Pattadakal: Cradle of Temple Architecture in India

There was a place in South India where kings and rulers from all across the country would come to be crowned. It was believed that one who got crowned here stayed a king till his death. This place called ‘Pattadakisuvolal’ was a rage with rulers between the 6th and the 8th century and a lot of them turned up at this holy place for their Pattabhishkeham.



Located by the banks of the Malaprabha river and surrounded by lush vegetation, we know this place today as Pattadakkal, a small town in North Western Karnataka. This quiet town was the capital of the Chalukya kingdom between the 6th and the 8th centuries and was a place where the base template of Indian temple architecture was defined.



This UNESCO world heritage site is where you will see a myriad of temples in a fairly small area, something akin to a prototyping playground. The temples on the campus of Pattadakal depict various Indian architectural styles from North India, South India and some that are an interesting fusion too. To be specific, the styles seen are Rekha, Nagara, Prasada and Dravida Vimana.



Just to give you an idea of what I mean by different temple architecture styles…you will see at Pattadakal, a bit of the temples of Odisha, a bit of Khajuraho’s erotica temples, a but of Thanjavur’s Brihadeeswara, a bit of the temples in Rajasthan and Gujarat and a bit of temples of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The way I see it, the artisans and architects of Pattadakal laid the founding design for these famous temples across the country. In simple words, this 6th century heritage site became the cradle of temple architecture in India.



Both the Nagara and Dravidian styles were refined here and they are designs here where both have been seamlessly integrated into one (as seen in the Papanatha temple). Learnings from Pattadakal traveled far and wide to artisans across the country and they then put in a little bit of creative inputs to take this Pattadakal style temple architecture to the next level.



In the entire temple complex of Pattadakal, the temples of note are the Dravidian style Sangameshwara temple, the grand Virupaksha temple, the Nagara style Kashi Vishwanatha temple and the Jain Narayana temple. It is best to go to Pattadakal with a knowledgeable guide to understand all the sculptures, inscriptions, carvings and the overall stories.



With each passing of time, the temple architecture at Pattadakal got better. It is as if this school of architecture or temple R&D lab kept trying to improve its designs. I absolutely love the Virupaksha temple that was built to commemorate the victory over the Pallava kingdom of Kanchipuram. The stone Nandi and the imposing stone carved figures are eye catching. Built along the lines of the Kailasa temple of Kanchipuram, the Virupaksha laid the founding stone for the Kailasa temple at Ellora.



One can absolutely love themselves in the art, architecture, sanctity and overall nature surrounding this place for a long while. One of my favorite temple complexes in Karnataka, I heavily recommend a visit to Pattadakal if you have not already paid a visit. It is one of the true cultural gems of Karnataka and India. And the icing on the cake is the delicious cuisine of this North Karnataka region, which is something that I absolutely adore.

How to get here



Badami is well connected by road with the rest of Karnataka. Train lovers will be happy to know that Badami has a train station that is well connected by many trains. Belgaum and Panaji should be the closest airports. 

Other Attractions Nearby



The Chalukya era cave temples of Badami, the water tanks and temples of Aihole and the Pre-Chalukya era archaeological site of Bachinagudda are the places  one can visit around Pattadakal. If exploring by road, do make some time to explore the sunflower fields where you can go photo crazy.

Best Season to Visit



Winters and the monsoons are a great time to visit this region. Summers can be oppressively hot and is best avoided.

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Don’t Miss to Taste the Traditional Lunch on your next Badami Holiday

Experiencing local food is an essential component of my travels. I am limited in my capacity as a vegetarian, but I try my level best to overcome this handicap by being extremely bold with my food choices. Most of my best culinary experiences have come on the street where the local flavors reign supreme.



Last weekend, I was at Badami and Pattadakkal, the place that is known for its 7th century cave temples and 8th century school of temple architecture respectively. Most of you would not know this, but Pattadakkal is my favorite temple complex in Karnataka and this region’s local lunch is my favorite lunch in Karnataka. Every time I visit this region, I ensure that I have the traditional lunch here. This traditional lunch holds as much importance to me as the UNESCO World Heritage site temple complex itself. I know this might be a bit too much, but I really love this local food.



And the best way to enjoy this traditional lunch comprising of jola roti (maize based bread), hesaru belle (Green gram), sagu (slight curry based seasonal vegetables), kaara podi (spicy powder comprising of garlic, brinjal and spices), majjigai (butter milk) and massuru (yoghurt) is to look out for a local woman with a huge aluminium pot like vessel on her head. These women who live in surrounding villages cook this food every morning at their homes and bring it to the temple complex for selling. Thus, there is true local flavor written all over it. This local North Karnataka lunch is sumptuous and offers a perfect way to reenergize after a walk through the temples in the warm sun. And the best part is that they come extremely cheap. Now, the next time you are in Badami, Aihole and Pattadakkal, don’t look for a restaurant when you are hungry, but look for this traditional food cooked by the local village women.

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Prototyping Temple Architecture at Pattadakkal, Karnataka, India

After admiring the architecture of the cave temples of Badami, I decided to pay a visit to Pattadakkal, Chalukya’s cradle of temple architecture.


I rode 30 kms from Badami to reach Pattadakkal, the second capital of the Chalukya dynasty. If the temple architecture at Badami and Aihole is mind blowing, then the carvings, sculptures and the temple design at Pattadakkal is out of the world.


Pattadakkal, which is a World Heritage site, is the prototyping playground of temple architecture. The entire heritage site resembles a large drawing sheet with different drawings, each better than the other, while keeping their uniqueness.


As I entered this playground of temple architecture, I was amazed at the number of lingams that were strewn all around. They were of all sizes. Some of them were cut off during war, while others had withstood the assault of time.


To add, each lingam seemed to have been sculpted out of a different type of rock, black granite, sandstone, soapstone, etc. There were a couple of large ones with inscriptions on them from top to bottom.


The temples on this campus include the: Kadasiddeshwara Temple, Galaganath Temple, Virupaksha Temple, Papanath Temple, Mallikarjuna Temple and others.


The 8th century Virupaksha and the Mallikarjuna temples are the most important. It is very heartening to see temple civilizations older than Hampi, still exist in their true shape in spite of the vagaries of nature and time.


Each temple has their own unique style of architecture. Some of them had square roofs,  some have curvilinear spires, while some have receding tiers.


The one thing that amazed me the most was the monolithic statue of Nandi in front of the Virupaksha Temple. One, it was sculpted so fine, that there are absolutely no sharp edges. Second, this Nandi, made out of black granite, in the 8th century and polished in the 8th century, still gleams till date.
 

Everything in and on the Virupaksha and the Mallikarjuna temple is carved in style. If the outsides made for some complex sculpting, then the insides made some some great story telling visually.


There were carvings on the ceilings and each pillar was sculpted in detail. Scenes from Hindu Epics – Ramayana and Mahabharata can be seen here.


For example, there was a scene from the Mahabharata where Lord Krishna is giving sermon to Arjuna. Then, there is a scene from Vaikuntam where all the devas come to Lord Vishnu seeking his help.


Then, there are these additional scenes from various Hindu mythologies that we have heard from our mothers as we grew up. The beauty is that I could correlate these carvings to my childhood bedtime stories. That’s how vivid they are.


The entire place was gleaming in the sun and it was such a revelation to see such detail and thought go into temple architecture.


And as goes with Badami, the ideal time to visit this place is during the winter months from October through February.


Pattadakkal - A definite spot in the bucket list of the temple architecture lover and even for the travel explorer. 
 

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