To celebrate World Heritage Day on April 18, INTACH Bengaluru is organising a workshop ‘Exploring the Art and Architecture of the Nandi Temples’, involving a field trip to Nandi Village, near Nandi Hills on April 16.
The sculptural detailing and the architectural brilliance of the black stone carvings at Bhoga Nandishwara temple will be brought to light by Raghavendrarao H. Kulkarni, professor of Art & History at the College of Fine Arts, Chitrakala Parishat.
“Karnataka offers an encyclopaedic reference material on any aspect of temple architecture from multiple angles for a scholar wanting to delve into Indian sculpture,” says Dr. Kulkarni, who published over 50 research papers on sculptures, architecture and mural traditions of Karnataka.
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“For example, the concept of twin temples is unique to Karnataka like the Bhoga Nandishwara Temple at the foothills of Nandi Hills and the Yoga Nandishwara Temple on top of the hill. In fact the iconography for stone sculpture itself was developed thousands of years ago in Karnataka,” adds Dr. Kulkarni.
The Chalukyas of Badami were among the foremost to introduce unique aspects in chiselling the stone. “We may have read mythology, but Chalukyas gave them a visual form by transcribing puranic stories and fashioning stylistic features in sculpture,” he says.
The concept and illustration of Ugra Narasimha (in fiery form) according to Dr. Kulkarni “stands as an example of the earliest work at Badami, and was the first in the entire Deccan plateau.”
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Karnataka always led the country in narrative art that began with the Chalukyas bringing in historical themes into cave paintings of Badami. “If the concept of Hari-Hara, the Vishnu-Shiva combo existed from 300 AD onwards, the Chalukyas were innovative to bring in their consorts in sculpture that formed the models for others to follow,” explains Dr. Kulkarni, now working on book on Narrative Art in Karnataka Temples.
Karnataka forms the most influential fountainhead of varied sculpture schools and the nearly 11,000 temples that justifies the claim. “Look at the iconographic 200 years of Chalukya rule itself that brought in more than 200 temples only in Badami, while Pattadakal has a serpentine list of names of sculptors ingrained in stone. The Hoysalas brought in 800 temples and Kalyan Chalukyas nearly 2000,” says Dr. Kulkarni, who says, he has 400 GB of information recorded on temple architecture in his visits.
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The Bhoga Nandishwara temple, the oldest in Karnataka, now maintained by the Archaeological Society of India (ASI), has several shrines of the Hindu pantheon of Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati. Built in the early 9 century, it houses three temples and is a magnificent example of Dravidian Architecture dating back to 805 AD. The 1000-year-old temple bears the architectural and sculptural stamps of around five different dynasties that ruled here.
It was believed to have been originally constructed by the Bana Queen Ratnavali and the temple has had many additions and modifications, spread over the rule of five dynasties, the Ganga, the Cholas, the Hoysalas, the Pallavas and finally the Vijayanagara kings.
“After the original built in the 9th century by the Banas, the Chola kings in the 11th century added the roof; the Hoysala dynasty added the marriage hall, and buildings were added by the Vijayanagar kings in the 13th century,” says Raghavendrarao H. Kulkarni, professor of Art & History at the College of Fine Arts, Chitrakala Parishat.
“The pyramidical placement of sculptures at different levels and the sheer space and rhythm of the stone speaks a language only the ancient work can,” says Dr. Kulkarni.
Email intach.blr@gmail.com for workshop details