Bhaubali, Jaina Cave, Aihole--Artist: Indian draftsman Medium: Pen and ink on paper Date: 1853

Pen-and-ink drawing of a sculpture of Bhaubali, from the Jaina Cave at Aihole, by an Indian draftsman, dated 1853.

This drawing depicts the large figure of Bhaubali sculpted on the wall of the Jain Cave Temple, which was excavated in the late sixth century south of the town of Aihole. Aihole was one of the capitals and an important commercial centre of the Early Western Chalukya, a powerful dynasty which ruled the Deccan from the sixth century. Together with the two other capitals of Badami and Pattadakal, the site has

preserved many Hindu and Jain temples which belong to a period that goes from the sixth to the 12th centuries, belonging to the Early and Late Chalukya periods and to the Rashtrakuta era.