Famous Temples in India

Architecture

The name of the village Degaon is believed to have been derived from the name of the temple complex that’s located in the region – Devagrama. Devagrama also means ‘village of God’. Here named after the queen Kamaladevi and called as Kamalanarayan temple. The Kadamba style of architecture is unique for its tapering, tiered superstructure. Their style seems to have reached its peak at this beautiful temple. This style of architecture impressed the Hoysalas who built many monuments based on this model. The Kamala Narayana temple has a rectangular shape It has a pillared hall in front of the shrines, and the pillars are covered in beautiful decorative carvings. The temple is rectangular and consists of three cells with the pillared hall running from north to south in front of the shrines on the west side. Each of these shrines is divided into two parts, Garbhagriha and Sukhanasi. The frames of the doorways of the Sukhanasi are carved with creepers. The pieced stone windows which surround the doorways are more ornamental than in any other Kadamba temple.

The Garbhagihas have as in other Kadamba temples, the dedicatory block with the image of Gaja-Lakshmi. The first cell contains the image of Narayana. The second cell has the icon of Lakshmi-Narayana with Lakshmi seated on the lap of Vishnu. Garuda and Maruti are standing on either side of this image. The third cell bears the image of Kamala with two attendants on either side. The hall in front of the shrines, called the Sukanasi has doorways decorated in creeper designs, surrounded by ornamental windows. The walls of the temple are adorned with niche having plasters surmounted by terraced pyramidal towers in the Kadamba style crowned with a Kalasha on the parapets surrounding the Mukhamandapa. The friezes are sculptured from top to bottom pillars with roaring lions between them pyramidal towers surmounting these pillars and having dancing girls in poses between them and beautiful scroll work on top.