Facade of Naulakha Palace, Gondal

The 18th century Naulakha Palace at Gondal is one of the oldest palace in this town.  It has a beautiful sculpted facade. 

The palace has magnificent stone carvings with balconies, a pillared courtyard, delicately carved arches. 

The facade of the palace is carved with sculptures of real and mythical animals. 

Veera Narayana Temple, Belavadi

Veera Narayana Temple located in Belavadi is an ancient 12th century temple carved in soapstone. This temple comprising of three shrines was built during the rule of the Hoysala King Veera Ballala II.

In this temple with unique architecture each  of the three shrines has a complete by itself with tower on top of the shrine. Among the three shrines, two of the shrines face each other and are located on either side of a wide and spacious open hall with thirty seven bays.

The central shrine is much older and its inner walls are plain with well decorated roof. In all, the temple complex has fifty nine bays that is exhibited by many pillars. While most of these pillars are lathe-turned and bell shaped, some have decorative carvings on them. 

The outer wall of the temple has many eaves running around the temple. Below this are miniature decorative towers on pilasters. A panel of Hindu deities and their attendants are below this eves followed by a set of five moldings that form the base of the wall.

All shrines have sculptured decoration on the towers, and the sculptures on the walls are bold and are visible from a distance. These beautiful sculptures represent various forms of deity of the temple.

Brick Monastery, Udayagiri

At Udayagiri, the Buddhist site in Orissa, ASI have excavated many interesting structures that were created any time between 7th and 12th century. One such excavation has brought to light the remains of a huge monastic complex comprising a Mahastupa and an east facing square monastery.

This monastery has the mountains as its backdrop giving it a majestic look. The monastery measures about 35 M sq. and had 21 cells.

At the back-end of the courtyard, in the sanctum there is a huge 12 feet statue of Buddha in Bhumisparsha Mudra. On his either side are Vajrapani and Padmapani.

The door frame to the sanctum is beautifully carved. The detailing with flying apsaras, pupil climbing vines, elephants are simply beautiful. The eyes, nose and lips of a miniature human forms are crafted with at most care.

ASI Museum Sculptures - 2, Shimoga

In Shimoga in the fort area is the 16th century Shivappa Nayak Palace  has been converted into a A.S.I Museum. There are many sculptures in this museum which were excavated from various regions. Some of them are sculptures of Bodhisattva. 

In early Indian Buddhism, Bodhisattva was primarily used to refer specifically to Gautama Buddha in his former life. Here is sculpture of 2nd century Gandhara style Bodhisattva Head excavated from Taxila.

Here is another sculpture of 5th century Gupta style Bodhisattva Head excavated from Saranath.

Tara in Tibetan Buddhism, is a female form of Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. Here is sculpture between 11 - 12 century Gupta style Tara female Head in black stone from Alwar. Another is sculpture between 9 - 10 century Prathihara style Tara female Head in white stone excavated from Saranath.

Veerabhadra Temple, Lepakshi

The Veerabhadra Temple in Lepakshi has been built on a low altitude hillock of a large exposure of granite rock. This 16th century temple built by Virupanna Nayaka and Viranna, both Governors under the Vijayanagar Empire.

The architecture of the temple is that of Vijaynagar Style of that period. The main temple is laid out in three parts: the assembly hall, ante chamber and the sanctum. The assembly hall is a large sized open hall with a large space in its central part.

On the pillars and walls there are carvings of saints, guardians, musicians, dancers and 14 avatars of Shiva. Every pillar is of different style and shape. The open space in the middle part of the hall has large columns which have carvings of triple figures.

The temple also has a hanging pillar which is a medieval architectural wonder to witness. Out of the seventy pillars, this one pillar does not rest on the ground completely but hangs in the air, with enough space between its base and the ground to pass a sheet of paper through it.

On every corner of the temple one can find either carvings or paintings.

Rang Mahal, Ellora

We have already seen details of Kailasa Temple of Ellora in the earlier post. This 8th century temple has strong architectural influences  of Pallava and Chalukya styles.

Within the enclosed courtyard, there is a flat-roofed main shrine dedicated to Shiva, and an image of his mount Nandi. The rectangular main shrine is called Rang-Mahal because after its completion, the temple was plastered and painted. 

The temple has niches, plasters, windows as well as images of deities and other figures. The 7 meter high plinth is decorated with life size elephants and mythical animals.

The two storey main shrine has Vadys Mandapa, Nandi Mandapa, a pillared hall, an antechamber and a small sanctum surrounded by five subsidiary shrines.

The pillared hall is supported by 16 pillars each with different set of carvings on them.

Sursagar Lake, Vadodara

Sursagar Lake at Vadodara is right in the middle of the city. The lake has held the water in one place with the help of stone banks and masonry and as a result it is full of water throughout the year.

In case the lake overflows to control the water several underground gates have been constructed to empty the lake. Water from these gates gushes to Vishwamitri river, which flows through the City. 

The Vadodara Mahanagar Seva Sadan has intalled a 120 ft tall statue of Lord Shiva in standing posture in Year 2002, in the middle of this lake. 

Veerabhadra Temple Complex, Lepakshi

Veerabhadra Temple Complex in Lepakshi is one of the ancient structures in the area. Built in 16th century this is a architectural marvel. This was built by Virupanna Nayaka and Viranna, both brothers who were Governors under the Vijayanagar Empire. 

The outermost waled enclosure has three gates, of which the northern gate is used regularly. The temple complex has Veerabhadra Temple and Natya Mantapa. 

Within the temple complex, to its eastern side, there is huge boulder of granite stone which on one side has carving of coiled multi-hooded serpent providing an umbrella cover over a Linga. On the other side of the same boulder there is also a huge statue of Lord Ganesha.

There are also several other structures in the complex like Shiva Linga and Hanuman.

Shamlaji Temple, Shamlaji

Shamlaji Temple in Shamlaji is located on the banks of the Meshvo river in the valley surrounded by wooded hills. This 16th century temple is known for its artistic beauty in sculptures. The temple is built in Chaulukyan architectural style.

The temple built of white sandstone and brick is of two stories, supported on pillars. Above the shrine is a pyramid-based tower that rises into a spire like a high-shouldered cone with flattened sides. The forepart of the roof consists of a number of small domes springing from a flat roof.

The temple is divided into three parts: Sabha Mandap, Antaraal and Garbha Griha. The steps lead to the entrance hall; and this also faces straight into the Garbha Griha with the Image of the Lord Vishnu.

On the external wall the temple is richly carved with beautiful sculptures of various sizes. Running right round the building is a fringe of elephants' heads carved in stone. Above this is a frieze full of figures in bass-relief, men on horseback with bows, and animals. At every corners in the frieze of elephants there are two twin elephants ejecting out.

There are several ventilated stone windows in the temple that has been carved all around the temple. They have beautiful patterns that let sufficient sun light into the temple.

There are several carvings of deity in various forms all around the temple that stand out for their craftsmanship and beauty.

Suparshwanatha Basadi, Shravanabelagola

At Shravanabelagola on the Chandragiri hill there are various monuments all over the hillock. One among them is Suparshwanatha Basadi to tthe north-west of the fort enclosure.

It is a small temple that consists of a garbhagriha, a sukhanasi and a porch. The temple belongs to a period between 11th to 12th century.

In the garbhagriha there is image of tirthankara Suparshwanatha. The image here is a seated figure, canopied by a seven hooded serpent and flanked by male fan bearers.

Marundeeswarar Temple, Chennai

Marundeeswarar Temple in Chennai occupying an overall area of 1 acre is one of the oldest temples in the Thiruvanmiyur region. In the 11th century this temple was expanded by the Chola Kings. The temple can be entered through the huge five tiered gateway tower.

The temple has two entrances, one from East Coast Road and the other from West Tank Street both adorned by 5-tiered gateway tower.The colourful stucco figures adorn the towers.

The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva is facing west. There is a separate mantapam for his consort Thripurasundari.

The tower above the sanctum of the presiding deity is of Chaturvastam design.The mandapam of the main temple has a front hall with 36 massive pillars adorned with carvings.

The temple has smaller Shrines for Ganesha, Murugan facing the east.

Poetry in Stone - 32

This is thirty-second  in the series on the rich cultural heritage of ancient temples in India. There are various intricate sculptures in each of these temples where each one of them is better than the other.

On the East Gate of Great Stupa of Sanchi has beautiful sculptures of elephants at the top side. The close up of the elephants shows skillfully carved cloth coverings and other details.
 

Dashavatara in Ellora has a sculpture of Mahadeva in his terrible form. The gigantic figure lounges forward holding up his elephant hide, with a necklace of skulls depending below is loins, while with his trishul he has transfixed one victim. 

To add to the elements of horror, Kali, gaunt and grim, stretches her skeleton length below, with huge mouth, having a crooked knife in her right hand, and stretching out the other with a bowl as if wanting a share of the victims blood.

At Sun Temple of Modhera, on the step of the Surya Kund directly opposite the temple, a small shrine has Vishnu on Shesh Shaiya. 

Sri Chintala Venkataramana Swamy Temple, Tadipatri

This beautiful temple in Tadipatri is right in the heart of the city. It is believed that the temple was built in the mid 16th century by Sri Thimma Naidu under the orders of the Vijayanagara kings.

The temple has lofty gopura that has been partially destroyed by the earthquake. But it has been rebuilt recently.

This magnificent temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu is built on 5 acres of land. 

The deity in the sanctum is 10 feet high. Once in a year, the sun rays touches the feet of dirty for 3 days continuously. These sun rays pass through the holes of monolithic chariot that is about 70 m away from the deity.

The hall in front of the Sanctum has beautiful pillars of different shapes and that have amazing sculptures on it.

The carvings of episodes of the Ramayan, Mahabharatha and Bhagavatha have been carved beautifully around the Garba Griha, Madhya Ranga, the Astana Mandapa and the Kalyana Mantapa. The carvings are very explicit and they express the story. 

Uma Maheshwar Shrine, Nandi

The Bhoganandisvara Temple at Nandi is the finest architectural  specimen of Dravidian order built anytime between 9th and 15th century A.D. 

In the Bhoganandisvara Temple complex  between the twin temples Bhoganandisvara and Arunachalesvara there is a intervening shrine of Uma Maheshwar.

In front of shrine there is a Kalyan mantapa built of soap stone very interestingly carved with creepers and birds.

The interior of the central dome has 3 layer of fine carvings of interesting figures.

The excellent craftsmanship can be seen in every inch of the carvings. Each pillar of the mantapa is carved very intricately.