Famous Temples in India

Architecture

It has been constructed entirely of Granite. The temple has 4 identical doorways in the north, south, east and west that all lead into the Garbhagriha and hence is popularly known as Chaturmukha Basadi. A seated form of the Tirthankaras is carved into the lintel of the northern, eastern and western doorway. The southern doorway features a carving of Gajalakshmi on the lintel. This is flanked by sculptures of bedecked dvarapalas. Niches in the wall of this passage also contain sculptures of other Gods and Goddesses. An idol of the Yakshi Padmavati, Malli, Ara, and Suryata are also housed in the Garbhagriha. This temple was built in Vijaynagara style of architecture. It is also referred to as Tribhuvana Tilaka Jina Chaityalaya and Ratnaraya Dhama in some inscriptions. The Basadi is built in the form of a square mandapa with a doorway and pillared portico on each of its four sides and a pillared verandah. It has life size statues of three Tirthankaras on each side and small images of 24 Tirthankara. It took 30 years to construct this temple. In all, there are 108 pillars in the temple complex. Each pillar is an exhibition of the architectural skills of the masons of that time and carries a piece of history in itself. One needs to spend time to connect the dots from pillar to pillar.