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The Jaina Herriage of Karnataka and Sravanabelgola
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Calukyas of Kalyāni in the mid-11th century in northern Karnataka. It is during the history of the Late Calukyas that the medieval period of Karnāțaka truly began. Due to their great successes throughout the state and into the northwestern sections of Andhra Pradesh a very distinctive mode of architecture which developed under their patronage had tremendous impact throughout the entire region. Many of the temples now labelled Late Cālukya in style were actually built by their feudatories, but as a stylistic label it suggests the definite connection with the main dynasty itself. In turn elements of their style were extremely important in the development of other dynastic styles in the area, styles connected with their one-time feudatories, the Hoysaļas in southern Karnataka and the Kakatiyas in Andhra Pradesh. Both these dynasties were Jaina at their origins but little remains besides stray sculpture of the Kākatiya Jaina period.
The Jaina basti at Lakkundi (Dharwār District) of the 11th century is one of the earliest Late Calukya buildings and one which is extremely important in tracing the development of the style. The temple clearly illustrates the way the artists were compressing the stories of the tower to form the friezelike treatment found in the later temples. Already we find a very particular decorative vocabulary for the architectural articulation of the walls, a vocabulary used in all later Late Calukya style temples and in the styles influenced by it. Despite its importance in the architectural history of the area this Jaina basti was more important in the development of Hindu architecture than that of the Jainas. Most later Jaina bastis follow a more austere tradition and are built of granite instead of the chloritic schist so favoured by the Late Cālukyas and the Hoysaļas for Hindu buildings. Most bastis, as seen from the large number at Sravanabelgoļa, are very simple in style and more allied with South Indian Dravidian architecture than to the Jaina basti at Lakkundi.
The Late Cālukyas had many feudatories besides the Hoysalas in their early days. One such feudatory was the Santara dynasty at Humca (Shimoga District). Humca is still a very important Jaina center. Tradition tells us that the dynasty was founded by a man from Mathura sometime during the 7th century, but the temples which are found there must date from the 11th or 12th centuries. The temples are heavily renovated, but the Pārsvanātha and Santinātha bastis are impressive temples. The use of a heavy eave cornice relates to the architecture of the west coast and is often noted in the architecture of the Kadambas in Shimoga District and also relates to the usage in South Kanara District. In fact the Bahubali image erected in 1432 at Kārkala is said to have been built by a descendent of the Santara family.
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