Biccavolu (Bikkavolu) is a village about 30 kilometers west of Kakinada, Eastern Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh. Prior to the 13th-century, it was a much larger historic town and religious center. It is called Birudanka and Birundankaprol of Vengidesa in historic Telugu and Sanskrit texts.
<ul><li>Major Hindu temples, particularly of the Shaiva and Surya tradition, were built in Biccavolu by the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi. Per inscriptions found in the temples and this area, these temples were complete and consecrated between the 8th and 10th-century. These temples and iconography therein are useful illustrations of innovative interpretations of early Sanskrit texts on temple architecture and the Hindu synthesis of ideas across those found from the Cholas in the South (Tamil Nadu), the Kalingas in the east (Odisha) and the western Deccan region's explorations (upper Karnataka).</li></ul><ul><li>The Kancana Gudi (Kanchana temple, Kancara Gudi) is located in the eastern part of the Biccavolu village.</li></ul><ul><li>An exquisitely carved temple in stone, the Kancanagudi shows architectural features more advanced than other Biccavolu temples. This makes it likely that this temple was completed a few decades later in the late 9th-century.</li></ul><ul><li>The vimana superstructure above this temple's sanctum is an elegantly integrated <i>tritala</i> structure but simpler in the reliefs, and is one the best preserved of the Biccavolu temples.</li></ul><ul><li>With a kapotabandha adhistana, this temple illustrates the katakavarta kumuda architectural design found in Sanskrit texts.</li></ul><ul><li>This Hindu temple follows the square and circle principles of temple architecture illustrated in historic Sanskrit texts.</li></ul>
G.N. Subrahmanyam
2021-06-26 10:03:26
G.N. Subrahmanyam (OTRS 2021062810008185)