Information of Durga Temple, Aihole, Bagalkot, Karnataka

Aihole is an ancient temple town located in the Bagalkot District of Karnataka State in India. Since 1987 this is a world heritage UNSECO site in Karnataka. The Aihole temples and caves are now protected monuments. Aihole consists of 125 Hindu temples and few Jain Cave temples, where each and every temple are built with a different Hindu style. Due to this architectural uniqueness, the Aihole is called as the gate way to the south India temples. The legends for constructing these temples go to the erstwhile Chalukayan Dynast of the west Karnataka. King Pulikesi I is the main architect behind this temple wonders. From the 5th century Ad to the 8th century AD these temples were constructed with many skilled artisans. Until the medieval times this was the main worship place for the Hindus. From the medieval era, these regions were controlled by the Islamic rulers and slowly the importance of these temples declined slowly. Currently few temples here are a ticketed site and few are free for entry. These are stone temples and are very great to look.

Aihole Temples and its Architecture

The 125 Hindu temples built here are split in to 22 groups by the archeological survey of India. The 1st group is known as the Kontigudi group, which has 95 temple complexes. The 2nd group has 30 temples known as Galaganatha group. This was the time when the Chalukayan artisans tried to develop many forms of temple architecture. Since all temples are very different from each other and it did not followed the traditional Hindu temple style. Each temple is of new methodology and style. There were lot of architectural experimentation done here o these temples. The oldest temple built here is Lad Khan Temple, which is dating back to the 5th century AD. This temple is built here for Lord Shiva and this temple is constructed in the Panchayat Designs. The Huchappayyya Gudi Temple is built with a Gopura (Tower) having the 1st ever sanctum sanctorum placed under the main tower. The Huchimalli Gudi temple is built here for Lord Vishnu and it has a large idol of Maha Vishnu sleeping on a serpent. The Durga Temple found here have beautiful sculptor of Durga Devi killing a demon named Mahisha. This temple is known for the interior stone art works, which have spectacular looks. The Ravana Phadi is unique cave temples carved for Lord Shiva. This temple has three entrances and have many beautiful carved pillars in this man made caves. The Suryanarayana Temple is built here for the Sun God Surya and his wife Ushas is also seen along with him. These sculptors are looking very beautiful. The important Jain temple is the Melguti Jain Temple. This temple has a large pillared verandah's. Here many inscriptions are found on pillars and rock in the Kanada languages stating the history of this land. One of the inscription mentions here that this temple was built by one of the commander named Ravikeerti supervised this temple construction under the Ministry of Pulikesi II. There is also a Buddhist temple built here.

The Architecture varies with each temple here. As per inscription found here, these temples were mainly designed with the north and the south pattern of temples in mind. Since the Nagara style of towers are mostly seen in many temple and the Dravidian style is dominant in its main structures. Probably this gave a new shape to name it as the Chalukeyan Architecture. The artisans were selected skilled personals brought from the various parts of the Indian sub continent. These temples are called as the Mukadhwara of south India. The credit goes to Pulikesi I and II of the great Chalukeyan Dynasty.