Mallikarjuna Temple, Kuruvatti

Mallikarjuna Temple
Hindu temple
Mallikarjuna temple (1100 A.D.) at Kuruvatti in Bellary district
Mallikarjuna temple (1100 A.D.) at Kuruvatti in Bellary district
Country India
StateKarnataka
DistrictVijayanagara District
Languages
 • OfficialKannada
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
ISO 3166 codeIN-KA

The Mallikarjuna temple is located in the town of Kuruvatti (also spelt Kuruvathi) in the Bellary district of Karnataka state, India. The temple was constructed in the early 12th century rule of the Western Chalukya Empire (also known as the Later or Kalyani Chalukya empire).[1] The temple is protected as a monument of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India.[2]

Art historian Adam Hardy classifies the architectural style and guild involved in the construction of the temple as a "trans-Tungabhadra branch" of the "mainstream Lakkundi school" of the Later Chalukya style of architecture.

The art historian Ajay Sinha classifies the Kuruvatti style to be a third idiom, the other two being the Lakkundi and Itagi (or Ittagi) schools. He describes the overall achievement at Kuruvatti as "majestic", despite a lack of artistic over indulgence. The building material used is soapstone[3][4] According to Sinha, a 1099 A.D. inscription at the temple claims it was constructed in service of the god "Abhinava Someshvara" and that the temple also went by the name "Ahavamallesvara". He recants that both names are associated with the deceased Chalukya King Someshvara I who committed voluntary suicide at Kuruvatti in 1062. Sinha feels the temple may have been constructed between 1070 and 1100 in his memory by his heir apparent, the King Vikramaditya VI.[4]

  1. ^ "Mallikarjuna Temple". Archaeological Survey of India, Bengaluru Circle. ASI Bengaluru Circle. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  2. ^ "Alphabetical List of Monuments - Karnataka -Bangalore, Bangalore Circle, Karnataka". Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India. Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  3. ^ Cousens (1926) and Foekema (1987) in Hardy (1995), p335
  4. ^ a b Sinha (2000), p.142