The temples at Pattadakal in Karnataka are best known because they show:
- A.Only the Nagara style
- B.Only the Dravida style
- C.A blending of the Nagara and Dravida styles
- D.Kerala style circular shrines
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C. Pattadakal on the Malaprabha was a coronation city of the Chalukyas of Badami, and its temples stand side by side in both idioms: the Papanatha and Galaganatha temples carry curving Nagara towers, while the Virupaksha temple, built by queen Lokamahadevi to mark Vikramaditya II's victory over the Pallavas, and the Sangameshwara temple carry Dravida vimanas. This deliberate mixing is what writers call the Vesara style, and UNESCO inscribed the group for exactly this reason.
Option A is wrong because the Dravida temples there are as important as the Nagara ones. Option B is wrong for the same reason in reverse. Option D is wrong because circular and apsidal shrines with tiered copper roofs belong to Kerala, at temples such as Vadakkunnathan in Thrissur, and not to Pattadakal. Aihole nearby is called the cradle of Indian temple architecture for the same experiments.
Read the full article: Temple Architecture: Nagara, Dravida and Vesara Styles
Practice Questions
View allIn the context of temple architecture, the most important part of the temple is:
- A.Gopuram
- B.Mandapam
- C.Pradakshina Patha
- D.Garbhagriha
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The garbhagriha, the womb house, is the small square windowless cell that holds the image of the presiding deity. Every other part of a temple is added around it: the tower rises over it, the hall stands in front of it and the circumambulatory passage runs around it.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following heritage sites shows the Dravidian style of architecture?
- A.Konark
- B.Bodh Gaya
- C.Akshardham
- D.Hampi
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Hampi on the Tungabhadra in Karnataka was the capital of the Vijayanagara empire, and its Virupaksha, Vittala and Hazara Rama temples are Dravidian work of the most elaborate kind: walled enclosures, towering gopurams, pillared kalyana mandapas, the famous stone chariot and the musical pillars.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following features distinguishes the Elephanta Caves from other rock-cut sites of early India?
- A.They are primarily Buddhist caves with large stupas.
- B.The caves focus on Shaivite themes and feature sculptural depth through light and shadow.
- C.They contain a mix of Jain and Vaishnavite depictions in pillar halls.
- D.The caves are entirely monolithic structures from the Mauryan period.
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Elephanta, on Gharapuri island near Mumbai, is a Shaivite rock-cut group whose panels tell Shiva stories: the Trimurti Sadashiva, Ardhanarishvara, Gangadhara, the marriage of Shiva and Parvati and Shiva as Nataraja.
Read the full explanation →The famous caves of Udayagiri and Khandagiri are located in ______.
- A.Uttarakhand
- B.Chhattisgarh
- C.Tripura
- D.Odisha
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The twin hills of Udayagiri and Khandagiri stand near Bhubaneswar and hold Jain rock-cut cells cut for monks in the first century BCE.
Read the full explanation →The Kanheri Caves, built by Buddhists, are located in which of the following states?
- A.Maharashtra
- B.Odisha
- C.Rajasthan
- D.Delhi
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The Kanheri caves are cut into a basalt hill inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai.
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