Badami Chalukya architecture is a style inHindu temple architecture that evolved in the 5th – 8th centuries CE in theMalaprabha river basin, in the present-dayBagalkot district ofKarnataka state of India, under theChalukya dynasty; later it spread more widely. This style is sometimes called theVesara style andChalukya style, a term that also includes the much laterWestern Chalukya architecture of the 11th and 12th centuries.Early Chalukya architecture, used by George Michell and others, equates to Badami Chalukya.
The earliest Badami Chalukya temples date back to around 450 inAihole when the Badami Chalukyas were vassals of theKadambas of Banavasi. The Early Chalukya style was perfected inBadami andPattadakal, both inKarnataka.
The unknown architects and artists experimented with different styles, blended the Nagara andDravidian styles. The style includes two types of monuments:rock cut halls or "cave temples", and "structural" temples, built above ground.
Badami cave temples have rock-cut halls with three basic features: pillared veranda, columned hall and a sanctum cut out deep into rock.
Early experiments in rock-cut halls were attempted in Aihole where they built three cave temples, one each in Vedic, Buddhist and Jaina styles. Later they refined their style and cut out four marvellous cave temples atBadami. One noteworthy feature of these cave temples is the running frieze ofGanas in various amusing postures caved in relief on each plinth.
The outside verandas of the cave temples are rather plain, but the inner hall contains rich and prolific sculptural symbolism. Art critic Dr. M. Sheshadri wrote of the Chalukya art that they cut rock likeTitans but finished like jewellers. Critic Zimmer wrote that the Chalukya cave temples are a fine balance of versatility and restrain.
The finest structural temples are located inPattadakal. Of the ten temples in Pattadakal, six are inDravidian style and four in Rekhanagara style. The Virupaksha temple in many ways holds resemblance to the Kailasanatha temple in Kanchipuram which came into existence a few years earlier.
This is a fully inclusive temple, it has a central structure,nandi pavilion in front and has a walled enclosure that is entered by a gateway. The main sanctum has aPradakshinapatha andmantapa. Themantapa is pillared and has perforated windows (pierced window screens). The external wall surface is divided by pilasters into well-spaced ornamental niches filled with either sculptures or perforated windows. Art criticPercy Brown says about the sculptures that they flow into the architecture in a continuous stream. It is said that the Virupaskha temple is one of those monuments where the spirit of the men who built it, still lives.
Many centuries later, the serene art of the Badami Chalukya reappeared in the pillared architecture of theVijayanagar Empire. Their caves include finely engraved sculptures ofHarihara,Trivikrama,Mahisa Mardhini,Tandavamurthi,Paravasudeva,Nataraja,Varaha,Gomateshvara and others. Plenty of animal and foliage motifs are also included.
Some important sculptors of their time wereGundan Anivaritachari, Revadi Ovajja and Narasobba.
Pattadakal
Aihole
Badami
Gerusoppa
Sanduru
Alampur,Andhra Pradesh
