File:Mallesvara temple, Aghalaya Karnataka.jpg

English: This is a JPEG format plan and architectural drawing of a historic Indian temple or monument. An alternate SVG format (scalable vector graphics) version of this file – for web graphics, design studies, print, dynamic and interactive applications – has also been uploaded to wikimedia commons.

The drawing:

• Aghalaya is a village in Karnataka, about 10 kilometers southeast of Sravanabelagola, the major historic Jaina site. Aghalaya was a major town prior to the 14th-century and hosted several large Hindu temples. Of these, the Mallesvara (Mallesvaraswamy) temple is the largest and most notable that has survived in somewhat ruined form.

• The Mallesvara temple was built from soapstone, and illustrates one of many trikuta (three sanctum) forms of Hindu architecture found in Sanskrit texts. The Aghalaya temple arranges the sanctums in a shared equal axis, thus giving all sanctums equal cardinal value. They all face east.

• One section is dedicated to Vaishnavism. This includes 13th century Hoysala artwork and iconography of Vishnu in his dasavataras or ten avatars. Those in this section include Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Balarama, Parasurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha (in yoga posture) and Kalki. Also included in this section are Indra, Lakshmi, Vithala, Vishnu in different postures.

• The second and third sections are dedicated to Shaivism and Shaktism. The artwork here includes dancing Parvati, Bhairava, Nandi, Nagas, several versions of Ganesha, Saptamatrika, several versions of Mahisasuramardini, Kartikeya.

• The overlapping sections include Surya, Keshava and Ganesha. Additionally, musicians, dancers and people celebrating festivals are depicted in the temple. The lalita bimba show Shaiva icons.

• The temple's architectural plan follows the square and circle principle found in historic Sanskrit texts. However, the long Navaranga in the front is a 4x1 plan (100 feet by 25 feet).

• GPS location of the monument:

  12° 48′ 18.6″ N, 76° 31′ 27.7″ E

  View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMap

  12.805167; 76.524361

• The relative scale and relative dimensions in this architectural drawing are close to the actual but neither exact nor complete. The plan illustrates the design and layout, but some intricate details or parts of the temple may not be shown. In cases where exact measurements were not feasible, the drawing uses best approximations and rounds the best measurements feasible.

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