India, Karnataka, Pattadakal – Virupaksha Temple (00:05:47)

The Virupaksha temple, located to the immediate south of the Mallikarjuna temple, is the largest and most sophisticated of the monuments at Pattadakal. In inscriptions, it is referred to as “Shri Lokeshvara Mahasila Prasada”, after its sponsor Queen Lokmahadevi, and is dated to about 740 CE. It was constructed after the successful military campaigns of King Vikramaditya II against the Pallavas (4th-9th centuries CE) and the inscription mentions grant to the “musicians of the temple” by the Queen and also disclosing the identity of the chief architect “Gunda Anivaritacharya” to the architect and by giving him honour of perijereppu patta by king Vikramaditya-II. The temple is notable for its range, and quality, of construction exemplifying a well developed Dravidian architectural style, as well as the inscribed names of the artists beneath the panels they worked on.