Veera Narayana Temple located in Belavadi is an ancient 12th century temple carved in soapstone. This temple comprising of three shrines was built during the rule of the Hoysala King Veera Ballala II.
In this temple with unique architecture each of the three shrines has a complete by itself with tower on top of the shrine. Among the three shrines, two of the shrines face each other and are located on either side of a wide and spacious open hall with thirty seven bays.
The central shrine is much older and its inner walls are plain with well decorated roof. In all, the temple complex has fifty nine bays that is exhibited by many pillars. While most of these pillars are lathe-turned and bell shaped, some have decorative carvings on them.
The outer wall of the temple has many eaves running around the temple. Below this are miniature decorative towers on pilasters. A panel of Hindu deities and their attendants are below this eves followed by a set of five moldings that form the base of the wall.
All shrines have sculptured decoration on the towers, and the sculptures on the walls are bold and are visible from a distance. These beautiful sculptures represent various forms of deity of the temple.
At Udayagiri, the Buddhist site in Orissa, ASI have excavated many interesting structures that were created any time between 7th and 12th century. One such excavation has brought to light the remains of a huge monastic complex comprising a Mahastupa and an east facing square monastery.
This monastery has the mountains as its backdrop giving it a majestic look. The monastery measures about 35 M sq. and had 21 cells.
At the back-end of the courtyard, in the sanctum there is a huge 12 feet statue of Buddha in Bhumisparsha Mudra. On his either side are Vajrapani and Padmapani.
The door frame to the sanctum is beautifully carved. The detailing with flying apsaras, pupil climbing vines, elephants are simply beautiful. The eyes, nose and lips of a miniature human forms are crafted with at most care.
Great Mosque in Hyderabad is one of the grandest masjid in the city. It is popularly known as the great masjid of the Golkonda tombs.
This beautiful masjid is next to the tomb of Hayat Bakshi Beguminside inside the Qutub Shahi Tomb Complex. It was built in 1666 A.D. by Hayat Bakshi Begum's son, the 7th Sultan Abdullah.
The architecture has a distinctive style that blends Persian, Pashtun and Hindu forms. The Prayer Hall is 76 feet wide and has three bays which are 51 feet deep. The front has a five arched facade.
Fifteen cupolas decorate the roof and the prayer-hall is flanked by two lofty minarets. The inscriptions in the masjid are in calligraphic art.
Rani Sipri's Tomb is located in the old area of Ahmadabad within the same complex as Rani Sipri Mosque. It is one of the ancient monuments that has a combination of Indo-Islamic architecture.
Constructed some time in 16th century the tomb has a large dome in the central part surrounded by 4 small domes in the 4 corners. The tomb has screens made of stones have been carved beautifully.
The Veerabhadra Temple in Lepakshi has been built on a low altitude hillock of a large exposure of granite rock. This 16th century temple built by Virupanna Nayaka and Viranna, both Governors under the Vijayanagar Empire.
The architecture of the temple is that of Vijaynagar Style of that period. The main temple is laid out in three parts: the assembly hall, ante chamber and the sanctum. The assembly hall is a large sized open hall with a large space in its central part.
On the pillars and walls there are carvings of saints, guardians, musicians, dancers and 14 avatars of Shiva. Every pillar is of different style and shape. The open space in the middle part of the hall has large columns which have carvings of triple figures.
The temple also has a hanging pillar which is a medieval architectural wonder to witness. Out of the seventy pillars, this one pillar does not rest on the ground completely but hangs in the air, with enough space between its base and the ground to pass a sheet of paper through it.
On every corner of the temple one can find either carvings or paintings.
This is thirty-third in the series on the rich cultural heritage of temples in India. The ancient monuments of India are richly carved and they behold ones attention for their craftsmanship.
Beautiful craftsmanship on 10th century Varahi Temple at Chaurasi. One of the windows of the 14th century Rudbai Step-well at Adalaj which has been carved intricately on all corners with different motifs and animals.
The sanctum doorway of Harishchandra ni Chori at Shamalaji is adorned with bands comprising a creeper, lotus leaves and the vine. The two female figures at the base represent Ganga and Yamuna.
Buddhist Caves in Junagadh, close to the mosque inside the Uppekot Fort is fine example of Buddhist rock cut architecture of 2nd century A.D. These caves are on the eastward slope leading to the Adi-chadi Vav.
These caves are scooped out in three tiers from surface downwards, with all members of each gallery shown in semi-relief. There are three rock-hewn chambers, each open to the skies. The caves feature many monastic meditation cells.
Only two of the stories have regular floors. The main hall of the lowest storey is partly open to the skies and contains exquisitely carved pillars, whose base, shaft and the capital contains unique decorative designs.
The pillars, having spiral ridges on their shaft, octagonal plinth bases and floral ornamented capitals with animal figures etc, represent the main Satvahana art traditions on one hand, and in the exotic, Grecco-synthian trends on the other hand.
There are still some traces of beautiful carvings in the cave that is built across several floors.
We have already seen details of Kailasa Temple of Ellora in the earlier post. This 8th century temple has strong architectural influences of Pallava and Chalukya styles.
Within the enclosed courtyard, there is a flat-roofed main shrine dedicated to Shiva, and an image of his mount Nandi. The rectangular main shrine is called Rang-Mahal because after its completion, the temple was plastered and painted.
The temple has niches, plasters, windows as well as images of deities and other figures. The 7 meter high plinth is decorated with life size elephants and mythical animals.
The two storey main shrine has Vadys Mandapa, Nandi Mandapa, a pillared hall, an antechamber and a small sanctum surrounded by five subsidiary shrines.
The pillared hall is supported by 16 pillars each with different set of carvings on them.
The rocky hills of Devrayan Durga near Bangalore is surrounded by forest. The hill is dotted with several temples and at the at the foot of the hill is Boganarasimha Temple.
This ancient temple is of the Chola period and has been renovated recently. This temple enjoyed the patronage of many kings from various dynasties and also is well known for its simple but beautiful architectural marvel.
Lord Narsihma is main deity of this temple and The idol of Goddess Lakshmi devi is also seen here. The temple has beautifully carved tower. Also adjacent to the tower in the temple is beautifully carved sculptures showing various avatarts of Lord Krishna.
The Charminar in Hyderabad, is a historic monument as well as mosque that is visited by tourista all over the world. The ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah built this magnificent structure in 1591.
It is part of old city and was constructed at the intersection of the historical trade route that connects the markets of Golkonda with the port city of Machilipatnam.
It is built using Indo-Islamic architecture style, incorporating Persian architectural elements. It is constructed using limestone, mortar and marble. It is a square structure with each side having 66 feet wide grand arches in the four directions. There are 149 winding steps inside each of the minaret to reach the upper floor.
The minarets at each corner are exquisitely shaped with three storeyes rise to a height 0f 56 meters. Each minaret is crowned by a bulbous dome with dainty petal-like designs at the base.
The mosque is located at the western end of the open roof; remaining part of the roof served as a court during the Qutb Shahi times. The interiors of the dome is beautifully carved.
The clock on the four cardinal directions was added in 1889. At the base of Charminar there was originally a water cistern at the center with a small fountain. The every inch of the structure is beautifully carved.
Bangalore Palace, is a magnificent palace located in Bangalore that still retains its old world charm. Construction of a palace building was started in 1874 and completed by 1878 on a land of area 454 acres.
The palace with a floor area of 45000 sqft was built in Tudor style architecture with fortified towers, battlements and turrets. In the later years, Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wadiyar added some portions outside of Durbar Hall during his reign.
All together there are 35 rooms in palace and most of them are bed rooms. The first floor has an elaborate hall known as the Durbar Hall that can be reached by climbing a decorated staircase. The walls along the staircase are adorned with paintings.
Durbar Hall is a sprawling hall where the king used to address the assembly. One side of the hall contains stained glass windows in Gothic style. The yellow color is used profusely and the walls and the sofa set in the hall are in yellow.
The furniture are neo-classical, Victorian and Edwardian in style. They were bought from John Roberts and Lazarus.
The interior walls of the palace are adorned by 19th century old paintings. Some of those are also Greek and Dutch paintings.
The interiors were decorated with elegant wood carvings, floral motifs and relief paintings on the ceiling. The palace also has beautiful work of arts and crafts on display.
Rani Sipri's Mosque located in the old area of Ahmadabad is one of the ancient monuments that is known for its elegance. the construction of this medieval mosque was commissioned in 1514 by Queen Sipri the wife of Mahmud Begada herself.
It is also known as Masjid-e-Nagina (Jewel of a mosque) because of its elegant proportions and slender minarets.
This mosque even though small in size it impresses all with the intricate cravings on its walls. The artistic work in the mosque are a reflection of the beautiful craftsmanship of the bygone era.
The slender and ornate minarets of this magnificent mosque are the major attraction.
The Basilica of Bom Jesus is one of the oldest churches located in Old Goa. This is India’s first minor basilica and its construction began in 1954.
The architecture of the church is one of the best examples of baroque architecture. The entrance of the church is very ornamental.
The church with simple interiors has marble flooring inlaid with precious stones. The main altar holds a large statue of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus.
The church holds the mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier. He died on Sancian Island while en route to continental China in the year 1552. His body is placed in silver casket on top of a mausoleum.
It was designed by the 17th-century Florentine sculptor Giovanni Battista Foggini. The church also holds paintings of scenes taken from the life of St. Francis Xavier.
This church is recognised as UNESCO World Heritage Site
