AIHOLE

Aihole (pronounced "Eye-ho-l�"), also referred to as Aivalli, Ahivolal or Aryapura,

is a historic site of ancient and medieval era Buddhist, Hindu and Jain monuments
in north Karnataka (India) dated from the fourth century through the twelfth
century CE. Located around an eponymous small village surrounded by farmlands and
sandstone hills, Aihole is a major archaeological site featuring over one hundred
and twenty stone and cave temples from this period, spread along the Malaprabha
river valley, in Bagalakote district. Aihole is 22 miles (35 km) from Badami and
about 6 miles (9.7 km) from Pattadakal, both of which are major centers of
historically important Chalukya monuments. Aihole, along with nearby Badami
(Vatapi), emerged by the 6th century as the cradle of experimentation with temple
architecture, stone artwork, and construction techniques. This resulted in 16 types
of free-standing temples and 4 types of rock-cut shrines. The experimentation in
architecture and arts that began in Aihole yielded the group of monuments at
Pattadakal, a UNESCO world heritage site. Over one hundred Aihole temples are
Hindu, a few are Jain and one is Buddhist. These were built and coexisted in close
proximity. The site is spread over about 5 square kilometres (1.9 sq mi). The Hindu
temples are dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu, Durga, Surya and other Hindu deities. The
Jain Basadi temples are dedicated to Mahavira, Parshvanatha, Neminatha and other
Jain Tirthankaras. The Buddhist monument is a monastery. Both Hindu and Jain
monuments include monasteries, as well as social utilities such as stepwell water
tanks with artistic carvings near major temples.