Yellamma Temple

Badami, 11th century

This Late Chalukya temple, located at the west end of the tank, is notable for its tower, whose crimpled and layered roof describes a shape halfway between the curved shikharas of North India and the pancake pyramids of the south. The sanctuary's outer wall lifts the roof upon a fabric of verticality, achieved by the single-minded division of its projections into a dense forest of tall, slender, closely-spaced, and delicately engaged pilasters.