to south and Vesara to the middle. It goes on to state that Nagara emphasizes the four sides, Dravida a polygon (octagon), while Vesara compliments both in between with circular or elliptical forms. Given the many post-10th-century Hindu and Jain temple structures and ruins in Vesara form that have survived in Karnataka, the Vesara style has been linked to Karnataka and texts composed there. In general, many South Indian texts state that Vesara is a building that is "circular or round" in plan above karna (base) or kantha (neck). For example, this description is found for Vesara in verse 50.15–17 of the Svayambhuva-agama, verse 7.117 of the Karana-agama, verse 12.68 of the Ajita-agama, verse 30.41 of the Suprebheda-agama and others. On the other hand, the verse 7.15 of the Dipta-agama, the verse 9.3 of the Padma-samhita, and the verse 30.44–45 of Ishana-Sivagurudeva-Paddhati state that a Vesara may be circular, elliptical or apsidal in plan. A third view is proffered in the section 6 of the Marichi samhita, verses 18.47–48 of the Manasara, and verses 19.36–38 of the Mayamata, which states that a Vesara can be circular or it can be a square up to prastara and then is circular from griva (neck) onwards. There are other theoretical classifications of Hindu temple architecture, with South Indian texts using the plan and North Indian texts using the overall shape and form, in particular of the superstructure. However, the real temples that were built before the 17th-century show an abundance of experimentation with core ideas, innovations and overlapping varieties that scholars generally avoid the theoretical terms. For example, while the theory in Manasara states that Dravida temples are those south Indian temples that have an octagonal (or polygonal) plan, historic Dravidian temples with octagonal plan either were never built or have not survived into the modern age. Similarly, even on the walls of Hindu and Jain temples of Karnataka, there is no depiction of elliptical temple. This may be because the sthanpati (architect) and silpins (artisans) in 9th to 11th-century Karnataka were deliberately ignoring the texts and experimenting with novel and innovative synthesis. History The vesara style originated in the region between the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers that is contemporary north Karnataka. According to some art historians, the roots of Vesara style can be traced to the Chalukyas of Badami (500-753AD) whose Early Chalukya or Badami Chalukya architecture built temples in a style