Sangameshwara Temple, Alampur – The Temple

Sangameshwara Temple, Alampur – The Temple

The Temple was built in Nagara style on an elevated platform with a fortified wall around the temple. This is an east facing temple built with sandstones.  This Temple measures 68 x 41 ft. It is a sandhara temple consists of Gudha Mandapa, Antarala, and Sanctum with ambulatory. There is a circumbulatory path around the sanctum for doing pradakshinas. The Gudha Mandapa entrance doorway features Ganga & Yamuna at the base while figures of Sanganidhi and Padmanidhi flanked the door way.

The Gudha Mandapa consist of four rows of four pillars each and are mostly decorated with full blown lotus. There is a relief of large Nagaraja on the ceiling, as seen in the other Chalukyas temples. The pillars in the hall have nice carved images of Lord Vishnu, Kumaraswamy and celestial couples. There are several inscriptions on the pillars of the temple. The antarala doorway has four sakhas decorated with patra latha, pushpa, stambha and rupa with Ganga and Yamuna a Mithuna at the base.

A garuda adorned the lalatabimba. The sanctum has a short square Linga pita. There was a Marakata Linga found beneath the main Shivalinga while moving the temple from the original site. The sikhara is of dvianga class and distinguished by karna amalaka Sila capped by kalasa stupi of stone. The external wall faces on all the four sides are highly ornate with nine niches five on the western side and four on the eastern side.

The niches are broad, and the niche pediments display a variety of toranas like makara torana and hamsa torana, sala and chitra toranas. The niches carry Shiva's various forms, Sanganidhi, Padhmanidi, Ganga, Yamuna etc.  The front side of the external wall has carvings of Ardhanareeswarar and Ganesha. The sides of the external wall has nicely carved Lord Shiva killing a demon, Harihara, Manmadha, Yama, Shiva with 18 hands (similar to the one seen in Badami caves).

The external walls of the main temple have niches resembling pillared mantapa. All the four corners of the temple have crocodile carvings. A human figure inside crocodile mouth can be seen in one of the corners. The human figure appears differently from each side, as child, youth carrying a baby in her arms and an elder person. The other 3 corners have crocodiles eating a man, a goat and a horse.  

The external walls are adorned lattice designed windows. Every niche and window is unique in design. There is a Matsya Yantra, a fish window in the external wall. It looks like a flower, but it is actually a convergence of eight similar fish. Similar window can be seen in Lad Khan Temple of Chalukyas at Aihole. There is another unique window where a pair of exotic birds bring their beaks together over a lotus. The shaft below the lotus seems like a maize cob.

The temple is enclosed by a prakara wall of 4 meters high and is unique in having the sculptural scene of elevational mouldings. It consists of an adhistana like that of a main shrine decorated with boldly carved relief panels inside niches framed by pilasters. The sculptured panels depicts Didhyadaras, Ghandarvas, Dikpalas, Ganas playing on musical instruments. The hara of kuta, sala, panjara models seen over this prakara has further accentuated an external elevational grandeur of the temple.

A sopana of 8 steps at the central axis of the prakara on the eastern side of the prakara connects to a Nandi pavilion. There is a Nandi Mantapa and a Stambha, situated right opposite to the temple entrance. The Mantapa is built on a 4' platform, has four square pillars and a simple flat roof. There is a pillar near Nandi mandapa with inscriptions.

There is a small shrine of Lord Venkateswara on the right side of the main entrance. The Idol is carved out of a black granite. Images of Dashavatara are carved around the head in a climbers fashion. The Lord is flanked by his consorts Sridevi & Bhudevi and the celestial bird Garuda below his feet. There is an image of Lord Hanuman, which is quite different from the usual depiction. The tail end of Hanuman has a Trishula.