| The Chalukyas (c.450 AD to c.650 AD) constructed several stone-built shrines and temples at Aihole, which are mostly Hindu but a few are Jain. Aihole was the town of temples consisting of nearly seventy buildings. The temples had flat or slightly sloping roofs and were surmounted by a small shikhara. Later, a pillared assembly hall or mandapa was added to these structures, indicating a further evolution of temple architecture. The Ladh Khan and Durga temples at Aihole are the best specimens of the Chalukyan architecture. The Chalukyan Architecture is a juxtaposition of Indo-Aryan and Dravidian styles in the temple architecture, and is sometimes referred as the Vesara style of architecture. It is evident that during the Chalukyan period the rock-cut method was slowly superseded by the use of stone masonry. The Chalukyas also constructed four rock-cut pillared halls at Badami in the later half of the 6th century AD, three of which are Brahmanical and one is Jain. The final phase of the Chalukyan Art is represented by the temples of Pattadakal (7th century AD). The Chalukyan rulers Vijayaditya (696-733 AD) and Vikramaditya II (733-746 AD) were instrumental in perfecting the style of architecture of the Pattadakal temples. Of the ten major temples at Pattadakal, four follow the Indo-Aryan style (Papanath Temple, Jambulinga Temple, Karsedeshvar and Kasinath temples) and six follow the Dravidian style (Sangameshwar, Virupaksha, Mallikarjuna, Galagnath and Sunmeshwar Temples and the Jain Temple). |
