Nanesvara Temple, Lakkundi

The Nanesvara Temple, (also spelt Naneshvara or Naneshwara) is a mid-11th century Later Chalukya construction (also called Western or Kalyani Chalukya). It stands across the street from the ornate Kasivisvesvara Temple in the famous temple town of Lakkundi in the Gadag district of Karnataka State, India. The temple is protected as a monument of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India.^[1]

Temple plan

Yali baluster at Nanesvara temple

Close up of open mantapa with various pillar designs at Nanesvara temple, Lakkundi

According to art historians Adam Hardy and Henry Cousens, the Nanesvara Temple follows the same basic plan as the Kasivisvesvara Temple, minus the auxiliary shrine. The temple, according to Adam Hardy, belongs to the mainstream Lakkundi school and was built in the middle of the 11th century. It consists of a sanctum (garbhagriha) that connects to a closed hall (mantapa) via a vestibule. The closed hall opens on a pillared open hall. The temple is built on a raised platform (jagati). According to the historian Kamath, these features are standard in a typical Later Chalukya temple. The material used, soap stone, is a Chalukyan architectural innovation that became popular in 12th and 13th century Chalukya and Hoysala constructions.^[2][3][4]

Notes

References

• Cousens, Henry (1996) [1926]. The Chalukyan Architecture of Kanarese Districts. New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India. OCLC 37526233. 
• Foekema, Gerard (2003) [2003]. Architecture decorated with architecture: Later medieval temples of Karnataka, 1000–1300 AD. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 81-215-1089-9. 
• Kamath, Suryanath U. (2001) [1980]. A concise history of Karnataka: from pre-historic times to the present. Bangalore: Jupiter books. LCCN 80905179. OCLC 7796041. 
• Adam Hardy, Indian Temple Architecture: Form and Transformation : the Karṇāṭa Drāviḍa Tradition, 7th to 13th Centuries, Abhinav, 1995 ISBN 81-7017-312-4.
• "Alphabetical List of Monuments - Karnataka - Dharwad, Dharwad Circle, Karnataka". Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India. Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts. Retrieved 16 April 2013.