Icons of Cave Temples. Badami. December 2013

Created 6-Aug-14

12 photos

There are many icons of fascinating architecture in stone that have been carved out with intricate designs and details. While it would be possible to photograph all the icons given the time and time being a constraint with me only a few icons have been photographed and presented here. Cave 1 is a rock cut temple dedicated to God Shiva. This is apparent from the magnificent 18 arms icon of God Shiva. Shiva is depicted in a vigorous dance pose representing His cosmic dynamism with one arm flung his chest. The architecture gives a feeling as if the dance is actually taking place before the eyes of the viewer. It is said that one can configure about 81 Bharatanatyam dance poses from the depiction in this icon. This is yet another example of magnificent piece of architecture in hard rock.

There are also a stone carving of Goddess Durga fiercely spearing the demon Mahisha and majestic “Dikpalas” - armed guards at the entrance.

There is also a statue of Shiva as Ardhanareeshwara – Half Man and Half Woman split right down the middle that symbolizes the male and female energies of the cosmos and illustrates how Shakti – the female aspect of God is inseparable from the male aspect – Shiva. The union of these two forms of energies is the root cause of all creations. The right side is always Shiva and the left side is Shakti. The sculptor has taken pains to carefully craft the male attributes such as strong arms, legs, matted hair while on the left the limbs have a distinct female manifestation including one breast. The male and female attributes are clearly visible from head to toe on both sides. An amazing piece of architecture.

Apart from these are the statues of Ganesh (the elephant God), Subramanya riding the peacock, intricate design on the stone columns that bring out the sharp features of the design, Trivikrama, Serpent King Nagaraja carved out on the ceiling and Vishnu in the Varaha avatar.

As I have said time was a constraint since we had to cover Aihole, Pattadakal and Badami in one day. The Caves 2, 3 and 4 also have many fascinating architecture. May be God willing I will go there sometimes in future to complete the remaining photography.

In the meanwhile please enjoy the pictures.

Shankar Adisesh

Badami Rock Mountain Caves Icons. December 2013

Categories & Keywords

Category:Architecture and Structures

Subcategory:Temples

Subcategory Detail:

Keywords:Architecture, Badami, Chalukyadynasty, Dravidian, I, I, I, II, II, II, Icons., Kirttivarman, Kirttivarman, Mangalesha, Pulakeshin, Pulakeshin, Rockcutcavetemples, Vatapi, Vatapi., Vijayaditya, Vikramaditya, Vikramaditya, Vinayaditya