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Structural Temples of the Caulukyan Period
119 During the reign of Bhima I (A. D. 1024-1066 ) Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni attacked Gujarat in A. D. 1025-26, and sacked Somanātha Pattana and destroyed the celebrated temple, which according to its description by Muslim writers, seems to have been built of wood on a plinth of stone and bricks. 6 1 The Prabhas Patan inscription of the time of Kumāra pala records that the temple was built of stone by Bhima.62 The reference seems to apply its reconstruction by Bhima I.
The other two important temples constructed during his reign are the magnificent Sun temple at Modhera and the fine Jain temple at Abu, the latter being built by his renowned minister Vimala and known as Vimala Vasahika.
61. Albaruvi (Sachau ) II, 105, also GMRI. pp. 203-204. 62. Verse 15, Bhadrakali temple (Prabhas Patan) Stone inscription of the lime of Kumārapāla ( BPSI, 186 ) This inscription is also known as Prasasti of Bhāva Bșihaspati.
According to Shri M. A. Dhaky, with the advent of the rule of Bhimadeva I, the true Solanki (Caulukyan ) style of temple architecture came to full blood. He has discussed at length some of the characteristic advancement in different mouldings of the temples to support this theory (CSTG. pp. 24-26). It is well-accepted that frem the time of the construction of the Sun temple at Modhera and the Ādinātha temple (Vimalvasahi ) at Abu; the style of temple architecture of Gujarat entered into a new epoch.
But Shri Dhaky's divisions into kingwise phases like Bhimadeva's phase, Karņadeva's phase, Siddharāja's phase, Kumarāsāla's phase, Early and late Vaghela's phase etc. are quite arbitary and do not throw proper light on the development and progress of the temple architecture nor do they give a real picture of the evolution of several mouldings as narrated by him in the beginning of each phase.
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