Rearranging Sandstone: The Temples of the Chalukyas of Vatapi

Illustrated lecture by Dr. Srikumar Menon, Associate Professor, National Institute of Advanced Study, Bengaluru. Dr. Menon is an architect specializing in ancient and early architecture of the Indian subcontinent

Introduction: Dr. Himanshu Prabha Ray

Chair: Dr. Shashank S. Sinha

The monuments of the Early Chalukyas in Badami, Karnataka are some of the earliest examples of temple architecture in stone in southern India. Despite the early date of some these monuments, the artisans who conceived and erected them seem to have been ahead of the times as far as ingenuity and boldness of conception go. Badami is replete with monuments large and small which respond sensitively to the dramatic nature of the physical landscape of golden sandstone cliffs and deep gorges. The talk illustrates the results of suggested reconstruction of the monuments as originally envisaged by its builder