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Gommagesvara Commemoration Volume
At the fall of the Early Cālukyas the artistic focus shifted south to the lower regions of the state. This area was ruled by the Gangas, a family of very old origins and the most important Jaina dynasty in the history of South India. During the Ganga period a variant of architecture developed which can truly be called Drāviţa, closely allied to the styles of the Noļambas, Coļas and other South Indian dynasties. It is the style of Ganga architecture which dominated the development of Jaina building throughout its entire history in Karnataka despite the more northerly flavour of much of the later Hindu architecture.
The most perfect of all Garga temples is the impressive Pancakūţa basti at Kambadahaļļi (Mandya District) of ca. 900, which consists of what is commonly called a trikūsä сala (three-shrined temple) flanked by two other shrines bringing the total count to five. It is not the first temple in the state which uses a very distinctive Karnāțaka trikūța plan since it is already found in the Jambuliiga at Badāmi of 699 and in the Jaina temple (No. 39) at Aihole. In the centuries following the building of the Pañcakūţa, the trikūta plan became very important particularly in the many examples built by the Hoysaļas. Along with the Ganga Pancakūta at Kambadahalli, the Karnataka Raştrakūta Navalinga at Kukkanūr (Raichur District) of the 9th-10th centuries and the Cangaļva Ādinātha basti at Cikka Hana soge (Mandya District) of the 10th-11th centuries lead to the common usage of later times. These later temples are almost always Hindu in dedication.
Notable exceptions are found with the Trikūța bastiat Colasandra (or Yalladahalli, (Mandya District) of before 1145, Pārsvanātha basti at Heragu (Hassan District) of 1155, and Trikūța basti at Mārculi (Hāssan District) of 1173 which is actually a Pañcakūțācala as at Kambadahal!i. A fourth example is the Odegal basti on Vindhyagiri built sometime during the 12th century. The group of Kampili triküsācalas which overlook the main temple at Hampi can also be included since they are very often identified as being Jaina, although they were probably Hindu at their dedications.
While the Pañcakūta basti at Kambadaballi can be viewed as extremely important to the development of later art in the area, the Camundaraya basti on Candragiri at Sravanabelgola can be viewed as no less important. It is a building of great beauty of detail and proportion and is one of the crowning glories of Jaina art in Karnataka.
Late Cālukyas of Kalyāpi
Very little remains which dates between the fall of the Early Calukyas of Badāmi in the last half of the 8th century and the establishment of the Later
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