Pali is a small town in Chattisgarh which has a very strange relation with the southern part of India. As per a foundation inscription found at the Shiva temple here, it is mentioned that the temple was constructed by some Vikramaditya, the son of Malladeva. There was a Bana king with same name and lineage born in the Bana family. Bana family has ruled over the northern parts of Tamilnadu and southern parts of Karnataka as a feudatory of the Pallavas. Isn't it a mystery how Bana influence reached till Pali, so far north, if the identification of the king in that inscription is accepted as proposed?
This Shiva temple is profusely carved all around and the design and iconography is very similar to the Chandella temples at Khajuraho. I would request you to go through the article and album and let me know if you see any influence of southern India into this temple. Your comments and feedback are most welcome, as always :).
Saurabh, The soft stones. Niches, raised platform reminds one of hoysala temples. However the sculptures are less ornate, which is good. There are similarities with temples of Nandivarman period in kanchi. The stones used in that in kanchi were soft. Vaikunta perumal, Matangeswara, mukteswara to name a few. They were also built on elevated platform, however the platform did not extend outside the temple. The stylisation of the sculpture is distinct. Might be a good idea to compare Kadamba and ganga temples. There is no similarity with Thakkolam temple built by Banas though. If you have the picture of shiva with family, brahma and vishnu we could compare with somaskanda of nandivarman period.
The shiva sculpture shown in the blog looks more Anthakasura vadam, than Tripuranthaka.
orissa first queen of bhumakara dynasty is queen Tribhuvanamahadevi daughtor of south indian king Rajamalla devaroyan a chifein of nandhivarman 3 operating from kongu region .
pallavas are dominated in orissa and chattisgarh region with there buddist connection. originally pallavas origion is assumed now from mahendragiri region of south kalingam
orissan coast plays the major role even before nandhas and maha janapadas .
kalingan sailors are known to be a better pilots ,who knows about entire south asian regions.
even today turtles are coming for nesting from the fareast, ultimetly this nesting sites are converted to major ports because of mariners who understand the turtle navigations
tamuluk,pipili,damara,palur,kalingapattina are the majore ports, thats why magadas alway fight with kalinga and odras.
kambodiya is well connected with orissa kingdoms S.Balasubramani B+ve Tamilnadu