Pattadakal (Pattadakallu), also called Raktapura, is a complex of 7th and 8th century CE Hindu and Jain temples in northern Karnataka, India. Located on the west bank of the Malaprabha River in Bagalkot district, this UNESCO World Heritage SiteGroup of Monuments at Pattadakal, UNESCO; See also Advisory Body Evaluation (ICOMOS), UNESCO is from Badami and about from Aihole, both of which are historically significant centres of Chalukya monuments.World Heritage Sites – Pattadakal – More Detail, Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India (2012) The monument is a protected site under Indian law. It is managed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).World Heritage Sites – Pattadakal; Group of Monuments at Pattadakal (1987), Karnataka; ASI, Government 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. The most sophisticated temples, with complex friezes and a fusion of Northern and Southern styles, are found in the Papanatha and Virupaksha temples. The Virupaksha temple is an active house of Hindu worship.Virupaksha Temple , ASI India (2011)
The Malaprabha River, a tributary of the Krishna River cutting across the valley of mountains surrounded by the plains, has great importance and place in the history of South India. The origin of this river is from Kanakumbi, Belagavi district, in the Western Ghats region, and it flows towards the eastern side. Just before reaching Pattadakal, it starts flowing from south to north. As per the Hindu tradition, a river that flows in the north direction is also called Uttarvahini Ganga.
Location The Pattadakal monuments are located in the Indian state of Karnataka, about northeast of Belgaum, northeast of Goa, from Badami via Karnataka state highway SH14, and about from Aihole, set amid sandstone mountains and the Malaprabha river valley. In total, there are over 150 Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist monuments, and archaeological discoveries, dating from the 4th to 10th century CE, in addition to prehistoric dolmens and cave paintings that are preserved at the Pattadakal-Badami-Aihole site.Gary Tarr (1970), Chronology and Development of the Chāḷukya Cave Temples, Ars Orientalis, The Smithsonian Institution and Department of the History of Art, University of Michigan, Vol. 8, pp. 155-184
Nearby airports to Pattadakal
Sambra Belgaum Airport (IATA Code: IXG), a 3-hour drive to the west, which operates daily flights to Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai.Belgaum airport AAI, Govt of India; Official Website , BelgaumNew terminal building at Belagavi airport, The Hindu (30 September 2017) Hubballi airport is also a 3-hour drive from Pattadkal. Hubballi airport is well connected to Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi, Delhi
Access to the site by train is also possible via an Indian Railways service that stops at Badami on the Hubballi-Solapur line.
History Pattadakal ("Stone of coronation") was considered a holy place, being where the Malaprabha River turned northwards towards the Himalayas and the Kailasha mountain (uttara-vahini). As its name implies, it was used during the Chalukya dynasty for coronation ceremonies, such as that of Vinayaditya in the 7th century CE. Other names this place was known by were Kisuvolal meaning "valley of red soil", Raktapura meaning "city of red", and Pattada-Kisuvolal meaning "red soil valley for coronation". The site, states Archaeological Survey of India, is mentioned in texts by Srivijaya and is referred to by Ptolemy as "Petirgal" in his Geography.
The early rulers of the Chalukya during the 5th – 6th century were Vaishnavites (a community that believes and offers prayers to Lord Vishnu, followers of Vaishnavism) and then converted themselves into Shaivaites (a community that believes and offers prayers to Lord Shiva and followers of Shaivism). Hence, the temples in and around this compound are dedicated to Lord Shiva.
Pattadakal became, along with nearby Aihole and Badami, a major cultural centre and religious site for innovations in architecture and experimentation of ideas. The rule of the Gupta Empire during the 5th century brought about a period of political stability, during which Aihole became a locus of scholarship. The experimentation in architecture extended into Badami over the course of the next two centuries. This culture of learning encompassed Pattadakal in the 7th century, which became a nexus where ideas from northern and southern India fused. It was during this latter period that the Chalukya empire constructed many of the temples in Aihole-Badami-Pattadakal region.
After the fall of the Chalukya Empire, the region was annexed by the Rashtrakuta kingdom, who would rule over the region into the 10th century. In the 11th century, and into the 12th century, the region came under the rule of the Late Chalukyas (Western Chalukya Empire, Chalukyas of Kalyani), an offshoot of the Early Chalukya Empire. Although the area was not a capital region, nor in proximity to one, numerous sources such as inscriptions, contemporaneous texts and the architectural style indicate that, from the 9th to 12th centuries, new Hindu, Jain and Buddhist temples and monasteries continued to be built in the Pattadakal region. Historian George Michell attributes this to the presence of a substantial population and its burgeoning wealth.
In the advent of the 14th century, Pattadakal, the Malaprabha valley, as well as much of the Deccan region, was subject to raids and plunder by the Delhi Sultanate armies that devastated the region. This period ended with the rise of the Vijayanagara Empire. It was responsible for the construction of forts for the protection of the monuments, as evidenced by inscriptions in the fort at Badami. Pattadakal was a part of the border region that witnessed wars between Vijayanagara and the Sultanates to its north. Following the collapse of the Vijayanagara Empire in 1565, Pattadakal was annexed by the Sultanate of Bijapur, which was ruled by the Adil Shahi dynasty. In the late 17th century, the Mughal Empire, under Aurangzeb, gained control of Pattadakal from the Sultanate. After the collapse of the Mughal Empire, Pattadakal came under the control of the Maratha Empire. It later changed hands, yet again, when Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan wrested control of it in the late 18th century, but would lose it when the British defeated Tipu Sultan and annexed the region.
The monuments at Pattadakal are evidence of the existence, and the history, of interaction between the early northern and southern styles of Hindu arts. According to T. Richard Blurton, the history of temple arts in northern India is unclear as the region was repeatedly sacked by invaders from Central Asia, particularly during the Muslim incursions from the 11th century onward. The subsequent "warfare has greatly reduced the quantity of surviving examples". The Pattadakal monuments, completed in the 7th and 8th centuries, are among the earliest surviving examples of these early religious arts and ideas.
Prehistoric Monuments
Based on some recent findings by Archeologist and prehistorian Prof. Ravi Korisettar, published in works for the National Institute of Advanced Studies, India, the Early Chalukyan artisans were not the first to build monuments in the Malaprabha Valley. At Bachinnagudda, just a couple of kilometres west of Pattadakallu, along the road leading to Badami, is a rough-looking monument believed to date back to the Iron Age (approximately 1200 BCE – 500 BCE). This monument, called a dolmen, belongs to a class of structures called megaliths, which were erected all over southern India mostly during the Iron Age and the succeeding Early Historic period.
Description Site layout There are ten major temples at Pattadakal, nine Hindu and one Jain, along with numerous small shrines and plinths. Eight of the major temples are clustered together, a ninth one about half a kilometer south of this cluster, and the tenth, a Jain temple, located about a kilometer to the west of the main cluster. The Hindu temples are all connected by a walkway, while the Jain temple has road access.
Style The Pattadakal monuments reflect a fusion of two major Indian architectural styles, one from north India (Rekha-Nagara-Prasada) and the other from south India (Dravida-Vimana). Four temples were built in the Chalukya Dravida style, four in the Nagara style of Northern India. In contrast, the Papanatha temple is a fusion of the two. The nine Hindu temples are all dedicated to Shiva, and are on the banks of the Malaprabha River. The oldest of these temples is Sangameshwara, which was built during the reign of Vijayaditya Satyashraya, between 697 and 733 CE. The largest of these temples in Pattadakal is the Virupaksha Temple, which was built between 740 and 745 CE.
The last temple built in the Group of Monuments is the Jain temple, known locally as the Jain Narayana temple, which was likely built in the 9th century during the reign of Krishna II of Rashtrakutas. Its style is patterned on the lines of the Kailasanatha temple at Kanchipuram.
The temple structures were built using the sandstones found abundantly locally at Pattadakkal. Some of the sculptures are carved from polished black granite.
Kadasiddheshwara temple
A relatively small temple, the Archaeological Survey of India has dated it to around the mid-7th century CE, but George Michell dates it to the early 8th century. The temple faces east and is built around a square garbha griha (sacrum sanctum). It houses a linga on a peetha (platform); there is a mantapa around the sacrum center. Much of the temple has been eroded or was damaged in the following centuries. The Shikhara (spire) is a northern Nagara style (Rekhanagara) with a sukanasa projection on the east. The sukanasa has a damaged Nataraja accompanied by Parvati.
The outer walls of the Kada Siddheshwara sanctum feature images of Ardhanarishvara (half Shiva, half Parvati) on its north, Harihara (half Shiva, half Vishnu) to its west and Lakulisha to the south. Mounted on a lintel at the sanctum entrance is Shiva and Parvati flanked by Brahma and Vishnu on either side. The steps at the sanctum entrance are flanked by the river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna, with attendants.Kadasiddheswara Temple , ASI India (2011)
Jambulingeshwara temple
Another small temple, the Jambulingeshwara Temple, also called the Jambulinga Temple, is variously estimated by ASI and Michell to have been completed between the mid-7th and early 8th centuries, respectively. The temple is built around a square garbha griha (sacrum sanctum), whose outer walls feature intricate devakoshtha (linteled niches with decorated frames with Hamsa and mythical makaras). Inside the frames are images of Vishnu on its north, Surya (Sun god) to its west, and Lakulisha to the south. The temple also experiments with the idea of projecting sukanasa from the shikhara in front, over the mandapa. The temple still faces east, greeting the sunrise. The Nandi too is provided with a raised platform, which is in ruins, and the Nandi image shows signs of erosion. The dancing Shiva Nataraja with Parvati and Nandi by his side on the frontal arch sukanasa is better preserved.