A peek into sculptors' legacy

A cluster of magnificent sandstone temples huddle together on the west bank of River Malaprabha. Set amidst a small village called Pattadakallu, these monuments are inscribed on the World Heritage list of the UNESCO and are visited by a steady stream of tourists.

Pattadakallu was an important commemorative site during the reign of the Early Chalukyas, who ruled much of southern India from their capital at Badami, from 6th century through 8th century. The Early Chalukyas were generous patrons of stone architecture, and the profusion of monuments — both scooped out of rock and built of sandstone blocks, at Aihole, Badami, Pattadakallu, and several other sites in the Malaprabha Valley, hold testimony to that.

The temples of Pattadakallu are built in the southern (Dravida) as well as northern (Nagara) idiom. There are some interesting examples in experimentation with fusion of styles, as in the case of the Papanatha Temple, where the architects have tried incorporating a Nagara-style tower over a temple fashioned in the Dravida style. The co-existence of monuments in varied architectural styles has led historians to believe that artisans from all over the country must have lived and worked side by side during the period of Early Chalukyan rule, making this region an important crucible of experimentation in varied architectural styles.

Tracing the roots
Unlike many other ancient sites, many of the Early Chalukyan monuments contain some clues about their builders, in the form of inscriptions. Thus, we know of Narasobban at Aihole, an architect, about whom it is said that nobody as skilled in building temples neither existed nor would ever exist in the whole of Jambudweepa (ancient usage for Indian subcontinent). At Pattadakallu, we are informed of Gunda Anivaritachari and Sarva Siddhi Achari, architects of the splendid Mallikarjuna and Virupaksha temples respectively. The former seems to have been the senior of the duo and received the title of Tribhuvanachari, while the latter was known as Vastu Pitamahan. There are also accounts of the architects being feted by the rulers for excellence in their craft.

The discovery of ancient quarries near Pattadakallu in recent times has given us a further glimpse into the life and times of architects and artisans during the Early Chalukyan period. The quarries at two sites — Shankaralingana Gundu and Motara Maradi, were discovered by modern quarry workers, who tipped off tourist guides, who in turn alerted officials of the Archaeological Survey of India. The quarry sites lie roughly three km north of the temple complex, in the sandstone hills that confine the Malaprabha Valley.

It is exciting to wander among the work spots of those ancient artisans where the sound of hammer on chisel must have rung out constantly more than 1,200 years ago. Broad terraces of rock tell tales of blocks of sandstone that were prised out, to be shaped into columns, beams, trellis windows and beautiful statues at the temple site in the valley. Lines of oval shaped wedge-holes mark out where the next round of quarrying operations would have commenced, had the quarry not been abandoned. Waste stones lie around, discarded, while blocks of stone to be turned into various temple components stand by, ready to be transported. The team of archaeologists even discovered a steel wedge and hammer used by the Chalukyan quarry workers, under a pile of debris.

There are also marks left by ancient artisans on the rock faces — inscriptions as well as sketches and symbols. There are names of artisans and guilds, sketch studies for various sculptural themes, tally marks which have been interpreted as the attendance marks of the  artisans and some symbols which must have been conventions used by those early masons. The sketches show various deities — like Shiva in his linga form, Mahishasura Mardini and Ganesha; as well as attributes like swords and tridents, apart from architectural motifs and sculptural themes like elephants attacking lions and vice versa. In a rather strange depiction, camels are shown flanking images of a Shivalinga and Ganesha at two locations. It is strange because there are no camels in this region and the animal is not among the animals depicted at any temple location of the Early Chalukyas.

A detailed sketch of Mahishasura Mardini is nearly identical to a sculpture of the goddess in an interior niche at the Papanatha Temple. Some panels in the exterior of the same temple, in one of the basement friezes, seem to have carried forward the sketch of the tussle between lions and elephants.

Need for protection
These quarries, which are not protected, are as important as the World Heritage monument site, for they provide us a rare peek into the world of the artisans of a bygone era, who authored a rich chunk of our priceless built heritage. For instance, one of the inscriptions at the quarry talk about a Vira Vidyadharan. From inscriptions at the temple site, we know about a gifted sculptor Baladeva, son of another great artisan Duggi Achari, to whom is attributed several splendid sculptures at the Papanatha and Virupaksha temples. In one of the inscriptions, Baladeva is called a “Vidyadharan”. Could it be that the quarry inscription speaks about this talented artisan? Did he live and work at this wind-swept sandstone hillock, planning out various schemes to embellish the temples in the valley below, and instructing subordinates and novices?

Even before we can begin to tease out such intriguing secrets from these quarries, they are facing the danger of being destroyed even before an exhaustive documentation is done. The threat of illegal quarrying is looming large over these little-visited sites. Unless something is done to bring these under the ambit of active protection, we risk losing some of the meagre clues we have about the making of some of the most splendorous monuments of early India.

Wandering around on the sandstone cliffs of Motara Maradi and Shankaralingana Gundu, surrounded by the vestiges of the work of some of the most talented artisans of our land, is a truly enriching experience. The group of temples of Pattadakallu are visible in the distance, the spires of the temples poking up through the surrounding vegetation, red sandstone aflame in the rays of the setting sun.

The Nagara and Dravida shikharas, side by side, are the culmination of a series of experiments by the schools of architectural thought in the north and south of the subcontinent. I remember Shrinivas Padigar, a renowned scholar and an authority on the Badami Chalukyas, telling me once that he was positive that artisans from the Gujarat-Rajasthan region would have worked shoulder to shoulder with local artisans at these sites.

My thoughts return to the camels paying obeisance to Shivalinga and Ganesha on the rock faces behind me. Couldn’t it be that one of these craftsmen from the north, sorely missing his homeland, chiselled into the rock face likenesses of an animal that is a common sight in that land?