Aihole (pronounced “Eye-ho-lé”), also referred to as Aivalli, Ahivolal or Aryapura, is a historic site of ancient and medieval era Buddhist, Hindu and Jain monuments in north Karnataka (India) dated from the fourth century through the twelfth century CE. Located around an eponymous small village surrounded by farmlands and sandstone hills, Aihole is a major archaeological site featuring over one hundred and twenty stone and cave temples from this period, spread along the Malaprabha river valley, in Bagalakote district.
Aihole is 22 miles (35 km) from Badami and about 6 miles (9.7 km) from Pattadakal, both of which are major centers of historically important Chalukya monuments. Aihole, along with nearby Badami (Vatapi), emerged by the 6th century as the cradle of experimentation with temple architecture, stone artwork, and construction techniques. This resulted in 16 types of free-standing temples and 4 types of rock-cut shrines. The experimentation in architecture and arts that began in Aihole yielded the group of monuments at Pattadakal, a UNESCO world heritage site.
Over one hundred Aihole temples are Hindu, a few are Jain and one is Buddhist. These were built and coexisted in close proximity. The site is spread over about 5 square kilometres (1.9 sq mi). The Hindu temples are dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu, Durga, Surya and other Hindu deities. The Jain Basadi temples are dedicated to Mahavira, Parshvanatha, Neminatha and other Jain Tirthankaras. The Buddhist monument is a monastery. Both Hindu and Jain monuments include monasteries, as well as social utilities such as stepwell water tanks with artistic carvings near major temples.
Location
The Aihole monuments are located in the Indian state of Karnataka, about 190 kilometres (118 mi) southeast of Belgaum and 290 kilometres (180 mi) northeast from Goa. The monuments are about 14 miles (23 km) from Badami and about 6 miles (9.7 km) from Pattadakal, set midst rural villages, farms, sandstone hills and Malprabha river valley. The Aihole site preserves over 120 Hindu, Jain and Buddhist monuments from the 4th—12th century CE. The region is also a site for prehistoric dolmens and cave paintings.
Aihole has no nearby airport, and is about 4 hours drive from Sambra Belgaum Airport (IATA Code: IXG), with daily flights to Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. Badami is the closest town connected by railway and highway network to major cities of Karnataka and Goa. It is a protected monument under the laws of the Indian government, and managed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
History
Aihole is referred to as Ayyavole and Aryapura in its inscriptions and Hindu texts from 4th to 12th century CE, as Aivalli and Ahivolal in colonial British era archaeological reports.
Aihole has been a part of Hindu mythologies. It has a natural axe-shaped rock on the Malaprabha river bank north of the village, and a rock in the river show a footprint. Parashurama, the sixth Vishnu avatar, is stated in these legends to have washed his axe here after killing abusive Kshatriyas who were exploiting their military powers, giving the land its red color. A 19th-century local tradition believed that rock footprints in the river were those of Parashurama. A place near the Meguti hillocks show evidence of human settlement in prehistoric period. Aihole has historical significance and has been called a cradle of Hindu rock architecture.
The documented history of Aihole is traceable to the rise of the Early Chalukya dynasty in 6th century. It became, along with nearby Pattadakal and Badami, a major cultural center and religious site for innovations in architecture and experimentation of ideas. The Chalukyas sponsored artisans and built many temples in this region between the 6th and 8th centuries. Evidence of wooden and brick temples dating to 4th-century have been unearthed. Aihole started the experimentations with other materials such as stone around the 5th century when the Indian subcontinent saw a period of political and cultural stability under the Gupta Empire rulers. Badami refined it in 6th and 7th centuries. The experimentations culminated in Pattadakal in the 7th and 8th centuries becoming a cradle of fusion of ideas from South India and North India.
After the Chalukyas, the region became a part of the Rashtrakuta kingdom who ruled in the 9th and 10th century from the capital of Manyakheta. In the 11th and 12th century, the Late Chalukyas (Western Chalukya Empire, Chalukyas of Kalyani) ruled over this region. Even though the area was not the capital or in immediate vicinity from 9th to 12th centuries, new temples and monasteries of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism continued to be built in the region based on inscriptional, textual and stylistic evidence. This likely happened, states Michell, because the region was prosperous with a substantial population and surplus wealth.
Aihole was fortified by Late Chalukya kings in the 11th and 12th centuries, in an approximate circle. This indicates the strategic and cultural importance of Aihole to the kings whose capital was far away. Aihole served as a hub of Hindu temple arts in this period with guild of artisans and merchants called the Ayyavole 500, celebrated for their talent and accomplishments in the historic texts of the Deccan region and South India.
In the 13th century and thereafter, the Malprabha valley along with much of Deccan became a target of raids and plunder by the Delhi Sultanate armies devastating the region. From the ruins emerged the Vijayanagara Empire which built forts and protected the monuments, as evidenced by inscriptions in the fort at Badami. However, the region witnessed a series of wars between Vijayanagara Hindu kings and Bahmani Muslim sultans. After the collapse of Vijayanagara Empire in 1565, Aihole became a part of the Adil Shahi rule from Bijapur, with some of the Muslim commanders using the temples as residence and their compounds as garrison for storing weapons and supplies. A Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva came to be called Lad Khan temple, named after the Muslim commander who used it as his operational hub, and a name that has been used ever since. In late 17th-century, the Mughal Empire under Aurangzeb gained control of the region from Adil Shahis, after which Maratha Empire gained control of the region. It again changed hands with Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan conquering it in late 18th century, followed by the British that defeated Tipu Sultan and annexed the region.
The monuments at Aihole-Badami-Pattadakal show the existence and a history of interaction between the early northern style and early southern style of Hindu arts. According to T. Richard Blurton, the history of temple arts in north India is unclear as the region was repeatedly sacked by invaders from Central Asia, particularly the Muslim incursion into the subcontinent from 11th-century onwards, and “warfare has greatly reduced the quantity of surviving examples”. The monuments in this region are amongst the earliest surviving evidence of these early religious arts and ideas.
Archaeological site
Aihole became a significant archaeological site and attracted scholarly attention after the British India officials identified and published their observations. The colonial era scholars hypothesized that the Apsidal shape Durga temple in Aihole may reflect the adoption by Hindus and Jains of the Buddhist Chaitya hall design and the influence of early Buddhist arts. They also identified historically significant 7th-century inscriptions.
For much of the 20th-century, Aihole remained a neglected site. Until the 1990s, the site consisted of houses and sheds built up to and in some cases extending into the historical monuments. The walls of the ancient and medieval temples were shared by some of these homes. Investments in infrastructure, land acquisition and relocation of some residences has allowed limited excavations and created a few dedicated archaeological parks including one for the much studied Durga temple at Aihole. Excavated ancient and medieval era artifacts and broken temple pieces, including a complete life size nude Lajja Gauri in birthing position and with a lotus head, now resides in an ASI museum next to the Durga temple in Aihole. Many temples and monasteries continue to be set midst narrow streets and congested settlement.
The Aihole site and artwork are a major source of empirical evidence and comparative studies of Indian religions and art history in the Indian subcontinent. The Aihole’s antiquity, along with four other major 5th to 9th century sites – Badami, Pattadakal, Mahakuteshvara and Alampur – is significant to scholarship relating to archaeology and religions. These, states George Michell, display a “meeting and fragmentation of different temple styles and the creation of local variants”. This fusion and exploration of arts and ideas later became a part of northern and southern Indian architectural repertoires.
Chronology
Aihole monuments preserve evidence of North Indian temple architecture styles that are missing elsewhere. The Gaudar Gudi temple mimics a wooden temple design with stone, with no superstructure but a flat temple raised on a plinth with stairs, square sanctum, a circumambulatory path and southern style columned hall with northern style shrine niches. The roof mimics sloping wooden version and has log-like stone strips. The Chikki temple is another such example, that innovates by adding stone screens for light inside the temple. The stone temples are dated to the first quarter of the 5th-century, suggesting the prior temples to centuries before.
According to James Harle of Oxford Ashmolean Museum, Aihole was a meeting place of styles but one of several around the 6th-century CE, that were on “their way to development elsewhere”. They became preserved in Aihole probably because building and cultural activity stopped there around the 12th-century. Though excavations have yielded evidence that scholars disagree in dating, states Harle, it is probable that the earliest surviving temples in Aihole are from the 6th century and later.
Gary Tartakov links the temples at Aihole to 2nd century CE style and arts found in the Ajanta Caves, adding that while the Ajanta and Aihole monuments share some organizational features, there are distinct differences that suggest a “leap in time” and parallel developments in cave-based Ajanta and Aihole stone temple designs.
According to Christopher Tadgell – a professor in Architectural History, the Aihole apsidal temples were influenced by the Buddhist chaitya-griha, but not directly. The immediate precedent for these is found in the mid-5th-century Hindu temple at Chikka Mahakuta, another place where artists and architects explored temple construction ideas.
Buddhist monuments
There is one Buddhist monument in Aihole, on the Meguti hill. It is a two storeyed temple, a few steps below the crest of the hill and the Jain Meguti hill temple. In front of the temple is a damaged Buddha statue, one without a head, probably taken out from inside the temple. The two levels of the temple are open and feature four full carved square pillars and two partial pillars on two side walls. Each pair of pillar goes into the hill to form a small monastery like chamber. The doorway to lower level chamber is intricately carved, while the central bay on the upper level has a Buddha relief showing him seated under a parasol. The temple is dated to late 6th-century.
Jain monuments
Aihole preserves four collection of about ten Jain monuments from the 6th to 12th century CE, associated with the Meena Basti (also referred to as Mina Basadi). These co-exist with the Buddhist and Hindu monuments, and are found on the Meguti hill, Chanranthi matha, Yoginarayana complex and an early Jaina cave temple near a Hindu cave temple south of the village.
Meguti hill
The Meguti Jain temple is on the level-topped Meguti hill, above the two storeyed Buddhist temple, surrounded by the Aihole fort. The north-facing temple is dedicated to a Jain Tirthankara. The word “Meguti” is a corruption of the word “Megudi” and means “upper temple”.
The temple has an open portico, leading the devotee into a mandapa and the sanctum. The entire temple sits on a raised platform like many of the Hindu temples in the village. However, the layout inside is distinct. It has a pillared square mukhya-mandapa (main hall), which enters into a narrower square antarala divided into two compartments at different levels. A stair connects the slightly higher level, which leads to the larger square shaped chamber and sanctum. This section consists of two concentric squares, the inner square being the sanctum, and the space between the outer square and inner square being the pradakshina patha (circumambulation path). However, in the back of this path, a later construction sealed the circumambulation passage, making it more suitable for storage. Inside the inner square is a relatively crude carving of a Tirthankara. In contrast to the crudeness of this carving is the intricate carving of Ambika with attendant female Jaina deities and her lion mount below of the temple, now preserved in the ASI museum in Aihole. A similar carving is found attending the Mahavira in Jain Ellora Caves, and it is therefore likely that this temple was a dedication to the Mahavira. The temple includes a stone stair connecting the lower level to its upper. Though badly damaged, the upper level has a Jain image. It is also a viewpoint to look over the fort as well to watch the Aihole village below.
The temple foundation moldings rhythmically project the pilastered walls of the temple. The temple is not complete, as the niches and walls where carvings would be, are either cut but empty or left uncut and left raised. The temple had a tower, but it is lost and has been replaced by a rooftop watch room like empty chamber added much later and that does not flow with the rest of temple. The moldings around the foundation have carvings of Jaina motifs such as seated Jinas meditating.
Meguti Aihole inscription
The Meguti temple is historically important for its Aihole Prashasti inscription. A slab on the outer side wall of the temple is in Sanskrit language and Old Kannada script. It is dated to Saka 556 (634 CE), and is a poem in a variety of Sanskrit meters by Ravikirti about the Hindu king Pulakeshin II. The inscription mentions the Hindu poets Kalidasa and Bharavi, whose Mahabharata-related compositions are subject of friezes in Badami-Aihole-Pattadakal region. The inscription records the Chalukya family and his royal patron’s support in the construction of the Meguti Jain temple.
Jain cave temple
The Jain cave temple is to the south of village, on the Meguti hill. It is likely from the late 6th century or early 7th. The outside is plain, but the cave is intricately embellished inside. The carvings carry symbolic Jain motifs, such as the mythical giant makaras disgorging tiny humans and lotus petals decorations. Inside its vestibule, on each side are two major reliefs of Parshvanatha with snake canopy above him and Bahubali with vines wrapped around his two legs. Both these images have female attendants next to them. The vestibule leads to the sanctum, flanked by two armed guards who also hold lotuses, with an enthroned seated inside. The cave has a side chamber, where too is a seated Jina surrounded by mostly female devotees with offerings and worship position.
Yoginarayana group
Another cluster of Jain monuments is the Yoginarayana group, near the Gauri temple. It consists of four temples, dedicated to the Mahavira and the Parshvanatha. Two face the north, one west and another east, all likely from the 11th century. The pillars of the temples have intricate carvings. Their towers are same as the stepped squares found in Hindu pyramidal-style shikaras in Aihole. This collection has a polished basalt image of Parshvanatha, with a five headed snake hood. He sits on a platform with lions carved in its niches. Another image from this Jain temples cluster is now at the ASI museum in Aihole.
Charanthi matha group
The Charanthi matha group consists of three Jain temples and is dated to the 12th century CE. It features the Late Chalukya style.
The main Jain temple in the Charanthi matha group faces north. It is flanked by two smaller shrines, while it consists of a portico, an almost-square mandapa (16 ft × 17 ft), an antarala, sanctum. The mandapa entrance has the image of Mahavira with two female attendants, inside are four pillars laid out in a square pattern, and the design on them look similar to pillars found in nearby Hindu temples. At the entrance of the antarala is another image of the Mahavira. The square antechamber leads to sanctum where there is another image of the Mahavira seated in the padmasana yoga position, on a lion throne flanked by two attendants. The smaller shrines also feature the Mahavira. The tower above the Charanthi matha group temples are stepped shrinking concentric squares pyramidal style.
The second and third temple in the Charanthi matha group face south. These share a common veranda. The temples resemble monastic sanctuaries. A six bay veranda connects to these two, and the doorways have miniature Jinas carved on the lintels. The pillars of these temples are ornately carved, and both are dedicated to the Mahavira.
The matha consists of twin basadi with one porch serving both, with each housing 12 Tirthankars. An inscription here records the date of construction as 1120 CE.
Aihole dolmens and inscriptions
Scattered in the pre historic period meghalithic site behind the Meguti temple are many dolmens, numbering about 45 and more are destroyed by treasure hunters. Local people call it Morera mane (Morera tatte) or Desaira Mane. Each dolmen has three sides upright square slabs and large flat slab on top forms roof, front side upright slab had circular hole.
Significance
The Hindu temples at Aihole reflect a “meeting and fragmentation of styles”, one that became a creative cradle for new experiments in construction and architecture yielding their local variants, states George Michell. These ideas ultimately influenced and became a part of both the northern and southern styles of Hindu arts. They are also a possible mirror to early wood-based temples whose natural decay led to innovations with stone, where the early stone temples preserved the heritage, the form and the function of their timber ancestors. The early temples at Aihole may also be a window into the more ancient Indian society, where temples were built around and integrated into the “santhagara village meeting hall” as the mandapa.
The Aihole temples are built at different levels, likely because the river Malaprabha flooded and its path changed over its history. The more ancient temples have a lower level. This is evidenced by the limited excavations done by Rao near the foundation of a few select temples where red polished ware have been found. These ceramic ware pieces are dated to between 1st century BCE and 4th century CE, and likely deposited with silt around the older temples during river floods. Extensive excavation studies at the Aihole done have not been done, but the studies so far suggest that the site preserves archaeologically significant information.
The Jain temples of Aihole are significant in helping decipher the spread, influence and interaction of Jainism and Hinduism traditions in the Deccan region. According to Lisa Owen, the comparison of the artwork in Aihole-Badami Jain monuments and other sites such as the Ellora Caves, particularly the attendants, deities and demons provides a means to decipher the development of Jain mythology and the significance of the shared iconography.
Early Chalukya style of architecture
Badami Chalukyas King Pulakeshin II (610–642 A.D.) was a follower of Vaishnavism. The inscription of Ravikirti, his court poet, is a eulogy of the Pulakeshin II and is at the Meguti temple. It is dated 634 CE and is written in Sanskrit language and old Kannada script. The Aihole inscription describes the achievements of Pulakeshin II and his victory against King Harshavardhana. Aihole inscription of Pulakeshin II mentioned as akrantatma-balonnatim Pallavanam patim: that means the Pallavas had attempted to nip in the bud the rise of the Badami Chalukyas: The conflict of the two powers before the campaign of Pulakeshin II against the Pallavas. In the Aihole inscription referred that Mangalesha’s (Paramabhagavat) victory over the Kalachuris and the conquest of Revatidvipa. According to the Aihole inscription of Pulakeshin II, a civil war between Mangalesha and Pulakeshin II, due to Mangalesha’s attempt to secure the succession for his son, which was the end of Mangalesha’s reign.
Source From Wikipedia