page_title: Aihole
section_title: Ravana Phadi cave
hierarchical_section_title: Aihole / Hindu monuments / Ravana Phadi cave
caption_attribution_description: English: Aihole temples and monuments, also called Aivalli or Ayyavole or Aiholi temples and monuments, are a collection of over 100 temples built predominantly between 6th and 8th century near Malaprabha river in Karnataka. At this point, the river turns northwards towards the Himalayas which likely had significance as a location. Though defaced and damaged after the region was conquered by Muslim commanders of the Delhi Sultanate, the collection is one of the earliest surviving temples and window to ancient Indian arts, religious beliefs, society and architecture. Almost all temples are related to Hinduism, but these co-exist with a few Jain temples of this period and one Buddhist monument. Both north Indian and south Indian styles fuse here, with monuments suggesting experimentation of ideas and building styles under the sponsorship of late Gupta period Hindu kingdoms, particularly the Calukyas and Rashtrakutas. The Ravanaphadi cave temple is a 6th century Hindu temple carved into a stone cave. It is dedicated to Shiva. The entrance is eroded likely from weather exposure and has two dwarapalas as well as a seated Nandi facing the Shiva linga inside. The inner part of the cave has a rectangular verandah followed by a square hall, a square garbhagriha and a square monastery like empty hall. The empty hall may have served as residence for sadhus / monks during monsoons or may indicate that the temple was left incomplete in early medieval times. The Ravanaphadi temple has one of earliest collection of key Hindu theological concepts in the region, such as Harihara or equivalence and unity of Shiva and Vishnu; Ardhanarishvara or equivalence of male and female principle (equal, necessary and dependent halves); divinity in arts through Nataraja showing Natya Shastra classical dance postures; Durga as Mahishasuramardini and Saptamatrikas (Shaktism, nature of evil and victory of good, seven aspects of protective mothers); the divine rescuing goddess earth (Vaishnavism, Varaha avatar lifting Bhudevi); and others. Vedic deities Indra and Indrani are carved in the ceiling, as are Vishnu and Lakshmi. Three major pan-Indian river goddesses are reverentially included.
context_page_description: Aihole, also referred to as Aivalli, Ahivolal or Aryapura, is a historic site of ancient and medieval era Buddhist, Hindu and Jain monuments in Karnataka, India that dates from the sixth century through the twelfth century CE. Most of the surviving monuments at the site date from the 7th to 10th centuries. 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 spread along the Malaprabha river valley, in Bagalakote district.
  Aihole is 22 miles from Badami and about 6 miles from Pattadakal, both of which are major centres of historically important Chalukya monuments. Aihole, along with nearby Badami, 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.
context_section_description: Ravanaphadi is one of the oldest rock-cut cave temples in Aihole, located less than a kilometer uphill, northeast from the Durga temple complex. The temple dates to the 6th century. The entrance has an eroded fluted column and seated Nandi facing the temple sanctum, with several other small monuments. Inside the cave are three near square mandapas, the innermost featuring the Shiva linga and connected to the entrance mandapa by a rectangular space.
  The entrance of the Ravanaphadi cave has a Nidhi and seated guardian on each side. Then, on left, is an image of Ardhanarishvara portraying the equivalence and essential interdependence of the masculine left Shiva and feminine right Parvati. Past this fused image, is the first mandapa to the left of which is a niche carved space. In it is 6th century artwork showing dancing Shiva (Nataraja) with Parvati, Saptamatrikas or seven mothers of Shaktism tradition, Ganesha and Kartikeya. On the right side of the main mandapa is Harihara portraying a fused image of Shaivism and Vaishnavism, with left Shiva and right Vishnu. On the opposite wall of Harihara is Shiva with three primary river goddesses of Hindu theology, and he stands with Parvati and the skeletal ascetic Bhringi.
  The main mandapa connects to two other near square mandapas. To its north is the sanctum, flanked by Shaiva guardians at its entrance, then Vaishnava Varaha or Vishnu's boar avatar rescuing goddess earth on its left. To the right is a carved image of Shakti Durga as Mahishasuramardine spearing the buffalo demon. To the east of the main mandapa is an empty monastery like chamber. The ceiling of the cave has reliefs. One, for example, shows Vishnu with Lakshmi flying on winged Garuda, another shows the Vedic god Indra with Indrani on an elephant.
  According to James Harle, the Ravanaphadi cave is stylistically unique in the Aihole region, and the closest artwork and style is found in the Rameshwara cave of Ellora in north Maharashtra. According to Pia Brancaccio, the Ravanaphadi cave bridges the style and design of "the rock-cut tradition of the Deccan with that of Tamil Nadu".
caption: Vishnu and Lakshmi with Garuda on Ravanaphadi ceiling
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