In India all temples are sacred places and thus religious visitors to the temples may be described as pilgrims.The temples of the Medieval Era were varied architectural styles. The temples and the religious places built then were symbolic of the ruler and his richness and devotion. The seeds of experimentation in religious architecture were sown in medeival temples.One of the richest traditions of temple building that India has produced took shape in the 7th century A.D., centered in what is now the state of Karnataka, and lasted until the 13th. This was one of the two main branches of Dravida or 'Southern' temple architecture, giving rise to such famous temples as the Virupaksa, Pattadakal, the Kailasa, Ellora and the Hoysalesvara, Halebid.