Meguti Jain temple is a Jain temple at Aihole in Bagalkot district, Karnataka, India. It stands on the summit of Meguti Hill and is one of the earliest securely dated structural temples associated with the Chalukyas of Badami. An inscription on the eastern wall records the construction of the temple in 634 CE, during the reign of Pulakeshin II, by the Jain poet and court official Ravikirti.
The temple is historically important for the Aihole Prashasti, a Sanskrit inscription composed by Ravikirti in praise of Pulakeshin II. The inscription is dated to Śaka 556, corresponding to 634–635 CE, and is an important source for the history of the Early Chalukyas.
Location
The Meguti Jain temple is situated on the summit of Meguti Hill at Aihole. It occupies a prominent position overlooking the settlement. Aihole forms part of the wider Aihole–Badami–Pattadakal region, which contains important monuments associated with the development of early Deccan temple architecture.
The hill contains several Jain monuments, including the Mena Basti, a Jain rock-cut cave. The coexistence of the structural Meguti temple with rock-cut monuments illustrates the variety of architectural forms employed at Aihole. The Meguti Hill complex contains several monuments representing different architectural traditions. The Meguti Jain temple forms part of this wider archaeological landscape, which UNESCO includes within the Aihole–Badami–Pattadakal tentative World Heritage property.
Aihole's monuments include both structural and rock-cut temples. The Jain monuments of the site include the Meguti temple and the nearby Mena Basti cave, illustrating the coexistence of different forms of Jain religious architecture at the site.
History
The temple was constructed during the reign of Pulakeshin II of the Chalukyas of Badami. Its construction is recorded by an inscription on the eastern wall, which states that Ravikirti caused the temple to be constructed in 634 CE. Ravikirti was a Jain poet and a court official of Pulakeshin II. The inscription describes him as having obtained fame through his poetry and compares his literary abilities with those of the celebrated Sanskrit poets Kalidasa and Bharavi.
The temple belongs to the formative period of Early Chalukyan structural architecture. The architectural experiments undertaken at Aihole during this period contributed to the later development of the more mature temple forms represented at Pattadakal.
The date of the temple is unusually valuable for architectural chronology. Henry Cousens described the dated Meguti temple as an early landmark in the history of the architectural styles represented at Aihole, while later architectural studies have incorporated it into the development of the Karnata Dravida tradition.
The word "Meguti" is a corruption of the word "Megudi" and means "upper temple".
Architecture
Floor plan of Meguti temple.
The Meguti temple is built principally of sandstone and stands on a raised platform at the summit of the hill. It is a relatively compact structural temple with a pillared porch, an enclosed hall and a shrine. The temple has undergone considerable damage and alteration, and its original superstructure is no longer preserved. The principal entrance leads into a pillared mandapa. Behind it is an antarala leading to the main shrine. The sanctuary is surrounded by a circumambulatory passage, portions of which were subsequently divided into smaller chambers.
Specialist architectural studies describe the original shrine as a square, circumambulatory (sāndhāra) temple with a short entrance porch. The temple's plan consists of a principal shrine surrounded by a passage for circumambulation, preceded by a hall and entrance porch. A staircase within the main mandapa leads to an upper level containing another shrine. The upper shrine's tower is now largely ruined. The two-storey arrangement is an unusual feature of the temple and illustrates the experimentation characteristic of Early Chalukyan architecture. The temple's exterior contains relatively restrained decoration compared with some later Chalukyan monuments. Jain motifs and images occur in the architectural decoration, while surviving sculpture provides evidence for the temple's original Jain affiliation. The internal arrangement is more complex than the relatively compact exterior suggests. The main hall leads into a narrower vestibular zone, while a staircase connects different floor levels within the structure. The circumambulatory passage surrounds the inner shrine and is enclosed by the outer walls of the temple.
The temple has an open portico, leading the devotee into a mandapa and the sanctum. The entire temple sits on a raised platform like many of the Hindu temples in the village. However, the layout inside is distinct. It has a pillared square mukhya-mandapa (main hall), which enters into a narrower square antarala divided into two compartments at different levels. A stair connects the slightly higher level, which leads to the larger square-shaped chamber and sanctum. This section consists of two concentric squares, the inner square being the sanctum, and the space between the outer square and inner square being the pradakshina patha (circumambulation path). However, in the back of this path, a later construction sealed the circumambulation passage, making it more suitable for storage. Inside the inner square is a relatively crude carving of a Tirthankara. In contrast to the crudeness of this carving is the intricate carving of Ambika with attendant female Jaina deities and her lion mount below of the temple, now preserved in the ASI museum in Aihole. A similar carving is found attending the Mahavira in Jain Ellora Caves, and it is therefore likely that this temple was a dedication to the Mahavira. The temple includes a stone stair connecting the lower level to its upper. Though badly damaged, the upper level has a Jain image. It is also a viewpoint to look over the fort as well to watch the Aihole village below.
The temple foundation moldings rhythmically project the plastered walls of the temple. The temple is not complete, as the niches and walls where carvings would be, are either cut but empty or left uncut and left raised. The temple had a tower, but it is lost and has been replaced by a rooftop watch room like empty chamber added much later and that does not flow with the rest of temple. The surviving building therefore represents only part of the original architectural composition. The mouldings around the foundation have carvings of Jaina motifs such as seated Jinas meditating.
The upper chamber is architecturally significant because it reflects the continuing development of multi-level shrine arrangements at Aihole. Architectural studies distinguish between the original shrine and later additions or modifications to the upper portion of the building. The building is now partly ruined. Its architectural remains nevertheless preserve evidence of the experimentation with temple plans characteristic of Early Chalukyan architecture at Aihole.
The temple is a Jain monument dedicated to a Jain Tirthankara Mahavira, and the inscription associated with its construction opens with a Jain invocation. The religious identity of the monument is further established by its surviving Jain sculptures and by the Jain identity of its patron Ravikirti. The original sculptural programme has suffered substantial loss. A large seated image of a Jina and a sculpture of the goddess Ambika are among the surviving Jain sculptures associated with the temple. Some sculptures from the monument are preserved in the Aihole archaeological museum.
The temple's Jain character is significant because it demonstrates that Jain communities participated in the development of the structural temple architecture of the Early Chalukyan period alongside Hindu and Buddhist establishments at Aihole.
The temple's Jain character is also significant in the broader history of early Deccan architecture. Jain establishments developed alongside Brahmanical and Buddhist monuments in the Aihole–Badami region, and the Meguti temple demonstrates that Jain patronage participated in the development of structural stone temples during the Early Chalukya period.
The eastern exterior wall of the temple contains the Aihole Prashasti, a Sanskrit inscription composed by Ravikirti. The inscription is dated to Śaka 556, corresponding to 634–635 CE. It records the achievements of Pulakeshin II and forms one of the principal epigraphic sources for the history of the Early Chalukyas. The inscription consists of Sanskrit verses in a highly developed poetic style. Ravikirti praises Pulakeshin II and compares his own literary ability with that of Kalidasa and Bharavi. The inscription also records the Chalukya king's victories and provides important chronological information for the reign of Pulakeshin II.
The Aihole Prashasti is particularly significant for the history of Sanskrit epigraphy because it combines political eulogy with literary composition. It is also one of the principal sources for the chronology of Pulakeshin II's reign.
As a royal eulogy, the inscription is a panegyric rather than an impartial historical account. Its historical claims therefore need to be considered together with other epigraphic and archaeological evidence.
Historical significance
The Meguti temple is important not only as a Jain monument but also because of the historical information preserved in its inscription. The Aihole Prashasti provides contemporary evidence for the reign and military activities of Pulakeshin II and for the political history of the Chalukya kingdom. The inscription also provides evidence for the literary culture of the Early Chalukya court. Ravikirti's composition demonstrates the use of sophisticated Sanskrit literary forms in royal epigraphy and provides evidence of the prestige of Sanskrit literary culture in the Deccan during the 7th century.
The temple therefore has a dual significance: its architecture is an important early example of structural temple construction in the Deccan, while its inscription provides unusually detailed contemporary evidence for the political and literary culture of the Early Chalukya court.
Architectural significance
Meguti Jain temple is important in the history of Indian temple architecture because it is one of the earliest securely dated structural temples in the Deccan. Its date of 634 CE provides a firm chronological point for the study of the development of Early Chalukyan architecture. The temple combines a relatively simple structural plan with a two-level arrangement and a circumambulatory passage around the sanctuary. These features illustrate the experimentation with temple planning that characterizes Aihole during the 6th and 7th centuries.
The temple is particularly valuable when considered together with the rock-cut caves and structural temples at Aihole, Badami and Pattadakal. These monuments collectively document the transition from experimental early forms to the more developed Chalukyan temple architecture of the 7th and 8th centuries. The temple is also significant in the history of the Karnata Dravida architectural tradition. Adam Hardy treats the Aihole monuments as part of the formative phase of a continuous architectural tradition that developed in Karnataka from the 7th century onward.
The specialist Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture places the Meguti temple within the early development of structural temple architecture and provides a more detailed architectural classification than the general descriptions of the monument.
Conservation and present condition
The Meguti Jain temple is protected as a monument of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India. The ASI's Dharwad Circle identifies the monument as the Jain Temple of Meguti and records its association with the 634 CE inscription. The monument survives in a partly ruined condition, particularly in its upper portions. Early archaeological documentation by Henry Cousens provides evidence for the condition and architectural arrangement of the temple in the early 20th century.
An Archaeological Survey of India report from the early 20th century also lists the Jain temple of Meguti among the protected archaeological monuments at Aihole, providing evidence of its inclusion in the archaeological conservation programme of the period.
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