The Hoysala Temple trail !

It's been quite long since I had gone on a solo trip. Firstly, the scorching heat during summer prevented me from going anywhere and then a wedding at the fag end of the summer, relatives visiting me for a week and a transfer kept me occupied. I usually plan a trip during August every year around the Independence Day and most commonly coinciding with some festival. The plan for an annual reunion didn't attain fruition as my friends had other engagements. So, I decided to take a week off and go on a trip to the Hoysala Temples and Hampi. I had to exclude Hampi which was inundated, from the itinerary.  

The plan was impromptu because of the floods in Karnataka and the rivers flowing in full spate. I started on a Saturday morning from Coimbatore and 2 hours into the journey, there happened to be a roadblock. I reached Chamarajanagara after almost 6 and half hours and immediately went off to Somanathapura. 

The Chennakesava temple at Somanathapura is a Hoysala temple built by Somanatha, the Dandanayaka (Commander) of Hoysala king, Narasimha III. The temple at Somanathapura has 64 cells in a star shaped structure. This temple houses 3 Garbha grihas (sanctum sanctorum) with the deities being Venugopala, Kesava and Janardhana and surmounted by elegantly carved shikharas. Soapstone used for these temples is a soft rock that enabled the sculptors detail their artwork in an intricate way. The stone over a period of time & upon drying up hardens. The lathe turned pillars exhibit a fine and lustrous finish. This temple was plundered by Malik Kafur and since then no prayers have been offered. Beneath some of the sculptures, you find the signature of the sculptors in the old Kannada script. Some of the sculptors include Mallathamma (who also sculpted one of the shikharas), Masanathamma, Chowdappa whose art stands appreciated even after 8 long centuries. The Mahadwara's inscription gives an account of the building of the temple and the grants received for the maintenance of the temple. 

Pictures of Somanathapura: https://www.instagram.com/p/B0_D4TiJ7TG/

The typical features you notice in a Hoysala temple are the Star shaped structure, zig-zag walls due to the star shape, multiple garbhagrihas with seperate shikharas, a raised platform known as 'jagati' used as a circumambulation path (pradakshina patha), distinctly carved features on the walls depicting the avataras of Vishnu, elephants, horses, dancers, tales from the epics etc. The temple architecture style is independent from Nagara and Dravida (it is slightly influenced by the Dravida style) and a continuation of the Badami Chalukya architectural style which is known as Vesara style of architecture.

After Somanathapura, I went off to Hassan and retired for the night. The next day's plan was to cover Belur and Halebeedu for sure but also a couple of other temples nearby as well. 

I started the day visiting the Lakshmi Narasimha Temple at Javagal which is similar to the Somanathapura temple but much smaller. I struck a conversation with the priest at this temple who said that this temple doesn't get much attention for maintenance and restoration unlike its counterparts in Belur and Halebeedu. He was actually happy hearing I came all the way from Coimbatore which is a rare instance as many people are unaware of the place. 

From Javagal, I visited Belavadi which is about 10 kms away. The village had a typical laid-back vibe. It was refreshing to see a kid making a clay idol of Ganesha for the upcoming Ganesh Chathurthi unlike most of his city counterparts busy playing games on smartphones. A group of oldies were socialising over tobacco and upon hearing my Kannada with a strong Tamil influence asked me if I were from Hosur. It was actually a lot tougher than I imagined to recollect the bit of Kannada vocabulary I knew, into my cerebral cortex and frame sentences, given the long gap since I have spoken Kannada. One of the village ladies told me of funny superstitions that the Banyan trees that dotted the way housed ghosts and darker the tree meant more number of them. The Veera Narayana Temple at Belavadi built during the rule of Veera Ballala II is again three shrined and resembled the mathematical symbol for perpendicular. The ceilings represented a Bale Hoovu (Banana flower) at the centre. The shrines of Venugopala and Yoga Narasimha face each other and are connected with a huge mandapa. The central shrine housing Veera Narayana is however behind and has another closed Mandapa which is not usually the norm. The shikaras ended with a kalasha on the top and a small lowered extension tower called the Sukanasi. While the former stands on top of the sanctum sanctorum, the latter is just over the vestibule. Both the features are decorated with sculptures at different tiers and look like mirror images to the opposite shrine's counterparts.

Pictures of Belavadi: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1IXmViJ77A/

A quick auto ride from Belavadi and a bus thereafter took me to Halebeedu in less than 30 minutes. Halebeedu and Belur are the two most prominent places of the Hoysala kingdom which also served as their capital cities at different points of time. The Hoysaleshwara Temple at Halebeedu is an example of architectural and sculptural finesse. The temple was built during the reign of the Hoysala king Vishnu Vardhana and took 39 years to complete and consists of two shrines of Shiva consecrated in the form of Linga. The walls of the temple depict tales from epics/daily lives and the expressions are intricately captured in stone especially of Ravana lifting the Kailasa mountain where the eyes of Ravana look terrified. The highlight however was the Dwarapalakas adorned with distinct ornaments for the neck, head carefully carved in stone. No wonder I spent almost 15 minutes gazing them but sadly the hands of the Dwarapalakas along with the shikharas bore the brunt of the plunderers i.e, the armies of Delhi Sultanate. A bunch of people looking into an instrument resembling telescope, Ravana shooting an arrow that surpassed 7 walls, the Dashavataras are other prominent sculptures. The two Nandi mandapas opposite to the Shivalingas and the huge lawn on the outside accounted for brilliant views of the temple complex. 

Pictures of Halebeedu: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1ZSsLXp9ue/

The last stop of the trip was Belur to visit the Chennakesava Temple. This temple was built by Vishnuvardhana commemorating the victory of the Hoysalas against the Chola feudatory at Talakad and around the same time as the Hoysaleshwara temple. The complex had a half dozen other temples too. In addition to the features of the Hoysala temples mentioned before, I learned that the pavilion or the large hall consisting of the lathe turned pillars and carved ceiling along with entrances at three sides (usually East, South & North) was called a Navaranga. The central square of the Navaranga had 4 pillars with figurines on the top, one of which is Queen Shantala who was a dancer. All the figurines on the inside & outside had a story to tell. The outer wall has a horizontal row of friezes consisting of elephants at the bottom, followed by lion faces, men and women dancing and playing some musical instruments etc and each single elephant or lion face are unique. The sculptors of these temples made sure they left no wall uncarved. The temple houses a 42-feet-high pillar known as Mahasthambha, which is positioned on a monolithic platform and has no base. The pillar is said to be balancing on three sides and has a gap on the fourth. 

Pictures of Belur: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1QDLuFnEh5/

The sad truth is that our history textbooks fail to mention much about many such places. In a country known for its diversity, the books focus only on a few empires that were centred around Delhi and parts of North and North-western India. 

I had to cut short my trip with these places and return to Coimbatore. On my way, I decided to pay a visit to the Maharaja Palace at Mysore just for the sake of photography and I felt content with the way those pictures turned out and that short break on my return journey was like a cherry on top. 

Pictures of the Maharaja Palace, Mysore: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1EcYPppUIr/