jambulinga Temple. It is built in Nagara style and resemble the Hucchimalli’ Gudi at Aihole.

 Kadasiddeshwara temple has housed several sculptures including,Shiva holding a trishula (trident) in his hands, Parvati, Brahma and Vishnu.

 To the south, very close to the Kadasiddheshwara shrine, is the shrine of Jambulingeswara.JambulingeswaraTemple is said to have been built in the middle of seventh century AD.

 The temple is built on a high plinth having five mouldings with its topmost moulding (kapota) decorated with kudus, miniature ganas and birds. Walls of the sanctum have sculptures of Siva (south), Surya (west) and Vishnu (north).

 The superstructure over the sanctum is of the rekha-nagara (northern) style with a curvilinear profile rising in three diminishing stages, but its amalaka and kalasa are missing.

 Galaganatha Temple was constructed in the first half of the 8th century. It is a typical example of a finely evolved architecture style of rekha-nagaraprasada.

 The sculpture housed in this pavilion is that of Siva slaying Andhakasura. The eight-armed god wears a wreath of human skulls (munda-mala) like a sacred thread (yajnopavita) and is depicted as piercing the demon with the trident (trisula).

 It also houses an immense Shiva Linga, called the SparshaLinga. Small figurines of Lord Kubera and Gajalakshmi are also housed within the temple.

 Some interesting figures are carved in the box-like projections of the basement moulding to the east. One of these boxes depicts the story of the mischievous monkey from the Panchatantra and the figure of a two-faced bird in another box seems to narrate yet another story from the same work.

 Chandrashekhara Temple was built around 750AD. It is situated between Sangameswara and Galaganatha temples. It is about 15ft in height and faces towards east.

 The temple architecture is very simple. . The garbhagriha houses a Shivalinga on a pedestal. The exterior walls of the temple are decorated with pilasters at regular intervals. There were once dwarapalas (doorkeepwe) standing on either side of the garbhagriha, but now only one remains. There is no shikhara over the shrine.

 The oldest temple at Pattadakal is Sangamesvara, built by Chalukya King VijayadityaSatyasraya (AD 697-733). Both the Sangamesvara and the larger Virupaksha are similar to each other in being square on plan from the base to sikhara. Sangamesvara was once called Vijayeshwara.

 The temple is in Dravidian style and consists of a sanctum, inner passage and navaranga. The main vimana of the Sangamesvara is of three storeys. The lowermost storey is surrounded by two walls, the inner and outer, the second storey being an upward projection of the inner wall, while the outer wall encloses the covered circumambulatory round the sanctum.

 This is believed to be the last Hindu temple built in Pattadakal monuments. The temple has only sanctum and antarala left and the remaining parts are collapsed. The sanctum is supported by two pillars and has a Shivalinga carved out of black stone. The doorway of the sanctum has a carving of Garuda holding snakes. Bottom of the doorway has nice sculptures of female figures in different postures.

 Mallikarjuna temple is very similar to the Virupaksha temple but smaller in size. It is also close to the Virupaksha temple. It was built around 740 AD using Dravidian architectural style. This temple is said to have been built bythe queen of Vikramaditya II (733-46), Trilokyamahadevito celebrate the victory over the Pallavas by Vikramaditya II. It was formerly known as Trailokeshwara.

 The temple has 4 storeyedvimana with a circular griva and shikhara.The eighteen pillars of the navaranga have figures pertaining to Ramayana, Mahabharatha and those representing social conditions of those days. On the ceiling are beautiful figures of Gajalakshmi and Shiva-Parvathi with Nandi. In the porch there is a splendid image of Narasimha killing Hiranyakashipu and two female idols.Even in its ruined state, the well conceived and skillfully executed Nandi-mandapa presents an elegant piece of architecture. Its basement (adhistana) has beautifully carved figures of elephants and other animals.

 Papanatha Temple is dedicated to Mukteswara according to inscriptions. The temple seems to have been completed around 740 A.D. The temple was started in nagara style but later changed to a more balanced Dravidian style. Papanatha Temple is located to the south of the Virupaksha has a portico, main hall, big antechamber and the sanctum with encircled path way.

 Curiously, there is no Nandi-mandapa but an ornate image of Nandi is housed in the eastern half of the sabha-mandapa.Various beautiful carvings can be seen on the walls of the temple, including depictions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata. At the doorway of the inner hall are idols of door-keepers, Nandi and Veerabhadra. There are 16 pillars in the main hall, which have fine figures of couples and carved figures of females. The ceiling has impressive figures of Shiva-Parvathi with Vishnu and the gandharvas.

 The Jaina temple,locally famous as Jaina Narayana, is made following the Dravidian architectural style and has various beautiful and intricate sculptures. It may have been built in the 9th century by King Amoghavarsha I Or his son Krishna II.

 It consists of a mukhamantapa (main hall), a navaranga, shukanasa and garbhagriha. The principle deity of the temple is Parshvanatha, the 23rd tirthankara of Jainism. The bays contain kudu-like arches and half-arches as in northern style temples. The subdued griva (mane) recess over this storey supports an elegantly carved square shikhara.

 This Jain temple has several intricately crafted sculptures housed inside it.

 There are numerous Kannada language inscriptions at Pattadakal. Important among them are: One at Virupaksha Temple, which is an 8th (733–745) century Kannada inscription on victory pillar; another is in the Sangameshwara temple which is a large old Kannada inscription of Sinda chieftain Chavunda II (1162 A.D.) describing grants made by King Vijayaditya for the construction of the temple.