the gupta built the temples at aihole badami and pattadakal.
the gupta built the temples at aihole badami and pattadakal.
who built the temples at aihole badami and pattadakal?
the gupta
pattadakal became, along with nearby aihole and badami, a major cultural center 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 experimentations 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.
pattadakal
both shaivism and vaishnavism flourished during the badami chalukya period, though it seems the former was more popular. famous temples were built in places such as pattadakal, aihole and mahakuta, and priests ("archakas") were invited from northern india. vedic sacrifices, religious vows ("vrata") and the giving of gifts ("dana") was important. the badami kings were followers of vedic hinduism and dedicated temples to popular hindu deities in aihole. sculptures of deities testify to the popularity of hindu gods such as vishnu, shiva, kartikeya, ganapathi, shakti, surya and "sapta matrikas" ("seven mothers"). the badami kings also performed the ashwamedha ("horse sacrifice"). the worship of lajja gauri, a fertility goddess is known. jainism too was a prominent religion during this period. the kings of the dynasty were however secular and actively encouraged jainism. one of the badami cave temples is dedicated to the jain faith. jain temples were also erected in the aihole complex, the temple at maguti being one such example. ravikirti, the court poet of pulakeshin ii was a jain. queen vinayavati consecrated a temple for the trimurti ("hindu trinity") at badami. sculptures of the trimurti, harihara (half vishnu, half shiva) and "ardhanarishwara" (half shiva, half woman) provide ample evidence of their tolerance. buddhism was on a decline, having made its ingress into southeast asia. this is confirmed by the writings of hiuen-tsiang. badami, aihole, kurtukoti and puligere (modern lakshmeshwar in the gadag district) were primary places of learning.
chalukya dynasty