Friday, Mar 13th, Badami, India

Greetings!

Today, we completed the triple crown of temple complexes in the Badami area (Aihole, Badami, and Pattadakal).  Together, they span at least five centuries (4th to 8th centuries AD), and contain examples of southern (Dravida) and northern (Nagara) temple architectural styles.  They contain mostly Hindu temples dedicated to Vishna and Shiva, a Buddhist and several Jain at Aihole, and an early Jain temple at Badami which produced 500-years earlier the model for the 57-foot tall statue at Shravanabelagola.

Our guide (Basavaraj) described what we were viewing at Aihole and Pattadakal as "experimental", in that many of the architectural designs underwent slight changes over time.  Southern temples were stacked, flat-roof structures which gained height and size.  Northern temples tended to be conical-shaped, and gained internal detail in painting and carving.

These two sites contain what he called "addition" designs, in that they were built by adding layers and sculptures of rock.  Badami, on the otherhand, features core "subtraction" temples - carved out of solid rock - surrounded by later "addition" southern temples.

While we know the temples were built to celebrate coronations and military victories, and that they generally were sequenced during the 4th and 5th, 5th and 6th, and 7th and 8th centuries when dynastic kings and queens were becoming architectural story-tellers for Hindu mythology, we don't have much information about how long they took, and what it took to accomplish them.  We do know they used local materials (sandstone and granite), and in one case took 12 years to construct.

It's important to understand that these temples highlight an important world history lesson.  Most westerners view the period they were built through a European timeframe.  In the same period, the Vikings invaded Great Britain's coast, the Moors swept north into Spain, the Visigoths and Gauls  took Italy and eastern France.  We call this period the Dark ages when Europe lost a quarter of its population, and it took five hundred years to recover.  In the meantime, the lands from the Taurus Mountains to the Indus Valley and to Southern India continued to flower.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on: Friday, Mar 13th, Badami, India.