The Badami Chalukya era (7^th and 8^th century) was an important period in the development of South Indian architecture. Their style of architecture is called “Chalukyan architecture” or “Karnata Dravida architecture”. Nearly a hundred monuments built by them, rock cut (cave) as well as structural, and are found in the Malaprabha river basin in modern Bagalkot district of northern Karnataka. The building material they used was reddish-golden Sandstone found locally. Though they ruled a vast empire, the Chalukyan workshops concentrated most of their temple building activity in a relatively small area within the Chalukyan heartland – Aihole, Badami, Pattadakal and Mahakuta in modern Karnataka state.

Salient Features

These temples are a mixture of Northern and Dravida style of temple architecture and represent a transition as well as experimentation in the temple architecture.  The temples are located on the banks of River Tungabhadra and Malprabaha in Karnataka and Alampur in Andhra Pradesh , which is near Kurnool.  The largest temple of Chalukyas of Badami is Virupaksha Temple, whose complex encloses 30 sub shrines and a large Nadi mandapa. This was also earliest example of Shiva temples, which have a Nandi pavilion in front of the temple.

Examples

Ravana Phadi Cave

The earliest monument of Chalukyas of Badami is the Ravana Phadi Cave at Aihole, not far from Badami. It was probably made around A.D. 550 and is dedicated to Siva. Ravana Phadi Cave is one of the Earliest Rock Cut Temple located at Aihole, the first capital of the early Chalukyas. At Aihole, they built more than 70 Hindu Temples later.

Badami Cave Temples

Badami cave temples are located at Badami. The red sandstone cliffs of Badami offered a spectacular setting for the excavation of four caves, three Brahmanical and one Jaina (Parshwavanath). The largest and most impressive of these is Cave 3, dedicated to Vishnu. An inscription next to a Varaha depiction states that Mangalesa, a brother of King Kirtivarman, dedicated the cave in A.D. 578. Members of the royal family of Chalukyas patronized many Chalukyan monuments. All of them were created in sixth and 7th century. The architecture is a mixture of the Nagara style and Dravida style. Apart from the above four, there is a fifth natural Buddhist cave in Badami.

Virupaksha Temple, Hampi

Virupaksha Temple is located in Hampi in Karnataka on the banks of the Tungabhadra river. Virupaksha Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and was created by the Chalukyas of Badami initially in 8th century. The temple was improvised in Vijaynagar Empire. It is in the Virupaksha temple at Hampi that full glory of the Early Chalukyan art can be seen. This temple was built in 735 AD by a queen of Vikramaditya II to celebrate the victory over the Pallavas of Kanchipuram.

Ladkhan Temple, Aihole

The Ladkhan temple is the earliest temple of Aihole, which dates back to 5^th century AD. An inscription on this temple says that it was dedicated to Durga. There is a Shiva ling out there. The temple is known as Lad Khan after its owner (in most recent times) at a place used as cattle sheds or houses. This temple has a large porch and is made in a Panchayat hall kind of design with 12 pillars. This was earliest experiment for a pillar based structures in the temple architecture.

Navbhramha Group of Temples, Alampur

The Navabrahma Group of temples is located at Alampur in Andhra Pradesh. There are total 9 temples and present a marvelous piece of art of the Chalukyas of Badami outside Karnataka. These temple are based upon the Nagara style and do not reflect the Dravidian style of temple architecture (8 out of 9 are clearly Nagara style). The Alampur temples are the finest example of the Chalukyas of Badami Art. The Nava Bhramma temples are Taraka Bhramma, Swarga Bhramma, Padma Bhramma, Bala Bhramma, Garuda Bhramma, Kumara Bhramma, Arka Bhramma, Vira Bhramma and the Vishwa Bhramma. These temples are all enclosed in a courtyard on the left bank of the river Tungabhadra.

Temples at Pattadakal

Numerous temples at Pattadakal on the bank of river Malprabha, some kilometers from Aihole mark the return of the Chalukya patronage to Karnataka after several years of activity in the Andhra Pradesh. The first temple is Galagnatha Temple which is in Nagara style similar to the Alampur temple.