The biggest temple here is dedicated to Virupaksha. Enclosed in a large quadrangle surrounded by small cells, it has a massive gateway and several inscriptions.
Pattadakal Travel Guide Information - Besides scenes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, there is a wonderful carving designed to look like an elephant from one side and a buffalo from the other. In front of the temple is a majestic 2.6k metres high Nandi.
In contrast to the pink - tinged sandstone temples,
The Virupaksha temples is still used for worship.
Stop
now at the Mallikarjuna and Papanatha temples delicately chiseled, rich
in detail.
The inner hall of the Papanatha temple is guarded by Nandi
and Virabhadra. There are 16 pillars in the main hall with beautiful carvings.
Virupaksha Temple Pattadakal near Bijapur is a center of early Chalukyan art. It has a set of nine temples built almost in a single file, showing the architects' longing for experimenting in diverse styles.
The temple is built on a high plinth of five fully evolved mouldings. The outer faces of the walls of the sanctum are divided into a central projection, two intermediate projections and two corner projections with four recesses in between.
Likewise, the mandapa walls on either side of the northern, eastern and southern proches are divided into two projections and two recesses.
All these projections of the sanctum walls carry niches housing images of Saiva and Vaishnava deities like Bhairava, Narasimha, Hari-Hara, Lakulisa etc., while there are perforated windows of various design in the rest of the recesses.
The parapet consists of architectural elements called kutas (square), panjaras (miniature apsidal shrines) and salas (oblong) corresponding to the projections below and the linking courses (harantaras) above the recesses.
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