page_title: Pattadakal
section_title: Virupaksha Temple
hierarchical_section_title: Pattadakal / Description / Virupaksha Temple
caption_attribution_description: English: The Virupaksha temple belongs to the Shaivism tradition of Hinduism. The temple was complete in the first half of the 8th century based on epigraphical and textual evidence. The temple is dedicated to Shiva, yet reverentially displays deities, legends and ideas of Vaishnavism (e.g. three steps of Vishnu and the Vamana avatar) and Shaktism (e.g. Durga killing the shape-shifting evil buffalo demon). The temple also has major carvings of major Hindu theological concepts such as Harihara (equivalence and essential interdependence of Shiva and Vishnu) and of Ardhnarishvara (equivalence and essential interdependence of the masculine and feminine principles). The temple is also known for its panels that depict stories from Vedic, Puranic and other Hindu texts such as the fables of Panchatantra. The above panel shows the "monkey and crocodile" and the "mongoose and snake" fables from the Panchatantra. Pattadakal was an early medieval era seat of coronation of the Chalukyan Kings of South Indian Hindu kingdoms. The site is located in Karnataka, and contain the surviving collection of temples and artwork from the 7th-9th centuries CE, sponsored particularly the Chalukya and Rashtrakuta dynasties. These temples are of historic significance as they display a fusion of architectural styles found in northern and southern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The site, temples and its religious importance is mentioned in more ancient Hindu texts, as Kisuvolal (valley of red soil), Pattada-Kisuvolal or as Raktapura (city of red color), but except for excavated parts the evidence of earlier temples has not survived. In later era texts, the Pattadakal location is also referred to as Petirgal, Pattasilapura or Hammirapura suggesting that the site remained culturally important over a long period. The Pattadakal monuments included in the UNESCO world heritage site consist of nine Hindu temples and one Jain temple. These were built near the left bank of the Malaprabha river where it turns northward towards the Himalayas, considered auspicious in ancient India. The temples are relatively younger group of monuments, the older ones are found in Aihole and Badami less than 50 kilometer distance which predate these by a few centuries. The temples are important not only for their architecture and layout, but for their carvings and artist inscriptions which provide evidence of Hindu and Jaina theology, arts, culture and society between the 7th and 9th century. While the temples and artwork show signs of systematic defacement and damage, much has survived. One Hindu temple in the group of monument remains active. The Pattadakal group is one of many clusters of historic temples in Pattadakal area, but most of the other clusters are not a part of the UNESCO designation. The Pattadakal temples show two major style types. The south Indian dravida vimana type is displayed in the Virupaksha, Mallikarjuna and Sangameswara temples. The north Indian rekhanagara prasada type is displayed by the Kadasiddeswara, Jambulinga, Galaganatha, Kashivishweswara and Papanatha temples. But some temples experiment a fusion of the two styles. The Sangameswara temple is the best example of dravida vimana type. The Virupaksha temple of 8th century is the best example of the fruits of creative fusion in terms of the plan, style and integration of arts.
context_page_description: Pattadakal, also called Paṭṭadakallu or Raktapura, is a complex of 7th and 8th century CE Hindu and Jain temples in northern Karnataka. Located on the west bank of the Malaprabha River in Bagalakote district, this UNESCO World Heritage site is 14 miles from Badami and about 6 miles from Aihole, both of which are historically significant centres of Chalukya monuments. The monument is a protected site under Indian law and is managed by the Archaeological Survey of India.
  UNESCO has described Pattadakal as "a harmonious blend of architectural forms from northern and southern India" and an illustration of "eclectic art" at its height. The Hindu temples are generally dedicated to Shiva, but elements of Vaishnavism and Shaktism theology and legends are also featured. The friezes in the Hindu temples display various Vedic and Puranic concepts, depict stories from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Bhagavata Purana, as well as elements of other Hindu texts, such as the Panchatantra and the Kirātārjunīya. The Jain temple is only dedicated to a single Jina.
context_section_description: The Virupaksha temple, located to the immediate south of the Mallikarjuna temple, is the largest and most sophisticated of the monuments at Pattadakal. In inscriptions, it is referred to as "Shri Lokeshvara Mahasila Prasada", after its sponsor Queen Lokmahadevi, and is dated to about 740 CE. The temple is notable for its range, and quality, of construction exemplifying a well developed Dravidian architectural style, as well as the inscribed names of the artists beneath the panels they worked on.
  As is common with other temples at Pattadakal, the Virupaksha temple was built facing east centred around a square garbha griya (sanctum), with a Shiva Linga, surrounded by a covered circumabulatory path (pradakshina patha). In front of the sanctum is an antarala with two small shrines within which are facing images of Ganesha and Parvati, in her Durga aspect as Mahishasuramardini killing the buffalo demon. The external Nandi pavilion is aligned on an east-west axis, as are the mantapa and antechamber. The temple site forms a rectangle consisting of fused squares bounded by walls, which are decorated with carvings. Within the compound are smaller shrines, of which there were once 32, based on the foundation footprint layout, but most have since been lost. The entrance leads to a mantapa with 18 columns (4-5-aisle-5-4, with a 4x4 set forming the inner mantapa and two leading to the darshana space).
  The tower above the sanctum is a three-storey pyramidal structure, with each storey bearing motifs that reflect those in the sanctum below. However, for clarity of composition, the artisans had simplified the themes in the pilastered projections and intricate carvings. The third storey is the simplest, having only parapet kutas, a kuta roof with each face decorated with kudus – a structure common in later Dravidian architecture Hindu temples. A kalasha-like pot, found in festivals, social ceremonies and personal rituals such as weddings, crowns the temple. The top of this pot is 17.5 metres (57 ft) above the temple pavement, the highest for any pre-9th century South Indian temple. The sukanasa on the tower is large, exceeding half the height of the superstructure, to aid visibility from a distance.
  The sanctum walls, and also those of the nearby mantapa space, are decorated with intricately detailed carvings.
  These carvings depict images of Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Shaktism deities, and themes, such as Narasimha and Varaha (Vaishaivism), Bhairava and Nataraja (Shaivism), Harihara (half Shiva-half Vishnu), Lakulisa (Shaivism), Brahma, Durga, Saraswati, Lakshmi, and others. According to George Michell, the carvings on the walls and porch of the Virupaksha temple exterior are "vehicles for diverse sculptural compositions, by far the most numerous found on any Early Chalukya monument". Other than Hindu gods and goddesses, numerous panels show depict people either as couples, in courtship and mithuna, or as individuals wearing jewellery or carrying work implements.
  The temple has numerous friezes spanning a variety of topics such as, for example, two men wrestling, rishi with Vishnu, rishi with Shiva, Vishnu rescuing Gajendra elephant trapped by a crocodile in a lotus pond, scenes of hermitages, and sadhus seated in meditative yoga posture. Vedic deities such as Surya riding the chariot with Aruna, Indra on elephant and others are carved in stone.  A few depict scenes from the Ramayana such as those involving golden deer, Hanuman, Sugriva, Vali, Ravana and Jatayu bird, Sita being abducted, the struggles of Rama and Lakshmana. Other friezes show scenes from the Mahabharata, Krishna's playful life story in the Bhagavata Purana and the Harivamsa as well as fables from the Panchatantra and other Hindu texts.
  The temple contains historically significant inscriptions that provide hints about the society and culture of 8th-century India. For example, one inscription mentions a grant to the "musicians of the temple" by the queen.
  The famous Kailasha temple at Ellora Caves was modeled after this temple, although the Virupaksha temple was itself mod
caption: A Virupaksha frieze showing two Panchatantra fables.
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