Virupaksha Temple, Pattadakal, Karnataka

Virupaksha Temple, Pattadakal, Karnataka

Virupaksha Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located in Pattadakal in Bagalkot District of Karnataka, India. This temple is part of Pattadakal Group of Monuments, an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Temple complex is located on the west bank of the Malaprabha River. The Virupaksha temple, located to the immediate south of the Mallikarjuna temple, is the largest and most sophisticated of the monuments at Pattadakal. 

This is the only functioning shrine in the temple complex. In inscriptions, it is referred to as "Shri Lokeshvara Mahasila Prasada", after its sponsor Queen Lokmahadevi, and is dated to about 740 CE. The famous Kailasha temple at Ellora Caves was modeled after this temple, although the Virupaksha temple was itself modeled after the Kailasanatha Temple at Kanchipuram. The monument is a protected site under Indian law and is managed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

History

For brief details, please refer below link;

https://hindutemples-india.blogspot.com/2019/01/pattadakal-group-of-monuments-history.html

The Temple

As is common with other temples at Pattadakal, the Virupaksha temple was built facing east centered around a square garbha griha (sanctum), with a Shiva Linga, surrounded by a covered circumambulatory 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 mandapa 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 mandapa with 18 columns (4-5-aisle-5-4, with a 4x4 set forming the inner mandapa 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-9^th 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 those of the nearby mandapa space, are decorated with intricately detailed carvings.

These carvings depict images of Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Shaktism deities, and themes, such as Narasimha and Varaha (Vaishnavism), Bhairava and Nataraja (Shaivism), Harihara (half Shiva-half Vishnu), Lakulisa (Shaivism), Brahma, Durga, Saraswathi, Lakshmi, and others. Other than Hindu gods and goddesses, numerous panels show depict people either as couples, in courtship and mithuna, or as individuals wearing jewelry 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.

There is a large Nandi mandapam opposite to the shrine with black stone monolithic Nandi. The walls of the Nandi mandapa have few beautiful carvings of female images. The temple contains historically significant inscriptions that provide hints about the society and culture of 8^th century India. The epigraphy reveals this to have been built by Queen Loka Mahadevi (originally named as Lokeswara) after the successful military campaigns of King Vikramaditya II against the Pallavas (4^th - 9^th centuries CE).

In ground plan it resembles the Kailasanatha temple of Kanchipuram, citadel of the Pallavas, but in stone it is a realization of the fully mature Early Chalukyan architecture in all its glory. 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.

Connectivity

For brief details, please refer below link;

https://hindutemples-india.blogspot.com/2019/01/pattadakal-group-of-monuments-connectivity.html

Location | Photos