Today Aihole is a little village on the right bank of river Malaprabha the tributary of river Krishna. History of Aihole goes back to prehistoric times. In fact it is said that Parashurama had washed his axe at this spot. Blood from the axe had turned the river red. On seeing the red colored water someone had remarked Ayyo Hole. Hence the place was called Ayyo Hole which became Aihole over time.
From the archaeological perspective, Aihole is a prehistoric site. Aihole hillock consists a lengthy natural rock formation with shelters and caverns in which are several paintings in ochre. These rock paintings are said to be prehistoric. At the base of the rock formation are ancient quarries. The hillock is flat topped, a sloping plateau. On the plateau are megalithic tombs. Also close to river near Ramlingeshwar temple complex are remains of cairns ~ stone circles and a dolmen. These archaeological artifacts prove that this place was inhabited few millennia before the Chalukyan times. The inhabitants had knowledge of stones- how to select the right type, how to shape them and how to make structures using stone blocks.
Coming to the historic times, Aihole is considered as the cradle of temple architecture. Historians believe that temple builders during the Chalukyan times experimented with temple designs here. Master sculptors and their apprentices designed and made model temples here. If one looks around Aihole, more than a hundred temples of tiny to big temples built across few centuries can be seen. These temples are mainly dedicated to Shiva, the main deity being Shiva Linga. One can see simple structures to heavily decorated ones with ventilation features. On the decorated ones are images of Hindu gods and goddesses.. tiny images to life size images to larger than life size. The idols of Shiva Linga are accompanied by idols of Nandi. Some of the temples are multi-storeyed with stone ladders connecting the levels. These builders could virtually create anything with stone, as though it was wax.
Of the hundred off temples, three of the temples are different. They stand out because they are monolith i.e. these are mad out of one boulder each. In my opinion, sculpting a monolithic temple is difficult than building a temple of multiple components. The sculptor had zero error tolerance while working on a monolithic designs. One of the pros of monolith design was just work the stone, no need to assemble & align. Lets take a look at the three monolithic shrines of Aihole.
The first one is the smallest, situated on the boulder strewn north-western slope of the hillock, close to the fort wall. The naturally cuboid boulder has been hacked away making it partly hollow. I didn't get a chance to climb upto the temple. I'm guessing the single doorway with a frame and no window. Probably there's a pedestal or a platform for the deity. I'm assuming the temple is dedicated to Shiva Linga like most other temples here.
A zoomed out view of the temple. Right next to the monolith temple is a small temple with one Garbhagudi, a stepped Shikhara and a Mukhamantapa. The monolith temple looks small but the interior will be as spacious as the neighboring temple.
Lets move on to the next monolith- a Jain temple built in the VII or VIII Century. This temple is situated on the hillock's south-western slope. As you see the boulder is much bigger and shaped like an inverted cone. Of the three this one stands second in terms of size. The temple face has been leveled out vertically, probably the builders had plans of removing more material so that the front was more open with columns, the interior would've been brighter and airier.
The west facing door opens into a rectangular hall which is very wide. Opposite the main door is another doorway with a pair of columns which connects to the inner hall. The doorway walls are plain but the other two facing walls have idols of Jaina Theertankara. The ceiling is filled with relief carvings of geometric and floral patterns. The inner doorway has a multi-stage frame. Probably the sculptors had plans of decorating the door frame as well.
The inner hall is almost a square in plan. Each of the three sides has a chamber each. The innermost chamber seen here is the Garbhagudi. The floor level of the sanctum is higher than the floor of the hall. The deity is Lord Mahaveera in meditation seated on a platform. The walls flanking the sanctum are covered with larger than life size sculptures. I'm not sure about the the two other innermost chambers, if they are just meditation rooms or Garbhagudi. The ceiling of this hall too are rich with geometric, floral and marine creatures. Here's the link to the post dedicated to this monolithic Jaina Basadi.
The last of three is the oldest monolithic temple of Aihole known as Ravalaphadi temple. This is said to be made in the VI Century. In terms of floor area, Ravanaphadi and Jaina Basadi could be same. As you see the temple façade is dominated by the doorway pillars and a pair of Nidhis.
The interior consists of a main hall which in turn connects to three raised chambers on three sides. The walls between the chambers have large sculptures of Lord Shiva, Mahishasuramardini, Varaha and other legendary characters.
One striking feature of these idols are the towering & tapering crowns. The ceiling of the hall is dominated by a large lotus and surrounded by floral & geometric patterns. The center of the floor has a lotus which could be concentric to the one in the ceiling. This temple is bound to leave anyone speechless with its beauty.
The main deity of Ravanaphadi is Shiva Linga, a very rough cut Linga mounted on a pedestal. I'm not sure about the deities in the other two chambers.
On the outside but a part of the rock formation is a niche with a Shiva Linga on a pedestal.
These monolithic temples are small compared to Badami cave temples but they are beauties not to be missed. Another shrine which is part of the a rock hill itself is Arali Thirtha at Badami. The shrine is not easily accessible but if you can make it, its worth the effort.
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