Explorer stumbles upon ‘graves’ of Chalukyan kings in Pattadakal

There are 11 small temple-like structures in Huligemmanakolla that are believed to be the final resting place of the royal family

The temple near Huligemmanakolla in Pattadakal of Bagalkot district which is said to contain the graves of Chalukyan kings.

Graves of Chalukyan rulers have been found in a village near Huligemmanakolla in Pattadakal of Bagalkot district.

The discovery has been made by explorer Manjunath Sullolli who says that the place is nothing but where graves of the family members of Chalukyan rulers are located.

Mr. Sullolli, who has made a mention of this in his upcoming book “Exploring the Chalukyan land, the largest temple monument of India”, said that the Chalukyan kings were famous for building gigantic temples with intricate architecture in places such as Aihole, Badami and Pattadakal in Bagalkot district.

Built between the sixth and eighth centuries, these monuments are examples of the best of architecture of that era in the entire South India, he said.

Mr. Sullolli said that though the Chalukyan kings built marvellous monuments and temples, there are no clear details available of the places where they lived.

Neither they have left behind documents nor evidence of their graves; therefore, explorers were still searching for their graves, he said.

“Perhaps, they wanted their death to remain a secret and built their graves in a discreet manner,” he added.

However, during his quest to unravel more about the life and death of the great kings, Mr. Sullolli said, he stumbled upon a temple in a remote area in Huligemmanakolla village near Pattadakal.

This temple has 11 smaller temple-like structures. According to Mr. Sullolli, these 11 smaller temples are nothing but the graves of the family members of the Chalukyan kings.

Sating that people have a wrong assumption that these temples are a depiction of the holy Jyotirlinga in which the Hindus believe, Mr. Sullolli said that these temples are nothing but the graves of the Chalukyan royal family.

In his support, he said that it was a tradition and part of customs among Hindu kings that they selected one place where all members of their dynasty were to be buried. It was also a custom in the past to place a Linga over such graves. Thus, it is most likely that these small temple-like structures are nothing but the graves of the family members of the Chalukyan kings.

Mr. Sullolli, however, said that the Archaeological Survey of India should conduct more research here using technology such as Carbon Dating to unravel further details.