South Indian Temple Architecture
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An architectural feature seemingly unique to South Indian temples, mellifluous pillars that create music for the gods are found in a handful of temples in ‘Draviḍadeśa’. We explore these euphonious maṇḍapas, analysing the sui generis nature of this style of architecture that begs a more…
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Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, is an important deity who is worshipped by millions of people across India. Here, we delve deeper into one of the more popular images of Krishna—Vatapatrasayi, Lord of the Banyan Leaf—which has been beautifully rendered in both Indian paintings and sculptures. (Photo…
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The advent of Jainism in Kerala was earlier believed to be in the medieval period. However, an archaeological excavation in 2011 at Pattanam in Ernakulam district unearthed a Tamil-Brahmi-inscribed potsherd on which is inscribed ‘amana’,[1] a term used to refer to Jain monks. This new evidence…
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Jainism, one of the oldest existing religions, must have evolved gradually, taking an organised form around the end of ninth century BCE, through the preaching of Parsvanatha, the 23rd tirthankara and Mahavira, the 24th thirthankara. It is believed that Jainism spread to South India when King…
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Evolving and thriving at a time when the Deccan was dotted by trivial ‘kingdoms’, the Calukyas of Bādāmi ascended to their powerful position after defeating the Kadambas of Banavāsi or Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Mānapura (Meister and Dhaky 1986:3). This was followed by the fortification of Bādāmi…
in Overview
The Calukyas of Badami gained control over Deccan at a point when Saivism began thriving and Buddhism was nearing its end in the region in the mid 6th century CE. At the same time Jainism also started gaining a presence. Irrespective of their Vaishnava inclination stated in their epigraphs and…
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1. Brihadisvara Legends
Fig. 1: Brihadisvara temple (Image taken by Debhashish Bannerjee)
There are a number of legends associated with the temple. The two given below are the most well-known ones.
1. Karuvur Devar…
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