Karnataka has a lot of ancient monuments that are part of its rich architectural tradition and sculptural heritage. But many of them remain unsung and unprotected. In this article, we will look at the group of Hindu temples and Jain monasteries in Kalgi in Karnataka’s Gulbarga District. The village, also known for its natural springs that supply water to it, has more than 30 monuments datable to the Later Chalukya period. Many of them are now in a dilapidated state.
Inscriptions found here date from 1043 CE to the 13th Century CE, and refer to the Kalyan Chalukya kings Satyashraya, Vikramaditya VI and Jagadekamalla. The Kalyan Chalukyas patronised prolific construction activities during their rule in the 10th-13th centuries. The temples at Kalgi were built between the 11th and 12th centuries. They constitute a genre of architectural excellence and sculptural exuberance. They also evolved with the unique narratives of Ragamala sculptures that stand as precedents.
We now look at some of the important temples at Kalgi. The Neelakantha Kaleshwara is a living temple and has gone through renovations. The Suryanarayana temple, which is built of black schist, has beautiful wall sculptures. The Narasimha temple is right on the banks of a natural water spring. The Mallikarjuna and Siddeshwara temples are located amidst the village habitation. The temples at Kalgi follow the variant of Dravida architecture popularly known as Karnata Dravida style. They consist of a garbhagriha, sabhamantapa and mukhmantapa. The Neelakantha Kaleshwara temple doesn’t have a jagati (platform) while the other temples have raised adhisthanas and jagatis.
The majority of the temples in Kalgi are very badly preserved. The Suryanarayana temple is in an especially dilapidated condition and on the verge of collapse. The Siddeshwara and Mallikarjuna temples are being used as agricultural storages by locals. Most of the temples have lost their shikharas, probably because of their dilapidated condition or due to human vandalism. While the Jain temple is a large structure with a beautiful Tirthankara image in the garbhagriha, the Jain monastery is in a very bad state of maintenance. There is an urgent need for the conservation and protection of these monuments by the concerned and responsible government departments.
As we saw in the previous article The damsels of Karnataka’s Jalasangvi (May 28), the temples of the Kalyan Chalukyas are primarily decorated with beautiful sculptures of Apsaras. The temples of Kalgi too have wonderful Apsara sculptures decorating the outer walls (bhitti). Here, the Apsaras are depicted as independent figures. They are holding musical instruments like lyre and mridangam. They are poised in gestures of singing and dancing.
The Neelakantha Kaleshwara has some very remarkable images of Apsaras. These sculptures have graceful, rhythmic and delicate standing poses. It appears as if their postures are frozen during dance movements. Some of these sculptures have inscriptions engraved right above their heads, which are directly connected to the Apsara figures. The inscriptions have compositions in praise of God Neelakantheshwara. The praises are in a specific Raga, musical metre, in which the compositions are sung. There are 12 Apsara sculptures on the outer wall of this temple, of which four sculptures have been identified by the present author as depicting ragas, based on inscriptional evidences. The ragas are Puriya, Dhanashri, Shri and Gurjari.
These are classical ragas popular in those days, especially in Hindustani music. These Apsara sculptures have rhythmic and graceful postures. Each one of them has musical instruments and is in a dancing posture. Their musical chants create a kind of spiritual ambience in the temple. These ragas have contemporary references in the literary work Manasollasa (Abhilashitartha Chintamani), an encyclopedia compiled by Someshwara III (1127-1139 CE), son of Vikramaditya VI. Manasollasa has a dedicated section on music called Vinoda Vimshati, which documents the ragas and lakshanas (features of ragas). The artist and composer of inscriptions appears to have had a good knowledge of the visual and musical culture, which resulted in the depiction of beautiful Apsara-Ragamala sculptures.
In the Mughal, Daccan Sultan and Rajasthani traditions, we know that the Ragamala paintings were done in miniature style. Even Mysore Maharaja Krishnaraj Wodeyar III in his Sri Tattvanidhi in the early 19th century CE has dedicated a book on music with illustrations. However, the most significant thing is that the Kalyan Chalukya artist had imagined, conceived and depicted them in visual forms—the personifications of the ragas as Apsaras—much before any visual narration of ragas were dealt with. In ancient traditions, music is classified as Gandharva Vidya.
So it is imperative to call the Apsaras Gandharva Kannikas with Gandharva Vidya. The Apsaras with musical instruments form part of temple rituals. They also have contemporary socio-religious implications as Devaganikas—in the service of the divine one. The Kalgi Ragamala sculptures thus form a new tradition, especially the genre of Apsaras having musical instruments, and give us a new dimension to gaze at and admire Indian sculptures.
R H Kulkarni
Professor, Dept of Art History, College of Fine Arts, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath
(rhkulkarniarthistory@gmail.com)