Category:Kattil Madam Temple

Kattil Madam Temple, Chalapuram 

An 11th century Hindu temple in India
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Instance of	Hindu temple
Location	Palakkad district, Kerala, India
Heritage designation	State Protected Monument
10° 46′ 14.4″ N, 76° 09′ 12″ E
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The Kattilmadam temple of Chalapuram is an all-stone 11th century Hindu temple ruin, about 5 kilometers east of Kuttanad in Palghat district. It is a granite temple with architectural elements and artwork that is a fusion of Chola, Pandya and Chera styles.

The temple sanctum is empty, which has led to questions of whether the temple was originally for Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Jaina or some other deity. There are no inscriptions which further complicates the situation. Scholars eliminate the possibility that this is a Jain temple as nothing on the temple or in the ruins that is Jain, a complete lack of any tirthankara or Jain iconography that is always found in Jaina monuments of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The architecture and artwork has Hindu motifs and style. It is a shadanga vimana but with a Chera style adhistana. Both the kudya stambha and the ghana dwaras have makara-toranas in a style found in Chola Hindu temples. The kudus enclose human faces artwork which is found in Pandya Hindu temples. The dentils, remarkably, are similar to the Bikkavolu historic Hindu temples (Andhra Pradesh) built by East Chalukyan dynasty. Thus, the Kattilmadam temple was an innovative fusion of Hindu temple styles.

It is difficult to date this temple given its uniqueness and the fusion of styles. The Indologist H Sarkar suggests that this fusion is more likely after the Chola-Chera conflict when Hindu artisans likely mixed between Tamil and Chera regions. He, therefore, suggests that 11th-century is most likely.

This is a category about ASI monument number S-KL-36.