a girl at Aihole

At times, my memory fails me. One such time is when I wrote the post of Aihole tour of Aug 2023 with my friend Srinu from Hyderabad. At the end of the tour of Aihole hillock, as we walked back to the main road I heard a feminine voice "hi." A friendly smile followed by another hi. Though I never expressed it to Srinu, this girl had made my morning. With her permission I took a photo and asked her name. I remembered it until last year but now.. just can't remember her name. I even missed adding this picture to that post.

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four faces of a pillar

When you see places like Hampi, Badami, Aihole and the likes, one could photograph them at macro and micro levels, relatively. A scene from an elevated spot to a group of temples to an individual temple to a pillared hall inside a temple to a large statue to a tiny sculpture on a pillar. One could find countless subjects to shoot. Many a times, I've appreciated sculptures more on my laptop screen than at the site. At the site, a small image catches my eye, I look at it for a second or two, I shoot it and move on. At home I look at pictures of those tiny sculptures for minutes, trying to figure out so many things... what's that expression or the talent of the sculptor or the purpose of that image. One could get lost in that world of sights and thoughts.

Now, coming to a particular pillar in the VIII Century CE Chalukyan monument Durga Gudi at Aihole. There's a pair of heavily decorated pillars in the Mukha-mantapa. However, the middle part of the pillars is eye-catching. Plains surface with a circular image on each of the four faces. It's so elegant. The plain surface highlights the circular image. One might imagine that the other two faces have similar sculptures.

No, the opposite faces have blank circles. Why these are plain.. possibly incomplete. Was it meant to be polished to mirror finish. Or, was it like a blank canvas for another sculptor. I remember one of the guides say that blanks were left to invite foreign sculptors in a way of challenge or, a simple display of talent. There could be other reasons.

The more I look at these sculptures, the more I wonder how the sculptors achieved the forms, those straight lines, right angles, perfect circles, the precision, those expressions. It's a big question- how? And another question- why? Why these elaborate designs?

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Nara Bali sculpture at Aihole

A couple of months ago I was browsing through photos of Aihole trip with Srinu in Aug 2023. One of the photos of a sandstone sculpture at Aihole museum caught my attention. It's a rare type of sculpture to my knowledge, don't remember seeing it elsewhere. As you see here, the sculpture shows a Shiva Linga on a pedestal with a standing human figure next to it. Then there's another human figure featuring matted hair, skeletal body & limbs, sitting on the floor, some kind of weapon in right-hand and left-hand holding an infant by its leg. Surely this guy is not showing affection to the baby. So what's he up to is the question.

Google photo search gave me the answer. Apparently, this sculpture depicts Nara Bali (human sacrifice). Here, a devotee of Mahakali named Veerabhadra is sacrificing his son. The search result also mentions that it's a preta (hungry ghost) holding a baby. A preta is usually depicted in a skeletal form. So, is this preta sacrificing a baby despite its hunger?

While the picture above is the original, the next picture is digitally edited. The background has been removed using a mobile phone app. The wonders of digital technology!

Going back to the image, the human sacrifice part seems right but the details are yet to be discovered. Do share your thoughts and knowledge in the comments section.

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Aihole trip of Aug 2023

Probably I'm the only person who has taken Srinu, my friend from Hyderabad, to historical sites. When Srinu decided to take a short vacation at Dharwad, I planned a two-day trip to the Chalukyan realm Badami-Pattadakal-Aihole. Aug 29th morning we reached Badami, we covered the rock-cut caves, Agastya pond, Bhootnath group and the northern fort. Afternoon we headed towards Pattadakal, we stopped at Shivayogi Mandir for lunch break. Pushpa had packed us rotti-sprouts-chatnipudi lunch which we had under a neem tree in the peaceful premises of Shivayogi Mandir. Then we drove to Pattadakal where had a good tour except that my camera battery got drained completely. By sunset we had checked into KSTDC lodge at Aihole.

Aug 30, 2023
From past experiences, it's best to do the hill trek early morning. That was the plan for the morning- explore the historic and prehistoric sites on Aihole hill seen in the background of this picture. Two monuments can be seen in the picture here- Buddhist Chaitya, and Meguti Gudi which is partly concealed by the fort wall. 

Durga Gudi in the background. Durga temple complex is the center of Aihole. We had plans of visiting after the trek and breakfast.

On the left is Desai Waade which offers home-stay services. Further ahead there are more Chalukyan temple complex; on the left is Tryambakeshwara, and on the right is the Jain Basadi complex.

At the southern edge of the village is Huchchappayyana Matha.

About half kilometer from Huchchappayyana Matha we leave the road and get on to the hill slope. Aihole hill is a long & narrow mound with a sloping plateau if I may call it that. The southern slope is an ancient quarry which supplied sandstone blocks for temple construction here.

Here's one spot from which flat-sided blocks were removed. While the lower portion is a former quarry, the upper portions of the slope have many natural rock-shelters which were inhabited in the prehistoric times. The prehistoric inhabitants had a marvelous view of river Malaprabha flowing in the valley. It is said that Vishnu's Avatar Parashurama had washed his bloodied axe in the river here which caused the river to turn red. The sight of the red stream left people in awe and exclaimed aayo hole which later transformed to Aihole. That's the story behind the name Aihole.

During my earlier visits, I had located a few paintings in the rock-shelters. I was glad that Srinu could see them. The painting has faded over the centuries but one can still recognize the hyena fur pattern. There's another important prehistoric site of this region- Kutkankeri. On the hill is a huge boulder called Anepadi which means elephant-stone. On Anepadi is a large painting of hyena fur pattern. Until I saw that painting I wasn't aware that hyenas existed here. Well, hyenas can be found here to this day.

Srinu pointing at a smaller painting.

This is one of the multi-leveled rock-shelter. If you climb on to the top of this formation, you'll reach the sloping plateau. The entire hill had been a busy place, historically speaking. On the sloping plateau are remans of prehistoric burial chambers. There are close to eighty megalithic tombs, one of the largest in Karnataka state.

While prehistoric people painted hyena fur patterns Mother Nature has imitated wood grain pattern in sandstone. Isn't that amazing!

We climb down and return to the quarry site and stop at the spot which is an open bathing space with a shower. The water shower functions only if the rains are sufficient enough for the rocks to hold water. During an earlier visit here, with Pushpa, we had seen a waterfall in which a villager was bathing. If you taker a closer look at the flat surface, you can find a few inscriptions in Kannada. Also there's an floral etching. I believe this shower bathing space was created by sculptors engaged during Chalukyan times.

We climb up to see the showerhead. Srinu's stepping across the canal which channelizes rain / stored water into a steady stream.

Srinu inspecting the straight edges here. The ancient people had mastered the art & science of cutting stones into blocks with perfectly straight edges. Those ancient techniques are still being used to this day.

Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized silicate grains cemented together by another mineral. Sand grains are compacted and cemented over thousands of years. During the process other types of stones are also cemented, like pieces of tutti frutti in sponge cakes.

We reach the southwestern end of Aihole hill. At this tip is an important monument- a rock-cut Jaina shrine, also called as Menada Basadi. Srinu's resting on the bench with a headrest to his right side. The dressed block wall seems to be a relatively later addition. I feel, the pillared hall of his temple was open. For some reason the builders decided to wall it up. Maybe to keep the place warmer during cold weather.

The temple has two main spaces, outer and inner. The outer space is one wide hall with a complex looking ceiling sculpture. The sculpture has several Swastika, floral motifs and imaginary creatures. One must see this sculpture for real. Barring the front wall this Basadi is a monolithic temple. Aihole has two more monolithic temples, no exceptions in them. While one is a named monument, the other one is an unnamed and almost impossible to access. The named monument is Ravalapadi. The unnamed temple is situated on the northwestern slope of Aihole hill.

This is the inner chamber with an altar. The deity is Mahaveera. I haven't posted more pictures since I need to cover other monuments. However, to see more of this Basadi see this blog post: Rock-cut Jain Basadi.

Having rested in the Basadi we resume our trek, Just behind the Basadi are several paths to reach the lower end of the sloping plateau. Like I said earlier, this plateau is a prehistoric grave site - there are about eighty megalithic burial chambers, also called cromlechs. Though many are vandalized, some of the larger chamber are pretty much in their original condition. This is one which is best preserved, in my opinion. Srinu's pointing his walking stick to the red dirt between the rocks. Basically the inner space of this cromlech is packed with dirt which in turn keeps a corpse (corpses) buried. My understanding is that such tombs were made for leaders (like a king) in the prehistoric times.

We trek up to the western end of the plateau seeing more cromlechs on the way. This one here is probably the largest, large enough to hold four or five adult human bodies. As you see the inner space is empty. It had been emptied at some point of time, either by archaeologists or vandals hunting treasure. In the background is the fortification surrounding Meguti Gudi. 

The fort wall has been breached in a friendly way for the sake of tourists. We clambered across the breach and Meguti Gudi comes into view.

Isn't it a handsome looking structure. Apparently the story behind the name Meguti is this: since the temple sits atop a hill, it was called Meliruva Gudi which eventually became Meguti Gudi. This is one of the 100+ temples of Aihole. Here I would like to say that most temples here were dedicated to Shiva. I guess, even Meguti was a Shiva temple.

The fort has one official entrance which is opposite Meguti temple. Out thro the gateway, we get the stairs which goes down to the two tiered Buddhist Chaitya. On the ceiling of the upper tier is an sculpture of meditating Buddha. That's the only indication that this temple is a Chaitya. From here one can get a bird's eye view of Aihole's monuments. Also, this is a great sunset point.

Now, looking back the way we came, what all are on this hill. Prehistoric dwellings with paintings, a prehistoric burial chamber, early Chalukyan quarry site with bathing place, a Shiva temple, a Jaina Basadi, a Buddhist Chaitya, a fort and monolithic temple. See how the ancient cultures of Indian subcontinent gelled. Considering the visual aspect, all the monuments are in harmony. That's the beauty of our Bharatvarsha.

Having trekked more than two kilometers, we were hungry. We went straight to the only decent eatery of Aihole, enjoyed the breakfast, rested and entered the Durga Gudi complex. Considering the time, I planned to see only Durga temple complex. We spent an hour or so at the complex then headed back to the lodge. We rested for a while, had a light lunch and then started our journey back to Dharwad. For the past three times, I've taken Dharwad - Hubli - Badami - Aihole route for the forward journeys and, and for the return journey it's Aihole - Badami -  Ramdurga - Sirasangi - Saundatti - Dharwad. The return route is scenic between Kulageri cross and Saundatti. Srinu really enjoyed driving this route. Overall, it was a wonderful trip!

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stones embedded in sandstone boulders

Mother Nature is the supreme artist and her creations can be seen everywhere... sky, clouds, mountains, valleys, rocks, water, seas, sand, rivers, lakes, flora, fauna.. it goes on and on. Even the angry side of Nature has its beauty such as lava flowing out from a volcano or a tornado. One of the most stable objects on our planet are stones. Perhaps it won't be an overstatement to call them the most stable?
Stones have been man's best friend since the time man existed. Rocks gave shelter to human beings. Rocks became man's tools and weapons. Then with imagination humans started building shelters using stone. Humans also made graves using stones. In the present day we get to see countless creations of  ancient humans, some simple, some sophisticated. Whatever the creations are they are beautiful. One of the aspects of the beauty is the natural or the raw texture of stone. It doesn't matter what type of stone. It could be marble, granite, sandstone, basalt, slate, limestone, laterite, etc. Each of them have their own characteristics, some my be preferred over the other for  certain physical qualities but when it comes to visual appeal, all are equal - that's the way I see them.

Apart from regular stones i.e. the ones which are homogenous, there are heterogenous types as well. I'm not sure if the terminologies are right but I think they convey the meaning. I've come across the heterogenous types mostly in the sandstone hills of Bagalkot district.

Quoting a couple of lines describing sandstone from a stone manufacturer in Rajasthan:
Sandstones are defined as sand particles cemented together into a rock. These stones are a type of rock made of sediments, and that is why they are called the sedimentary rocks. Sedimentary rock is a name provided to a stone if the cluster arrangement of that stone includes clasts, pieces of minerals, and rocks’ fragments.

Sandstones are formed in a very interesting and two-way process. The first consists of a layer of sand accumulating as the result of sedimentation either from water or air. And secondly, when the sand is accumulated, the sand turns into a sandstone when compacted by the pressure of overlying deposits and cemented minerals filling the pore spaces between sand grains.

Here are a few examples of a different type of stone embedded in sandstone. Geology specialists would know what these examples are called. Laymen can only admire their beauty.

One possible explanation for these embedded stones is that they were caught up during the formation of sandstone which means these are several millions of years old. These stones are the hard types.

A colorful stone... yellow, pink, blue, green, white.

Here we have a red and black pebbles set tightly. This looks like stones set in cement.

Here we have a circular hole in a boulder. The pit's floor & wall are covered with a thick layer of dark matter which looks like iron. This particular formation was seen at Badami and Aihole.

The last picture is about the natural texture of a sandstone boulder. They have interesting textures which looks like animal fur patterns or geometric diagrams. 

The sandstone boulders at Sidlapadi have unique formations which appear like little walls. Read the blog post Sights from Sidlaphadi to see those formations. Also check out the sandstone hill of Kutkankeri as well. Before I end this post I would like readers to see the open air museum of geological samples at Syntheri Rocks.

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Kunti Gudi complex, Aihole part-2

...continued from Kunti Gudi Complex part-1.

Kunti Gudi complex, a group of four temples, is situated close to Charantimatha and Trymbakeshwara complexes. These four temples are grouped together closely in a rectangular pit. As one approaches the group from its northeastern corner, the most noticeable thing is the stone step-ladder leaning against the side wall of temple-1. Then the second unique thing here is the tall mantapa connecting temple-1 and temple-2. In the below picture, the mantapa is seen. However, this picture has been shot from the space between temple-3 (on the left) and temple-4 (on the right).

Here's a snap-shot of Kunti group in Google Maps. I've marked the structures with numbers for better understanding of the positioning. 1, 3, 4 and 5 are temples, 2 is the mantapa connecting 1& 2. The temples are positioned on the corners of an imaginary square. Coming to the orientation and configuration of the shrines-

• Temple-1 is a west facing Trikutachala
• Temple-2 is a east-facing Ekatachala
• Temple-3 is a east-facing Ekatachala
• Temple-4 is a north-facing Ekatachala

This is the front-side view of temple-3. All temples of this group have high bases and verandahs. Originally this temple had a canopy for the verandah. Presently only a portion of the canopy is remaining.

This is the left half of the verandah. The wall on the right holds the doorway and four perforated screen windows. The window design is simple; a matrix of square holes. Its designed to provide enough ventilation but maintain privacy as well.

The right half of the verandah. Its a symmetric space. The floor slabs seem rough cut but originally they might have been precisely shaped to form a leveled floor. I think the slab edges have rounded due to natural erosion of sandstone. Same is the case with pillars. For example, the first pillar in this picture has worn out considerably.

These columns have some interesting artworks. A bull-elephant pair sharing the head portion. The bulls head is lifted up as though resting on the elephant's neck. The bulls head & hump forms the elephant's head & trunk. This particular artwork can be seen in several Chalukyan temples.

On another column is the scene of Vishnu in Varaha Avatar rescuing Bhoodevi from Asura Hiranyaksha. This too is seen in most Chalukyan temples.

Lets step into the Sabhamantapa the inner hall between the verandah and the sanctum. This space is a mix of dark areas and bright spots. Eyes need a few seconds to adjust to this lighting. Photography is a little tricky in here but with some effort & luck one should end up with interesting shots. The sanctum is a small space with a narrow doorway. The doorframe is multi-tiered. In fact, the sanctum looks like a small temple by itself, like a temple inside a temple.

Light and shadow effect. A spot lights up a corner in the column top. The two arches in perpendicular planes appears like a semicircle in one plane. Also the outlining of pillar edges and the smaller semicircle are interesting effects.

More light & shadows at play. The perforated window has created symmetric slanting beams on the wall. The beam pointing down are due to direct light while the beams pointing upwards are due to reflected light. In the foreground is a damaged sculpture lying on the floor.

This sculpture, I'm assuming, is Vishnu seated on Garuda. The beak and feathers appear to be an eagle's. Also I feel this sculpture is incomplete. There are many more things to see in here but one has to make time.

Lastly, we come to temple-4, the smallest of the four. While the other three temples have steps ascending directly into the verandahs, temple-4 has sideway steps, the final step lets you step into the verandah. The four pillars in the façade feature amorous couples. The canopy of this temple has survived the forces of nature, looks quite original.

The piece with an wide arch and niche resting on the steps doesn't seem to belong here. Normally such sculptures are seen on the top i.e. on the front of temple Shikharas.

Close ups of two couples. Sadly the lovely sculptures are badly mutilated. From what's remaining we get to know the fashions of those days... for instance the variations in headgear.

Column heads are unique here, the grooves on the curved surface is an interesting variation. The columns in temple 2 are similar but without these grooves.

That's it! There's a lot to see if one has the time, patience & energy. Hopefully, I'll come here again and notice something anew.

Tourists must visit Kunti group while they are at Aihole. Perhaps they should start the tour of Aihole here rather than at Durga temple complex.

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