Alampur temples (Nava Brahma temples)

The temples inside the old fort of Alampur, on the Tungabhadra, are a group of early stone temples.¹²³ Their own inscriptions tie them to the Chalukyas of Badami in the second half of the 7th century and the early 8th.¹²³ The archaeologists who first described them did not date them.⁴⁵

The survey of 1926-27

The Archaeological Department of the Nizam’s Dominions surveyed the temples in 1926-27.⁴ Its report says that “the place abounds in Hindu antiquities and it is still an important centre of Hindu religion”.⁴ The principal temple, “a cluster of shrines”, stands in the fort and “bears a striking resemblance to the Papanatha temple at Pattadakal”.⁴ The towers have a curved outline and are decorated with a network of miniature pillars, niches, windows and amalakas (ribbed stone discs).⁴

Inside, the report found the plans and carving closer to the rock-cut temples of Western India than to anything in Orissa.⁴⁶ Most temples have a central nave (main hall) leading to the shrine, with an aisle on either side.⁴⁶ A passage runs round the square shrine for circumambulation (walking round it in worship).⁴⁶ Windows are fitted with stone screens “of exquisite designs”.⁴⁶

The temples one by one

The report describes the temples one by one.⁷⁸⁹⁵ Two old temples, by then out of worship, stood beside the graveyard near the shrine of the saint Shah Ali.⁷⁸⁹⁵ They were associated with the names of Tarika Brahma and Solka Brahma.⁷⁸⁹⁵

The principal temple, then dedicated to Bhima Shankara, was still in use.⁷⁸⁹⁵ Its carving was hidden under coats of whitewash, and smaller shrines blocked the view of it.⁷⁸⁹⁵ Beyond it were the Kumara Brahma, Arka Brahma and Vira Brahma temples.⁷⁸⁹⁵

Among the carvings it singled out are these:⁶⁹⁵

• a deer hunt on the posts of the old gateway⁶⁹⁵
• the Seven Mothers (saptamatas) on a frieze in the Kumara Brahma temple⁶⁹⁵
• elephants and a female chauri-bearer (fly-whisk bearer) on the walls of the Vira Brahma temple⁶⁹⁵

Rubbings were taken of the inscriptions near the portico of the principal temple, in the hope that they would “throw light on the exact date of the buildings”.⁸ That year Sultan Ali Faruqi of the department made three large architectural drawings of the temples.¹⁰

The style

The report summed up their style:

The form of their towers shows distinct influence of the North while the inner plan is characteristic of the rock-cut temples of Western India. The shrines, although situated on the border of the Dravidian country, have little in common with the architecture of the place; on the other hand their sculptures and decoration are often reminiscent of the classical grace of the Gupta art.⁵

A second group, associated with the name of Papanatha, stands in a grove about a mile south of the town.⁵¹¹ The report judged its architecture “poor”, showing “Dravidian influence”.⁵¹¹

The inscriptions

Later epigraphists read the temples’ inscriptions. The Epigraphia Telanganica (2023) collects them:

• A pillar in the hall in front of the central shrine of the Arka Brahma temple records two things: the queen of Anivarita Vikramaditya installed a linga (stone emblem of Shiva) in a temple of Mahadeva, and gave land.¹² Its editors, M. D. Sampath and V. S. Subrahmanyam, identified the king as Vikramaditya I from the letters.¹² They called the record the earliest known date for the group of temples called Navalingesvara.¹² They thought the Arka Brahma temple was probably the Mahadeva temple it names.¹²
• A Kannada inscription above a door guardian in the Svarga Brahma temple says that Lokaditya-Ela-Arasa built the temple in honour of the queen of Vinayaditya.¹²
• A charter of Vijayaditya of 704 states that an enclosure was set up at the request of the Chalukya king and dedicated to Isanacharya.¹³
• G. S. Gai edited a slab in the fort wall near the river steps.¹⁴³¹⁵ It has two versions of one text, in Telugu-Kannada and in Siddhamatrika (early Nagari) letters.¹⁴³¹⁵ It is dated in Vijayaditya’s 18th year, 713, and records that Isanacharya built an enclosure at the king’s command.¹⁴³¹⁵ Gai observed that the fort itself encloses the Navalingesvara temples, “the most important” of which is the Bala Brahma shrine.¹⁴³¹⁵ He also noted that the Nagari version carried the use of that script in the south back by at least forty years.¹⁴³¹⁵
• A pillar in the Bala Brahma temple describes Vinayaditya’s victory over “the Lord of Uttarapatha” (the north).¹⁵

An inscription of 1076 belongs to the reign of the Kalyani Chalukya king Somesvara II.¹⁶ It calls the god Brahmesvara of Alampur the ornament of the western entrance of Sriparvata (Srisailam).¹⁶

Other views of the date

Before the inscriptions were read, opinions differed widely. The Kurnool district manual of 1886 repeated a tradition that the temple at Alampur was built “in the time of the Chalukyas (the 11th century)”.¹⁷ A government list of protected monuments of Hyderabad State was published in 1953, and described the old Hindu temple at Alampur as of the 13th to 16th centuries.¹⁸ It also repeated the comparisons of the 1926-27 report.¹⁸

Footnotes

1. Gajjala Vasanta Lakshmi (ed.), Epigraphia Telanganica I: Pre-Kakatiya Telangana (2023), p. 39, summarising Indian Archaeology 1976-77, p. 57, and M. D. Sampath and V. S. Subrahmanyam in Epigraphia Indica XL. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

2. Epigraphia Telanganica I (2023), p. 40. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

3. Epigraphia Telanganica I (2023), p. 48, reprinting Gai. Cite-only; paraphrased except for the short phrase quoted. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

4. Annual Report of the Archaeological Department of H.E.H. the Nizam’s Dominions, 1926-27 (1929), p. 7 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

5. Nizam’s Archaeological Report 1926-27 (1929), p. 12 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴

6. Nizam’s Archaeological Report 1926-27 (1929), p. 8 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

7. Nizam’s Archaeological Report 1926-27 (1929), p. 9 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

8. Nizam’s Archaeological Report 1926-27 (1929), p. 10 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

9. Nizam’s Archaeological Report 1926-27 (1929), p. 11 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

10. Nizam’s Archaeological Report 1926-27 (1929), p. 17 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

11. Nizam’s Archaeological Report 1926-27 (1929), p. 13 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

12. Epigraphia Telanganica I (2023), p. 44, summarising the Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy for 1959-60, p. 60. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

13. Kannada Inscriptions of Andhra Pradesh (1961), p. 38, No. 107 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

14. Epigraphia Telanganica I (2023), p. 47, reprinting G. S. Gai, “Alampur Inscription of Chalukya Vijayaditya, Saka 635 and 636”, Epigraphia Indica XXXV, pp. 121–124. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

15. Epigraphia Telanganica I (2023), p. 49, summarising the Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy and Inscriptions of Andhra Pradesh, Mahabubnagar District I (2003), pp. 15–16. Cite-only; paraphrased except for the short phrase quoted. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

16. Kannada Inscriptions of Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Pradesh Government Archaeological Series 3, 1961), p. 32, No. 80 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩²

17. Narahari Gopalakristnamah Chetty, A Manual of the Kurnool District (1886), p. 1 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

18. Antiquarian Remains in Hyderabad State (Archaeological Department, Hyderabad, 1953), p. 34, Mahbubnagar district, No. 40 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩²