The Ancient Ruins: Hampi Day-1

Post lunch on Day - 1 

As the afternoon heat eased up a little, we proceeded to Palace ground, the area is more than 600 acers. Palace grounds once had number of Royal buildings. Queens' palace, Lotus palace, Jal mahal, Queen's bath, Treasury building etc.  

First we visited queen's bath. The bath is like a swimming pool with depth of around 1.8 meters. The water source was Kamalapur lake, I wrote about in my earlier blog. The underground aqua ducts or earther pipes (none are visible now) use to bring water to queen's bath (inlet for the water is seen). There must have been level difference between source of the water and the queen's bath for water to flow under gravity to the bath. In order to filter the water before queens could use it, water from the lake was collected in a moat with thick layer of sand. Water accumulated in the moat used to percolate through the sand as a filter and reach the bathing tank. Water drain is also visible. The bathing pool is surrounded by galleries where musicians and dancers or court artists could perform to entertain queens while they are having good time. The first floor is pavilions for queens to relax and enjoy outside view.  

There are 24 domes in queen's bath. They were decorated with flora, fauna (birds) designs. The Indo-Islamic architecture is clearly visible from the design of arches at various places. The arches are seen every where in queen's bath. In four corners one can see holes which may have been there to have pillars to support wooden roof. The Indo-Islamic style of architecture can be the reason for surviving of queens bath from the invaders' onslaught. Inside of few domes.

From Queen's bath we moved on to the palace ground. The ground is surrounded by a thick stone wall, may be 8-10 feet in height, and crumbled in places. The wall is gradually tapering from bottom to top, possibly to make it self supporting structure as we don't see in between pillars. On the left side of the entrance one of the three watch towers is seen. 

These watch towers were used by the security guards to protect palace grounds. Incidentally the treasury building was also in the same compound. The house like structure seen behind the tree in the left corner of the picture is the place where treasury building  used to be.  

The other two watch towers are also visible as you proceed further towards Queens' palace (Krushnadevaraya had 3 queens) or rather plinth of the Queens' palace. One of them is overlooking Queens' palace. The guards were predominantly transgenders who were employed to protect Krushnadevaraya's janan khana (queens' residence or enclosure).

The plinth of the Queens' palace gives fair idea of the majestic, grand royal structure once stood there. From the description of the travelers back then, who were in large numbers, Hampi being a trade center, helped artists to paint the picture of the palace. Our guide had album of all such paintings and felt proud while  showing them along with his commentary. The palace was a wooden structure made up entirely  of sandal wood with gold and silver used for moldings. The precious stones where used for decorative knobs and handles. Silk, rich textile and fabric served to heightened the grandeur of the place, reflecting splendor and power of the king. 

The palace being a wooden structure it was far more easier for the invaders to destroy it completely after looting the valuables. While wondering how the carpentry work would have been on sandal wood pillars,  roof, windows and door frames we were approaching another architectural marvel Lotus Mahal (palace). On the way to our right we could see the ruins (or rather the place) of another mahal known as Jal mahal, possibly a pool. Jal mahal was used by Queens whenever King was out of the palace as the Queen's bath is outside the guarded palace ground. 

The Lotus mahal  was the summer abode for the royal family. The construction is in typical Indo-Islamic style.  The curves of the building reflect Islamic influence and protects the palace from harsh weather. It is two storied structure both with arched openings in multiple planes. There are 8 (eight) pyramidal towers in all corners with one big tower in the middle of the structure, supported by 24 pillars. The pyramidal tower is influenced by Indian style of architecture.  The building has a water storage on the top and the water is circulated through terracotta pipes in the pillars with holes drilled in pipes to allow the water to sprinkle on walls and as the air passed over these walls the inner parts of the palace were cooled. On the pillars and walls stone slabs are placed to place the oil lamps at night.  

These photographs show the complexity of design and the beauty of the structure even after more than 600 years. 

We had group photo session around the Lotus Mahal (climbing or going inside the building is prohibited for obvious reasons). To our surprise, Nagaraj our guide turned out to be a skilled photographer with unique ability to see the world through a creative lens and capture angles, which others may simply miss. 

The next destination was Elephants' stable (Gaj Shala). 

As we walked towards the stable trying to imagine the size of the stable of Elephants, at a far distance on top of the boulders we saw sentry point overlooking the palace ground. Obvious question was how sentry would spot enemy approaching the palace from such a distance and at night in particular. The technique was quite innovative. Multi-pronged thorns prepared by village blacksmiths were  buried under thin layer of soil with one or more spikes pointing upwards. After the trap  thick layer of dry fine white ash was spread. As the intruder(s) (who will be unaware of such traps) steps on the thorns his immediate reaction would be to jump and try to get away from the pain. His efforts will ruffle the ash, ballooning in a white cloud, which can be seen even in night light from a distance and action started. 

As we came close to the elephant stable,  what we saw was amazing. The building was massive and could accommodate 11 elephants. The architecture is of mixed style. Some of the 10 domes display Islamic influence, others are in Buddhist style finding resemblance to Stupa or Vihara and the central Shikhar is in Indian style, which is mostly destroyed. Adoption of such styles of architecture indicates secular, tolerant, forbearing approach of the then rulers towards all the religions. 

These elephants were royal elephants and not the army elephants. Elephants were used in festival processions such as Dusshera procession, Jambu sawari and other Royal occasions.  These elephants would carry gold ambari ( The "ambari" is a howdah on the back of the elephant for royal riders) weighting more than 250kgs. On 9 elephants will be placed Navdurgas (Shailputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri, and Siddhidhatri), on 10th will be placed Bhuvanesvari family deity of Krushnadevaray and the Royal family will mount on the last elephant. 

The stables are West facing to ensure cooler air in summer to maintain the temperature in the stables. The domes had another purpose. The height of the domes offered better ventilation keeping gaj shala cool.  Whenever elephants used to be in musth it would start trumpeting loudly and become aggressive. The trumpeting noise will echo in the domes and sound much louder to the elephant, effectively calming them.  

In order to mount and unmount the elephants royal family required a platform, the same was provided near the elephant stable. It is worth watching how well it was designed and beautified, with pavilions below to  wait for or relax after the ride. 

The ground around the stable was used as a training ground for soldiers. Compound wall carries some indicative carvings one showing direction of water source by a fish and two sparing soldiers as if being trained. 

We had to decide where to go next, one of the  option was Hazara Rama mandir (Hazara - thousand) and another was Malyavanta Raghunath temple or Malayavant Raghunath Swami temple. 

We decided on Hazara Rama mandir. This was a Royal temple, built by Royal family. Dedicated for worshiping and festivities by the Royal family members. 

The temple was built in early 15th century by Krushnadevaraya and was very simple with garbhagriha and ardh sabhamandap.  The temple wall has band of panels in three rows. Each panel has incidents from Ramayana carved on them in chronological order of events.  If someone  circumambulates the temple three times in clockwise direction he would witness entire Ramayana on the temple walls. 

Unfortunately, we were so engrossed in watching the temple and listening to the Ramayana from Nagaraj that not many photos were taken except few carvings on the pillars of the temple. 

Sculptures of Sri Ram, Laxman and Sita with Hanumana, Krishna in the form of Bal Krishna, Murali Krishna are seen carved on the pillars in the picture.

The compound walls are beautifully carved again in multiple bands of panels holding sculptures of dancers, musicians, elephants, camels and horses. 

From there we moved on to the Malayavant Raghunath temple. The temple is located on Malayavant Paravat (Mountain). 

This is probably the only temple where Sri Ram is seen in sitting posture. As the story goes. Sri Ram on his way to Sri Lanka stayed here during rainy season, chaturmasa (4 months period of Vedic calendar  that is considered auspicious for spiritual practices, fasting, and devotion). 

This was the place where Hnumana brought chudamani (crest jewel) of Sita after paying visit to her in Ashok Vatika in Sri Lanka and gave it to Sri Ram.  

We walked behind the temple to reach the top of the mountain from where we could witness beautiful Sun set on the Vijayanagara Empire to end the memorable day 1 at Hampi.

Tomorrow morning we are planning to visit Anjaneyadri Hill located near Hampi, is believed to be birth place of Hanuman also known as Anjaneya. There is Hanuman temple on the top. To reach the top one has to climb 575 steps. We will start at 6 am tomorrow. More in my next blog. 

 

The Ancient Ruins: Hampi-Day-1

Music in Stones!

We were staying in a Home Stay near "New Hampi". New Hampi refers to a resettlement area, or a new town, built to accommodate people displaced from the ancient city of Hampi, a UNESCO World Heritage site, which is also known as the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. Shri. Nagaraj, our guide for our Hampi tour arrived on time to take us on our trip to Hampi – Day -1.

As we boarded the bus our guide started his fluent commentary on the history of Vijayanagar. He was pointing out landmarks as we were passing them. On the way from our place of stay to Vitthal temple we passed by the Kamalapur Lake. Kamalapur Lake, is a man-made reservoir in Hampi. Kamalapur lake was highly significant part of the Vijayanagar Empire's water management system. The water was used for irrigation and potentially supplying (using earthen pipes) to the "Royal Centre". This was found from the records written by Italian traveler Niccolò de' Conti who visited Hampi in 1420 AD.

The landscape is typically hilly terrain characterised by granite boulders in all shapes and sizes, scattered all around. The granite bedrock has weathered and eroded over millions of years, along cracks and crevices, resulting in the distinctive boulder-strewn landscape. The granitic boulders are primarily igneous rocks. The landscape is also frequented by inselberg, meaning island mountain in German. These are isolated hills butting out on planes or otherwise levelled surfaces. They are formed due to erosion of the surrounding material. The varied shapes and formations are the Nature’s sculptures, hinting tourists about the manmade marvels awaiting them ahead.

Hampi was not the original name of the place. Pampa is the name of the river Tungbhadra and the place located on the Banks of the river Pampa was Pampapura, Pampakshetra meaning land of Pampa. Hampi is the anglicised version of Kannada Hampe (derived from Pampa).  The mythological story is very interesting. In Satyuga, Shiva’s wife Sati died and Shiva was unable to bare the grief and left Kailash, renounced the world and sat for meditation on Hemkuta Parvat (mountain). Demons and Asuras realised that Shiva was not around and started harassing Devas. All the gods went to Brahma and requested him to interfere. Brahma told them "destruction is job of Shiva you wake him from his deep penance, meditation and he will do the needful." No one was ready to disturb Shiva and attract his wrath. Kamadeva and Rati came forward and took the task. Together they perform kamkrida (erotic dance) to disturb Shiva. Angry Shiva opened his third eye and burnt Kamdeva on the spot. Hence, the temple of Virupaksha (Virup – angry and Aksha is eye or Netra), it is temple of angry Shiva hence the entrance to the temple for the devotees is from the side and not from the front, which is overseen by third eye of Shiva. More when we visit Virupaksha. 

Sati / Parvati now in the form of Pampa devi who was undergoing rigorous penance with devotion to win Shiva as her husband, on the other bank of Pampa. Parvati demonstrating unwavering dedication, ultimately won Shiva, he was pleased and agreed to marry Parvati or Pampa Devi. From then on, she is considered as consort of Virupaksha. 

A quick run through of Vijayanagar history. According to the narrative, Vijayanagar founder brothers Harihara (Hakka-I) and Bukka Ray (Bukka-I) belong to Kakatiya dynasty and served as Kampili Chiefs. After king of Warangal (Kakatiya) was defeated by Muhammad Bin Tughlaq and Kampili failed, his commanders Harihara (Hakka-I) and Bukka Ray (Bukka-I) were taken prisoners to Delhi. There, they were forced to convert to Islam. After some years both were sent back to Kampili as subordinates of Sultanate of Delhi. There they met Vidyaranya Jagatguru (World spiritual teacher) from Sringeri Sharada Peetham. He converted them back as Hindus and guided them to establish Vijayanagar in 1336. From 1336 to 1565 approx. 230 years, four dynasties ruled from Vijayanagar. The first being Sangama, followed by Suluva, Tuluva and Aravindu. Krushnadev Raya belong to Tuluva dynasty.  In 1565 Vijayanagar was defeated by coalition of Muslim Sultanate and Hampi, capital of Vijayanagar was plundered, looted, and destroyed. From then on Hampi was called as “City of Ruins” or the “Lost City.” Vijayanagar had 7 fortification walls and 24 gates. Most of them are destroyed but the fortifications are visible in parts when going around in the city.

Hampi is surrounded by hills, tallest amongst them is Matanga. Matanga is the hill where Shri. Ramchandra killed Vali and gave Sugriva his Kingdom and set free his wife Ruma. Hemakuta is known for its sunrise and sunset points and the group of temples, Anjanadri considered as a birth place of Hanumana. It is also known as Kishkindha. This was where Sugriva and Shri. Ramchandra met. Shabari cave near Pampa Lake was the place where Shri. Ramchandra met Shabari and she told him to meet Sugriva. Shri. Nagaraj finished his narration as we reached the entrance of Shree Vijaya Vitthal temple. 

As we were approaching the temple Gopuram, serving as a gateway between earthly and divine realms, on the right-hand side there was line of granite pillars on the granite plinth more than a meter tall and covered with similar slabs as a roof. They were akin to multiple stalls and indeed that was a market (Bazaar) place. Added multiple photos just to give idea of the spread of the market. The place was Vitthal Bazaar out of the seven bazaars in Hampi.

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This was Vitthal Bazaar famous for trading of horses (in true sense of the word) and Elephants. Horses were brought in from Arabia, Mongolia, Persia, and Europe to be sold here. Elephants were coming from Sri Lanka to be sold here. On the friezes below the plinth of Vitthal temple one can see traders checking horses. One counting teeth to know horse age, another measuring length of the tail to know of it can run faster (short tailed run faster) and yet another showing how long horse can jump. Followed by Elephants friezes.

On the lighter note, the word market may have originated from the Kannada word “Marukatte – maaru -to sell and katte – platform or place.” Though the recorded origin is from Latin word “Mercatus,” “Merx” meaning merchandise.  

At the other end of the approach road was Gopuram. Gopuram the hall mark of South Indian style of architecture. Many a time the entrance of the temple shrine is far more intricate and beautiful than the Garbhagriha. Closer inspection revealed that the base part of the structure was made up of stone and as we go up earthen bricks were used. The binding material then used as informed, consisted of lime mortar (lime, sand and water mixed), egg shell, jaggery molasses, Olivera jell and coconut water. Nagaraj educated us. An attempt was made to restore the gopuram from an old photograph by the authorities using similar materials.

The story behind Vitthal temple is very interesting. In 1435 when Vitthal temple in Pandharpur was threatened by Muslim invaders, (Ahmednagar Sultan) the Vitthal idol was removed by the priest from the shrine and taken to Vijayanagar for the safe keeping as that was the only Hindu empire, under Krushnadevaraya. The idol was taken back to Pandharpur around 1519 by Bhanudas. May be the reason, why Vitthal in Maharashtra got the name Kanada Vitthal due to this journey to Karnataka. 

After the Vitthal idol was removed, Krishnadev Raya placed idol of Tirupati Balaji (he was devotee of Tirupati). The one which was destroyed by the subsequent Muslim invasions.  The temple was built around the idols accompanied by later addition by the king and his queens of multiple mandapas such as Bhajan Mandapam, Kalyan Mandapam (Wedding Hall), Maha Mandapam (or Sabha Mandapam) also known as Sangeet Mandapam.

On the left of the entry from Gopuram one can see the Kitchen, Dormitories or Dharmshala for pilgrims visiting the Shrine, not seen in this picture.  Seen in the picture are Vitthal Temple, Maha Mandapam or Sangeet Mandapam and Garuda Rath, the chariot.

Krushnadevaraya had three wives Trunamula Devi, Chenna Devi and relatively less known Anpurna Devi. Chenna Devi was a classical dancer and had wish to offer her services to the temple. The Maha Mandapam or Sangeet Mandapam was created for the purpose.

It is an Architect’s marvel. There are 56 pillars which are monolith each having multiple columns of varied sizes, height, design and diameter. The number of columns in each pillar are different. In some pillars number of columns is as high as 16 and some it is just 7. Each column has apparently different metallic composition and hence resonated at different frequencies when hit by wooden sticks. In brief each pillar was able to create sound of different musical instruments and can be played to accompany queen while she is dancing.   This picture with multiple angles gives some idea of the intricacy, complexity and the beauty of the design. The architect not only knew work but also understood metallurgy, music and musical instruments. 

The authorities have now restricted access to the Sangeet Mandapam for the obvious reason that visitors may try their hands on these pillars, which may cause permanent damage to this marvel. Thanks to innovative thinking by Archaeological Survey of India, Hampi Circle, technology has helped on this front and tourists can get near real experience of the musical notes, which could be heard from respective pillars by scanning the QR codes provided near each pillar. Jagate is a round, metal percussion instrument used in Indian temples to announce the arrival of deities and in street processions. 

Kalyan Mandapam the marriage celebration hall is another mandapam, which you should not miss. This is equally interesting as the temple and the Sangeet Mandapam. It is an open pavilion with 32 pillars and the pillars are decorated by carvings from Ramayana.

Mythological creatures are carved on the length of the stone pillars. These creatures are combination of Elephant, Horse, Lion and Crocodile face with a trunk and man riding it. 

The creature is called as Yali. Yali is considered as protector, a symbol of power with all the virtues of the animals combined. The aspiring king should have all the attributes and capable of mounting the creature. 

On pillars, beautiful carvings are visible. From left corner in clock wise direction is Hanuman giving Chudamani (crest jewel) of Seeta to Shri Ramchandra. Next is depiction of the story behind the name “Hoysala.” The word Hoysala refers to the medieval dynasty that ruled in Deccan region is Southern India. The name Hoyasala came from the man named Sala or Poysala who defended his Jain Guru from attacking lion with a single strike (Hoy in Kannada) of his sword.  Below is Nrusimha killing Hiranyakashyapu, then is dancer and the last one is Kamadeva shooting a flower arrow with feather bow.

The Maha Mandapam is exactly aligned with the central axis of the temple courtyard and it is bang in front of the stone chariot.  Seen in the picture below is Garuda Rath or the Chariot. The picture of same Chariot is appearing on the reverse of  Indian currency note of ₹ 50. Hampi being a UNESCO Heritage Site.

This Chariot is symbol Krushnadev Raya’s victory over Odisha (Orisa) after 4 years of war. He defeated Gajapati Prataprudra. He was impressed by the Konrark Suryamandir and to celebrate his victory he created this, Garuda Rath. It is not from a single stone but 24 pieces of stone carved and assembled. The wheels apparently use to roll, which were not fixed. The Elephants in front of the chariot is later addition by Britishers when the horses earlier were destroyed by invaders. Traces of vegetable colours (some patches of green) is still visible on the chariot giving scope for tourists to imagine what it must be looking in its glorious days.

We walked from Vitthal Temple towards river bank. We came across multiple ruins of the old temples and pillars with beautiful carvings, again the bottom friezes are adorned with horses. 

On the left hand side while walking towards the river we came across King’s Balance (Tula). Tula was used by the King on auspicious days or festive occasion to weigh himself with gold, silver or precious stones and jewels to donate the same to needy citizens attending the festival or the function.

As you come in the clear on the right side a mandapa is visible with white washed top. This is known as Purandara Dasa mandapa. Purandara Dasa (c. 1470 – c. 1564), known as the "Pitamaha" (grandsire) of Karnatic music, was a renowned composer, singer, and Haridasa philosopher from Karnataka, India, who lived and attained samadhi in Hampi. 

His compositions and lyrics were so simple that even children could understand them. He wrote about Vitthal Bhakti (devotion). He is known as founder of Dasya Sahitya. He wrote more than 50000 poems, lyrics.

 

This was a long pre-lunch session and we decided to break for lunch and were looking for authentic Kannada lunch. As usual our capable guide directed us to Mango Tree Restaurant with simple ambiance with addition of Indian sitting along with usual sitting arrangements. We had sumptuous lunch and decided to continue our site seeing after spending some time in restaurant’s courtyard in tree shades in the hot afternoon.

We will continue in my next blog, post lunch on Day 1 in Hampi.

The Ancient Ruins: Aihole

Aihole also known as Aivalli or Aryapura. Aihole and Pattadakal are major archaeological sites with more than 200 temples (80 at Pattadakal and 120 at Aihole). They are spread along the banks of river Malaprabha. Both centres are important for Chalukya monuments. Aihole has historical significance and has been rightly called as a cradle of Hindu architecture.

As we reached Aihole we came across Jain Basadi (Basti) a rock cut temple, which apparently is older than rock cut temples at Badami. It is a small temple with few steps to reach the main entrance. The place is known as Basadi and it is away from the village area as Jain monks travelling through the region used to stay here (Basti) for the night or use the place for meditation.

On entering the temple, one can see the statue of Mahavira in the front and Gomateshwara or Bahubali with his two sisters Brahmi and Sundari on the side.

Ceiling is decorated with swastikas and lotus flowers. One can see mythological creatures, with crocodile-like body, dragon face with wings and paws. Kinnara and Kinnari are also seen on the ceiling. The carving is done by the artist lying on his back on the scaffoldings. One wonders how artists protected their eyes from falling dust when designs were being carved in the ceiling stones. It was told to us that they used transparent leaves to cover their eyes and faces. 

Our guide Shri. Chandru Kategari informed us that around 500 meters from this Jain Basadi,

there is prehistoric (1500 BCE) burial ground having 42 Dolmen on same hillock where Jain Basadi, cave temple is located. He said climb is small but rough and the added attraction was rock paintings which were dated more than 15000 years back though not as old as Bimbetka cave paintings in Madhya Pradesh, India. We decided to have a look. Our good guide offered to guide us and lead the climb. We followed. It was worth the effort.

As we reached the top, spread on the plateau were dolmen all around us, though not as big as the one we saw in the morning. Barring one or two most of them were in broken condition. May be the earlier one was burial of some important person and these were not so important. Another major difference was the earlier one used granite while these were in sandstone, locally available. From the top we could see the sandstone quarry, which was used years before for erecting temples at Aihole and possibly at Pattadakal as well. There were some large stones which had a line of holes, indicating attempt to slice them in two and for some reason given up.  On some of the stones we saw quite a few markings in multiple rows made using chisel and hammer, which we were informed that it was an attendance sheet for the artist who worked on the temple. Similar markings were seen in cave temples at Badami as well.

We started walking towards main group of temples. On the way there are houses and people living next to temples. At some places temple wall is common to the house, narrow roads, animals around. People are using temple compounds as their back yards. No wonder Aihole is not presently an UNESCO Heritage Site, though on tentative list. All the villages will have to be relocated and temple area cleared. The efforts have already begun and the area we are approaching is clean with gardens and amenities for visiting tourists.  

We came across Chakra Gudi Temple. It is a Shiva temple. The temple is in Rekhanagar Prasad style of architecture with its beautiful Shikhar in intact condition.

Next to the temple there is a Pushkarni (sacred water tank). There were number of Pushkarnis around the complex. This one is in very good conditions with properly carved steps. The water seems to be green as it is not in use. In earlier days Pushkarni were used as a immediate water source for the temple though the river is close by.

Next, we came to temple with funny name Lad Khan Temple. This hall type temple probably obtains its name from a person called Lad Khan who used to reside here.

Apparently, he was accountant or holding some similar post and was using this place as his office cum house. Perhaps it was a structure for socio-religious performance later turned into a shiva temple. It comprises of a large pillared porch and a larger square pillared hall with large lattice screens around and a small rectangular sanctum at the rear. The Nandi occupying the center of the hall is probably a later placement.

The sanctum now contains a Linga but originally may have enshrined some other deity. The roof is flat at the center and sloping on all four sides in two stages. Over the central part is an upper flat roofed sanctum reached by a stone ladder in the porch. The exterior of this sanctum carries images of Surya (West), Vishnu (South) and Ardhanarishwara (North).

The porch is provided with Kakshasana or back-rest seat. On the porch pillars are depicted high relief sculptures of Ganga, Yamuna and Mithuna and a low relief carving of the Chalukya royal insignia of Varaha. Although earlier assigned to 450 CE, recent scholarship dates this curious secular-looking monument to 7^th -8^th century CE.

The Nandi Mandapam seems to be the latter addition. The hall and seating arrangements appears to be like sabhamandapm where merchants and other people may have been interacting with the authorities.

Then comes the unique piece of architecture called as Durga Temple. 

This was a temple originally dedicated to the sun god Aditya. An inscription of Vikramaditya -II's time (c.733-744 CE) found on its gateway informs that it was built by one Komarasinga. The present name "Durga Temple" may owe to its location near the fort wall (i.e. Durg-Fort). It is apsidal in plan with its back resembling the hind part of an elephant (Gajaprishtkara). Interiorly it comprises of a semicircular sanctum placed within a pillared hall with an apsidal end and a square porch. The whole is placed within an apsidal: in the form of or resembling a large semicircular or polygonal recess, arched or with a domed roof that ended larger cage-like structure standing on a high pedestal, the temple has a fallen Rekha Nagara superstructure. The Amalaka is seen lying on the ground broken and little away from the main building. The temple is entered through flights of steps from the south and the north known as Pratoli (entrance or a gate). There are several interesting high relief sculptures occupying the pillars and niches, some of loving couples and some of gods. 

The Circular path         Shiva leaning on Nandi (Vyghradharini Saumyarupi Shiva)          

                    

  Varah Avatara                                                                  Mahishasurmardini

Significant ones are Ashvamukhi yakshi, Surya chiding Chhaya, Narasimha, Ardhanari, Shiva leaning on Nandi, Vishnu riding Garuda, Varaha, Mahishamardini and Harihara. Some samples are cited above. This gives a fair idea how beautiful it must have been when it was live and in use.

Got one interesting story about the original name of now city of Mysuru. It was originally the place with old name Mahishasurmardinipura, which was converted as Mysuru by British (Mahishmandalpura, Mahishapura, Mahishpura- Mysuru). 

Harihara

Some of these are in Malwa style. There are also depictions of Ramayana episodes on the pedestal of the porch. The temple's interest lies in the resemblance of its plan to the Buddhist chaitya halls of western India. Although it was assigned in 5^th century earlier, recent scholarship strongly believes that it is a structure built in 7^th -8^th century CE. 

As you go inside you see the ceiling supported by trunks of two elephants. Ceiling is decorated with the Matsya chakra and Swastika chakra. Next to it towards garbhagriha one can see Shseshanag with flower basket in one hand and flower garland in other hand. 

The entrance door of the sanctum sanctorum (Garbhagriha) is decorated with 5 frames. On top of the door frame, we can see Garuda holding Nagas, trying to get away, in his both  hands. First frame (the one close to the entrance) is Naga, followed by Valli (Lata) then comes Stambh (Pillar), followed by Mithuna and completed by Bahya (External frame) again a Valli(Lata). At the bottom of the frames we can see carved ladies these are Goddesses Ganga, Yamuna, Sarswati etc. It is symbolic that when you cross these river goddesses you have taken holy bath before entering the shrine.  

This was the last temple we were to visit and end our day in Aihole. We had late lunch and yes before that we bought famous Karnataka sweet Kardantu from shop called Vijay Kardantu, large chain across at least Bagalokt district. 

Next was 3 hours journey to Hospet, or its official name Hosapete, means "new market" and is a city in Karnataka, India, known for its proximity to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Hampi. Hampi, our last and most coveted destination.