Chalukya Dynasty Religion, Architecture - Medieval India Materials

Religion

The Chalukyas patronised both Saivism and Vaishnavism.
They built temples for Siva and Vishnu.
Brahmin groups were invited from the Gangetic regions and settled to perform regular pujas and conduct festivals and ceremonies in the temples.
Notable Chalukya rulers like Kirtivarman I, Mangalesa (597-609), and Pulikesin II (609-642) performed yagnas.
They bore titles such as parama-vaishana and paramamaheswara.
Chalukyas gave prominent place to Kartikeyan, the war god.
Saiva monasteries became centres for popularising Saivism.
Chalukyas patronised heterodox sects also and lavishly donated lands to the Jain centres.
Ravikirti, the poet-laureate of Pulikesin II, was a Jain scholar.
In the reign of Kirtivarman II a Jain village official built a Jain temple in a place called Annigere.
The prince Krishna appointed Gunapatra, a Jain monk, as his master.
According to Hiuen Tsang, there were many Buddhist centres in the Chalukya territory wherein more than 5000 followers of the Hinayana and Mahayana sects lived.

Chalukyas used Sanskrit in pillar inscriptions such as in Aihole and Mahakudam.
A seventh-century inscription of a Chalukya king at Badami mentions Kannada as the local prakrit, meaning the people’s language, and Sanskrit as the language of culture.
A chieftain of Pulikesin II authored a grammar work Saptavataram in Sanskrit.

Historically, in Deccan, Chalukyas introduced the technique of building temples using soft sandstones as medium.
In Badami, two temples are dedicated to Vishnu and one each to Siva and to the Jaina tirthankaras.
Their temples are grouped into two:
- excavated cave temples and
- structural temples.
Badami is known for both structural and excavated cave temples.
Pattadakal and Aihole are popular for structural temples.

Built in 634, Aihole, the headquarters of the famous medieval Ayyavole merchants’ guild was an important commercial centre.
About seventy temples are located in Aihole.
The earliest stone-built temple is Lad Khan temple.
Its unique trait is a stucco pillar with a big capital distinct from northern style.
A temple dedicated to the goddess Durga was built on the model of Buddha Chaitya.
It stands on a raised platform in the form of semi-circle.
Another temple, dedicated to the same goddess is called Huccimalligudi, which is rectangular in shape.
Chalukyas also built Jain temples.
Megudi Jain temple is illustrative of the evolution of temple architecture under the Chalukyas.
The mandapa-type caves are preserved at Aihole.

There are four caves in Badami.
The largest cave temple built by Mangalesa is dedicated to Vishnu.
The reclining posture of Vishnu on the snake bed and Narasimha are exquisite examples of Chalukya art.
Irrespective of religion, architectural features share a common style.
It establishes the technical importance and the secular attitude of both patron and architect.

Pattadakal, a quiet village in Bagalkot district of Karnataka, is famous for its exquisite temples.
Pattadakal was a centre for performing royal rituals.
The Virupaksha temple was built at the order of queen Lohamahadevi to commemorate the conquest of Kanchipuram by her husband Vikramaditya II.
The unique feature of the structural temple built by Rajasimha at Mamallapuram was adopted here by the Chalukyas.
Monuments are generally associated with the rulers who built them.
However, here we also have signatures of the architects who conceived the edifices and the skilled craftspeople who created them.
The east porch of the Virupaksha temple has a Kannada inscription eulogizing the architect who designed the temple.
The architect was given the title Tribhuvacharya (maker of the three worlds).
Several reliefs on the temple walls bear signatures of the sculptors who carved them.
At the south-eastern corner of the village is Aihole Durga Temple the Papanatha temple.
Similar to the Virupaksha temple in its basic plan, it has a shikara in the northern style.
The outer walls are richly decorated with many panels depicting scenes and characters from the Ramayana.
The eastern wall has a short Kannada inscription, giving the name of the architect Revadi Ovajja, who designed the shrine.
In Pattadakal, Chalukyas built more than ten temples which demonstrate the evolution in Chalukya architecture.
On the basis of style these temples are classified into two groups:
- Indo-Aryan and
- Dravidian.

Paintings are found in a cave temple dedicated to Vishnu in Badami.
Chalukyas adopted the Vakataka style in painting.
Many of the paintings are of incarnations of Vishnu.
The most popular Chalukya painting is in the palace built by the King Mangalesan (597-609).
It is a scene of ball being watched by members of royal family and others.