Kedareshwara Temple and Jain Basadis, Halebidu, Karnataka

“As the cradle of the human race, southern Asia would alone have a dim and reverential feeling connected with it... No man can pretend that the wild, barbarous, and capricious superstitions of Africa, or of savage tribes elsewhere, affect him in the way that he is affected by the ancient, monumental, cruel, and elaborate religions of Indostan, &c. The mere antiquity of Asiatic things, of their institutions, histories, modes of faith, &c., is so impressive, that to me the vast age of the race and name overpowers the sense of youth in the individual.”

– Thomas De Quincey, “Confessions of an English Opium-Eater” (1821)

Forbiddingly dark, appealingly photoshopped - Parshvanatha Basadi

It had poured tremendously the entire night and consequentially the beautiful pink-blue early morning was chillier than usual. The still undisturbed landscape, lethargically being tinted yellow-green by feeble rays of sunshine twinkling and sparkling like otherworldly diamonds against tiny water droplets immovably lodged amidst leaves and foliage, was awash with telltale earthly fragrances indelibly associated with any respectable countryside – the distasteful, yet strangely attractive, odor of water-drenched rotting wood and plant waste coupled with that of fresh cowdung littered about, the unmistakably rural wood smoke drifting around and thoroughly enveloping a few households and, piercing it all, the uplifting aroma emanating from sugarcane and paddy fields interspersed by fragrant flower-bearing weeds and wildflowers. Even more pristine at this early hour than its idyllic reputation would foretell, Halebidu, formerly referred to as “Dwarasamudra”, the celebrated capital of the distinguished Hoysala sovereigns (reign AD 1026-1343 over most of Karnataka and parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh), was slowly beginning to rouse from its undisturbed soundless slumber. Lined along the streets, several of the bovine species sat contentedly ruminating and uninterestedly regarding the languid appearance of orange-red sun streaks on the horizon. Goaded into action by the sudden realization of querulous crows and roosters spontaneously awakening with daybreak, a few mangy dogs sprinted about collecting whatever rotten leftovers they could. Only the majestic eagles appeared to have conscientiously taken to heart the adage “Early bird gets the first worm” and were already gracefully reconnoitering in successively loftier circles the immense green fields.

Couple of hundred meters from the astonishingly gorgeous Hoysaleswara Temple, the foremost of the remarkably conceived, meticulously sculpted and architecturally unsurpassed Hoysala-era shrines dotting Karnataka’s indescribably verdant vast landscape, I stood opposite another cluster of sanctified shrines of Hindu and Jain denomination, assiduously designed, extraordinarily executed, similarly ornamented, physically smaller, equally historic, and yet far less renowned, in fact nearly irredeemably forgotten, vis-à-vis their enormous magnificent neighbor.

Minimalist - 180° panorama depicting (left to right) the Brahma Stambha, Shantinatha Basadi, Adinatha Basadi and Parshvanatha Basadi

The first self-effacing cluster, whose discontinuous construction was initiated during the supremacy of Hoysala sovereign Bittideva Vishnuvardhana (reign AD 1108-52), comprises three austerely ornamented Jain shrines ("Jinalaya"/"Basadi") composed of rudimentarily sculpted resilient granite intermittently interspersed by intricately ornate decorative panels and exquisitely polished lathe-turned pillars. Also existential within the limited peripheries of the small compound enclosing this cluster are an irregular zigzag-shaped sacred step-well (“pushkarni”) and a soaring 20-feet tall “Brahma stambha” pillar which unmistakably indicates the existence of a consecrated Jain site. The shrines, heralded by a huge, partially ruinous but excellently conserved and restored gateway and a Kannada inscription inscribed on a massive stone also depicting representations of a seated Jain Tirthankar (lit., “ford-maker”, omniscient spiritual teachers who attained liberty from the terrible cycle of rebirths and worldly attachment by fierce contemplative meditation, unremitting emphasis on non-violence, and the renunciation of worldly relationships and responsibilities) flanked by fly-whisk bearing celestial attendants, even though architecturally and artistically terribly austere and traditional, nonetheless undeniably succeed in impressing a casual visitor through their graceful humility and abhorrence of pretentious flamboyance.

It was also in Emperor Vishnuvardhana’s glorious reign that the aforementioned evocatively spellbinding Hindu shrine dedicated to Sri Hoysaleswara, and also the similarly magnificent one dedicated to Sri Chennakesava at Belur nearby, were conceived and commissioned (refer Pixelated Memories - Hoysaleswara Temple complex, Halebidu and Pixelated Memories - Sri Chennakesava Temple complex, Belur). Jain faith too found unequivocal resonance in his immense empire since he originally adhered dutifully to that faith, and his ethereally beautiful Queen Shantala Devi afterwards too continued to sincerely believe in and plentifully patronize Jainism despite his conversion.

Symbolism - Doorjamb, Parshvanatha Basadi 

Dedicated to the legendary twenty-third Tirthankara Parshvanatha (BC 872-772) and therefore unimaginatively christened “Vijaya Parshvanatha Jinalaya” (although it was originally acknowledged by the nomenclature “Dhrohagharatta Jinalaya”), the first shrine, physically grander and artistically significantly better refined than the other two, is preceded by a large, freestanding pillared hallway and possesses embossed on its doorjamb an exquisitely intricate depiction of a tiny seated figure of a long-eared Tirthankara superimposed with three successively smaller umbrellas above his head and a voluptuous, richly attired, heavenly attendant on either flank bearing regal yak-tail flywhisks. Against the wall rest several large stone tablets delicately carved with similar religious representations and engraved with numerous medieval inscriptions chronologically recounting the commission and construction of the shrine in AD 1133 by Boppadeva in loving memory of his father Gangaraja, a high-ranking minister in the illustrious court of Emperor Vishnuvardhana, and the subsequent financial donations and structural and ornamental additions to it.

The initial disappointment, if any, upon exploring the understated exteriors of the shrines instantaneously dissipates on stepping within. Originally, the drop-dead gorgeous interiors were illuminated only by minute streams of sunlight tracing their way in through the formidably set entrance, however presently numerous high-wattage fluorescent lamps have been embedded along the indentations and sharp vertexes defining the extensively conceived roof designs. Nonetheless, the unrelentingly grim severity of darkness further accentuates the forbiddingly straight vertical and horizontal lines that define the numerous deftly designed stone pillars that support the immensely heavy roof and are tantalizingly decorated with ornate strings of sculpted trinkets and meshwork patterns, but it also succeeds in blurring all but the most prominent of the methodically detailed nature of the delicately carved stone roof that graces the hallway preceding the sanctum.

Flawless symmetry - Subsidiary shrine, Parshvanatha Basadi

In the constricted sanctum, almost frighteningly rises wraith-like an enormous 18-feet tall, eerily glistening grey-black sculpture of Tirthankara Parshvanatha compassionately smiling, standing entirely naked against an exceptionally magnificently designed, highly symmetrical archway interposed with an enormous slithering seven-hooded serpent which also reverentially forms a protective canopy above the Lord to shield him from the elements. That the meager sunlight streaming through the cavernous entrance, which is equally proportioned as the massive sculpture, so brightly illuminates the latter that it almost perceptibly glows amidst the terrifyingly blinding darkness somehow initially proves intimidating, invoking a singular aura of being as emotionally threatening as visually mesmerizingly.

Except for the spatial dimensions of the considerably narrow, pillared hallway preceding it, the Shantinatha Basadi is almost equally proportioned, identically conceived and likewise ornamented as the Parshvanatha Basadi. Consecrated to the gold-complexioned sixteenth Tirthankara Shantinatha (who supposedly lived for over 50,000 years 10^194 years ago!!), it was commissioned in AD 1196 by an affluent merchant Madhukanna Vijayanna during the reign of Emperor Vishnuvardhana’s grandson Hoysala Veer Ballala II (reign AD 1173-1220), however it’s explicitly contended that the inelegant pillared hallway composed of unsophisticatedly rough-hewn granite was constructed during the culturally renowned Vijayanagar Dynasty reign (AD 1336-1646). Curiously, the entirety’s massive spatial extent regressively reduces the adjacently located, considerably smaller, far simplistically intended and rudimentarily crafted Adinatha Basadi, which it almost physically embraces, to the visual impression of being forcefully and asymmetrically wedged between its two larger contemporaries despite it being commissioned decades earlier in AD 1138 by Devara Heggade Mallimayya, another eminent minister in the distinguished court of Emperor Vishnuvardhana.

Medieval impressions - Commemorative inscription, Adinatha Basadi

Compared to the dexterously sculpted Parshvanatha Basadi, Shantinatha Basadi is a significantly simpler affair, both internally and externally, in terms of additional decorative appendages such as exquisitely carved decorative panels and the artistic nature of the 18-feet high hallowed sculpture deified in the congested, extraordinarily dark sanctum. Along the roof-level of the aforementioned pillared hallway are employed as restrained adornments fairly rounded, markedly well-spaced and singularly thick “kangura” patterns (battlement-like ornamentation).

The Karnataka circle of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) deserves to be highly commended for preserving and restoring these historic monuments as well as excellently maintaining the limited grass-shrouded space around them. The diligent caretakers employed too consider their duties as essential public service and perform them laudably conscientiously. What is most impressive however, which I’m sure any adherent to the essentially non-violent and all-embracing tenets of Jainism will indulgently approve, is that even though high-wattage fluorescent lights have been meticulously installed within the shrines to highlight their unique artistic adornments and architectural features, none have been mounted within the constricted sanctums where numberless tiny bats still continue to cheerfully roost and ceaselessly chirrup.

Displaying an unparalleled excellence of artistic conception and decorative embellishment including a spatially stellar geometric structure, a dense abundance of detailed representations of mythical entities, mythological deities and anthropomorphic creatures, and an overspilling profusion of dexterously carved, highly adorned sculptures festooned with flawless jewelry and religious symbolism, the Kedareshwara temple is located very slightly more than a stone’s throw away from the surprisingly simplistic Jain Basadi cluster. A beautiful exemplar of consummate Dravidian architecture, it is dedicated to Lord Shiva, the Hindu God of death and destruction, and was jointly commissioned in AD 1219 by Emperor Veer Ballala II and his famous queen Abhinava Ketaladevi.

Unequaled - The Kedareshwara Temple

I shall only briefly touch upon enumerating the unique considerations exhibited by the Hoysala's Hinduism-oriented architecture since the same have been several times previously comprehensively described on this blog. Immediately conspicuous here too is the diligent attention to the minutest of ornamental details introduced by the extraordinarily accomplished artists, the overindulgence of the representation of imaginary entities like “Makara” (entities possessing the body of a fish, the face and tusks of an elephant, the limbs of a lion and the tail of a peacock) and “Kirtimukha” (the ferociously wide fanged, lion-like face of an all-consuming demon conceived and originated out of thin air by Lord Shiva to destroy other, mightier demons), the incredibly fantastical number of beyond-belief gorgeous sculptures of mythological deities and mythical anthropomorphic entities employed along the exterior surface barely below the layered-roof delineation and the composition of the hallowed superstructure’s colossal base comprising an outstanding variety of individualistic tiny horizontal columns (counting vertically upwards – charging elephants, fearsome lions, mounted horses, mythical “Makara” and beautiful swans respectively symbolizing insurmountable stability, formidable strength, matchless agility, unchallenged might and elegant grace; intermittently punctuated by extravagant flourishes of floral foliage scrolls and creepers and miniaturized discontinuous depictions of tales from the epics Ramayana, Mahabharata and the various Puranas, followed eventually in their turn by an exaggerated mesh work of small arched alcoves inset with tens of hundreds of smaller inconsequential deities, celestial dancers and divine devotees). The smaller images give way to larger sculptures, each an exemplar not only of unparalleled sculptural art, but also of excellent ancient mythological fables that even precisely specify how a deity is to be visually depicted and which weapon and which facial expression and bodily movement symbolically represents what action and which boon-bestowing capability!

Poetry in stone (V5.0)

On the walls are carved massive sculptures of several Hindu deities and their numerous different incarnations, most prominent being Lord Vishnu, the God of life and nourishment, and Lord Shiva, the God of death and destruction – thus there is the anthropomorphic, boar-faced Varaha mightily lifting Earth Goddess Bhudevi from the sea of ether after defeating the demons who had imprisoned her; the benevolent, boon-bestowing, omniscient aspect of Lord Vishnu flanked on either side by his wives Bhudevi and Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth and prosperity; the ten-faced, ten-armed intellectual demon King Ravana of Lanka attempting to physically lift the massive Kailasha mountain, the abode of Lord Shiva; the supremely gifted archer-warlord Arjuna; the ten-armed Goddess Durga, a fierce manifestation of primordial feminine energy, piercing the body of buffalo-demon Mahishasura with her intimidatingly long trident; several representations of Lord Shiva furnishing his terrific trident and celestial drum and indulging in “Tandava” (the destructive dance of universal obliteration); Goddess Kali, the unruly manifestation of primordial feminine energy who reigns supreme over sexual acts and inclinations and death and destruction, being reverentially worshipped with musical instruments by cadaverous ghouls as she unusually exclaims with regret and shyness upon unknowingly stepping on her prostrate husband Lord Shiva; Lord Krishna (aka “Govardhana Girdhari” or “The Lifter of Mount Govardhana”), the ostentatious playboy-strategist-statesman-cow herder-warrior-philosopher who supposedly lived some 5,000 years ago and is regarded as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, physically lifting the mountain Govardhana to shield the inhabitants of his domain from a merciless hammering of fierce hailstorms invoked by indomitable demon lords; and Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed, pot-bellied God of auspiciousness, knowledge and beginnings. My personal favorite, as always, remains “Gajasurasamhara”/“Gajacharmambaradhari” – six-armed, combative Lord Shiva wielding numerous weapons of death and devastation while dancing blissfully upon the decapitated head of the slain elephant-demon Gajasura whose flayed hide he triumphantly raises and brandishes as an enormous cloak while his followers gaze wide-eyed terrified and deferential.

"Gajasurasamhara" - The ecstasy of a triumphant God (V4.0)

The marvelous shrine’s and consequentially the sculptures’ smaller, more human, dimensions succinctly allowed the outstandingly accomplished craftsmen-sculptors to dexterously execute astonishingly vividly detailed artworks and exceedingly convoluted foliage flourishes and jewelry. What is more interesting however is the sartorial treatment of several of the more prominent sculptures – indeed numerous portrayals of Lord Shiva have been represented unclothed, except for extensive headgear and layers upon layers of slithering snakes and serpentine foliage not very differential from each other, therefore exposing his genitalia (more often than not, like numerous other exceedingly elegant sculptures, incorrigibly damaged and disfigured by the fiercely fanatical-iconoclast Muslim armies led by Malik Kafur, the ferociously barbaric eunuch General of Sultan Alauddin Khilji (reign AD 1296-1316) of Delhi Sultanate, who invaded and pitilessly ravaged Halebidu).

The road leading to the enviable shrines literally terminates at the sacred complex’s enclosing peripheries and beyond it begin ceaseless bountiful vibrant green fields. Adoringly gazing at the exceedingly delicate shrine while leaving, I could not help immediately reflecting that in numerous figurative ways too, it is indeed the end of the road. Historically, the breathtaking shrine can be chronologically considered one of the last Hoysala-era achievements and can unquestionably be regarded as cherished among its foremost distillations of miniaturization sculptural ornamentation. Little did I realize however that it would prove an agonizing end of road for me as well and soon I shall be leaving charismatic Karnataka for the immensely well-tread pathways of my beloved Delhi. I nostalgically hope to return someday.

Reconnoitering

Location: Basadihalli, approximately 500 meters from Halebidu bus stop.

How to reach: Hassan is accessible from different parts of Karnataka by regular KSRTC bus and Indian Railways train services. It is approximately 180 kilometers or five hours away by road from Bangalore. From Hassan, Halebidu is located about 32 kilometers or roughly one hour away by bus at the end of a journey that does take one on certain thoroughly pockmarked stretches of road winding through hill-flanked barren plains and fields. The bus service between Hassan and Halebidu is however not very regular and one might occasionally have to wait up to 30 minutes.

From Halebidu bus stop, keep walking towards the right for about 300 meters until you encounter another road branching off towards the left. Follow that road to reach the two temple complexes located almost adjacent in a straight line. The road terminates at Kedareshwara temple.

Open: Everyday, 8 am – 5 pm. On the occasional Sunday however, the part-time ASI caretaker, part-time knowledgeable guide at the Jain Basadi complex (though he vehemently refuses to accept pecuniary benefits for his generous assistance) might arrive around 8.30 am. The straightforward interiors of Kedareshwara temple are presently kept perennially locked and one can only look within through the iron grille.

Entrance fees: Nil
Photography/Video charges: Nil
Time required for sightseeing: 45 min each
Remarks – Footwear are not allowed inside the temples and have to be left outside. No toilets and drinking water facilities are available here, but the same can be availed at Halebidu bus stop/Hoysaleswara temple complex.
Relevant Links -

Other Hoysala-era shrines in Karnataka -

1. Pixelated Memories - Hoysaleswara Temple complex, Halebidu
2. Pixelated Memories - Sri Chennakesava Temple complex, Belur
3. Pixelated Memories - Sri Pataleshwara Temple, Belur
4. Pixelated Memories - Sri Prasanna Chennakesava Temple, Somnathpura

Suggested reading -

1. Deccanherald.com - Article "Halebeedu Jain basadi cries for attention" (dated Jan 17, 2012)
2. Fullstopindia.com - Kedareswara Temple: Off The Beaten Path in Halebid
3. Jainworld.com - 24 Tirthankaras
4. Karnatakatravelogue.blogspot.in - Kedareshwara temple and Parshwanatha Jain Basadi of Halebid
5. Thehindu.com - Article "Incredibly beautiful, but simply ignored" (dated July 10, 2010) by Shama Sunder
6. Wikipedia.org - Adinatha (Rishabhanatha)
7. Wikipedia.org - Parshvanatha
8. Wikipedia.org - Shantinatha
9. Wikipedia.org - Veera Ballala II

Sri Pataleshwara Temple, Belur, Karnataka

“Travel makes a wise man better, and a fool worse.”

– Thomas Fuller, 17th-century British writer-historian

In the shadow of the massive, ethereally magnificent Sri Chennakesava temple complex in the beautifully idyllic township of Belur sits an irredeemably forgotten, incorrigibly damaged and irreversibly mutated shrine transformed irrevocably into a melange of brilliant new and tarnished old that does little justice to the ruined remnants of its original unparalleled medieval ornamentation and spatial structure. This is the diminutive, squat temple dedicated to the "Pataleshwara" aspect (“Lord of the Netherworld”) of Lord Shiva, the Hindu God of death and destruction – barely heralded by a whitewashed traffic square indicating its presence and a sum total of zero presence on the internet, the small square shrine visually appears to be a beautiful exemplar of the unsurpassed architecture conceived and commissioned by the Hoysala Dynasty and displays similar remarkable architectural and artistic features including an overspilling profusion of dexterously carved, highly ornamented sculptures, a spatially stellar geometric structure and a dense abundance of mythological and mythical entities, deities and anthropomorphic creatures. It is however not documented when the temple was constructed or who financed it.

Sri Pataleswara Temple - A confusing assortment of medieval ruins and modern fixtures

The sculptures are skillfully carved, the hallowed canopies surmounting them and the scrollwork bands of floral foliage that surround them are delicately detailed and the miniaturization of the features, be it the jeweled ornamentation of the divine draperies or the smaller figurines of inconsequential musician-dancers and celestial followers, is in itself unearthly. Yet the figurines and the temple’s numerous features visually portray an eventful, malicious past which entailed irretrievable injury and mutilation to them at the hands of brutally iconoclast Muslim armies originating either from the mighty, territorially supreme Delhi Sultanate (ruled AD 1192-1526) or the southern sovereign Bahamani Sultanate (ruled Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, AD 1347-1527). The shrine appears to have been irreversibly wrecked and what presently exists in its place is a framework of glistening white marble supporting in its midst the devastated remains of the original hallowed entity. There still exist, albeit surrounded and flanked by a redeeming skeleton of flawless white marble that does not even structurally adhere to the unusual configuration of the original graceful temple, the artistically superior doorjambs vividly blossoming into an intricately convoluted sculptural rococo depicting Lord Shiva dancing ecstatically to the tune of the celestial musicians flanking him amidst an eye-opening visual composition of sophisticated floral scrollwork and wave flourishes bearing as their apex the vicious jaws of a “Kirtimukha” (the ferociously wide fanged, lion-like face of an all-consuming demon conceived and originated out of thin air by Lord Shiva to destroy other, mightier demons) and eventually culminating in an elephantine mythical “Makara” on either side of the lintel whose skin and tail too transform into a sophisticated embellishment of foliage and elaborate artwork.

Poetry in stone (V3.0)

Embossed upon layers of elaborate foliage and geometric patterns once more culminating into fierce Kirtimukhas and horrendous skulls, are spellbinding realistic and artistically evocative sculptures of celestial guards and yak tail-bearers possessing tridents and drums wrapped with layers upon layers of serpentine foliage, draped with extremely fine jewelry and headgear that one would have been hard pressed to even be able to carve in soap and yet those tremendously skilled sculptors of yore crafted in stone. Lastly, there exists an array of divine figurines, predominantly Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu (the Hindu God of life and nourishment) and their varied incarnations and aspects, most prominent among them once more being “Gajasurasamhara”/“Gajacharmambaradhari”, that portrays a sixteen-armed combative depiction of Lord Shiva wielding numerous weapons of death and devastation while dancing blissfully upon the decapitated head of the slain elephant-demon Gajasura whose flayed hide he triumphantly raises and brandishes as an enormous cloak while his family and followers gaze wide-eyed terrified and deferential. Opposite the shrine sits a brand new black granite statue of the bull Nandi, the mount of Lord Shiva and a patron of spirituality and religious dedication, reflecting the occasional explosive bursts of sunlight that escape the impenetrable veil of dark purple-black clouds traversing the atmosphere overhead. The shrine itself is surmounted by a large glittering glimmering marble statue of Lord Shiva and a layered, domed roof that would have been tremendously hard-pressed to prove its similarity to the immensely long pyramidal spires that crowned the Hoysala shrines.

"Gajasurasamhara" - The ecstasy of a triumphant God (V3.0)

While one notices the mutilation of limbs and the destruction of facial features and animal figurines undertaken by the Muslim armies, one also cannot fail to notice that the shrine has been converted to a translucent parody of itself, displaying prominently its original ornamentation and yet effectively failing to be evocative or resplendent in its present tastelessly ostentatious appearance – couldn’t it have been better preserved for what it was? Wouldn’t those sculptures and carved arrays have appeared several times more mesmerizing and visually appealing without the gaudy application of tons of unmatched marble that merely succeeds in bringing its despoliation and embarrassment to the surface instead of compensating it structurally or spiritually? Couldn't the ruins have been preserved as they were? One wonders if a centuries old shrine can be transformed thus right under the nose of one of the most enthralling temple complexes in the subcontinent, a proposed UNESCO World Heritage Site, then what about the unexplored, undocumented and nameless millions of medieval shrines and architectural/artistic paradigms scattered throughout the vast country?

Glitter!

Location: About 500 meters from Belur Bus stop, Hassan district (Coordinates: 13°09'46.3"N 75°51'49.6"E) 
Open: All days, sunrise to sunset
How to reach: Hassan is accessible from different parts of Karnataka by regular KSRTC bus and Indian Railways train services. It is approximately 180 kilometers or five hours away by road from Bangalore. From Hassan, Belur is located about 42 kilometers or roughly one hour away by bus at the end of a journey that does take one on certain thoroughly pockmarked stretches of road winding through hill-flanked barren plains and fields. Regular buses ply between Hassan and Belur throughout the day.
Entrance fees: Nil
Photography/Video charges: Nil
Time required for sightseeing: 30 min
Remarks – Footwear is not allowed inside the temple complex and can be left outside the courtyard.
Another temple located in Belur - Pixelated Memories - Sri Chennakesava Temple complex, Belur
Another temple located in Hassan district -Pixelated Memories - Hoysaleswara Temple complex, Halebidu

Hoysaleswara Temple complex, Halebidu, Karnataka

“They say the past is etched in stone, but it isn’t. It’s smoke trapped in a closed room – swirling, changing, buffeted by the passing of years and wishful thinking. But even though our perception of it changes, one thing remains constant – the past can never be completely erased, it lingers like the scent of burning wood.”

– Marvel Comics, “Daredevil”

The state of Karnataka is endowed with some of the most scenic landscapes that the country possesses – dotted as far as the eye travels with clusters of plentiful coconut trees bent heavy with fruit, lush fertile green fields yielding bountiful harvests magnanimously sprinkled with massive medieval shrines transformed into exemplars of an otherworldly pursuit of architectural and artistic brilliance that the emperors who commissioned and the sculptors who constructed these indulged in, the entirety ringed by vibrant blue mystic mountains surmounted occasionally with rows of captivating white windmills as if mankind is continuously striving to complement the unparalleled tranquility benevolently bestowed on the beautiful state by the grace of nature. An unsurpassed epitome of this relentless quest of mankind to reproduce the designs of nature in the fabric of human (and therefore fallible) art and architecture, the Hoysaleswara Temple at Halebidu is dedicated to Lord Shiva, the Hindu God of death and destruction, and was commissioned by some of the wealthiest members of the city’s aristocratic and mercantile classes, prominent amongst them Dandanayaka Ketamalla (the commissioner of police) and Kesarasetti, during the glorious reign of Emperor Bittideva Vishnuvardhana (ruled AD 1108-52) who had only a couple of years earlier initiated the construction of an architecturally similar and likewise artistically superior shrine dedicated to Lord Vishnu, the Hindu God of life and nourishment, in the neighboring serene township of Belur (refer Pixelated Memories - Sri Chennakesava Temple complex).

Poetry in stone (V2.0) - Hoysaleswara Temple

Notwithstanding the fact that Halebidu’s magnificent past has been ingloriously forgotten and it presently merely survives as a mediocre, densely cultivated village within the frontiers of the nondescript district of Hassan, the temple reflects on the city’s unmatched ancient cultural and architectural heritage as well as its enviable position as “Dwarasamudra/Dorasamudra”, the original capital of the formidable Hoysala Dynasty which reigned from AD 1026-1343 over most of Karnataka and parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and embossed throughout their vast territory an unmistakably visually prominent legacy of several excellent, exceedingly ornamented shrines. Not unlike the rest of Dwarasamudra, the architecturally outstanding temple, constructed over AD 1120-60 and christened “Lord of the Hoysalas” after Emperor Vishnuvardhan’s royal title, was also abandoned and relinquished to relentless wilderness and ruinous desolation during the reign of Emperor Veera Ballala III (ruled AD 1292-1343) following internal strife between members of the royal family and numerous plundering raids by fiercely fanatical-iconoclast Muslim armies led by Malik Kafur, the ferociously barbaric eunuch General of Sultan Alauddin Khilji (reign AD 1296-1316) of Delhi Sultanate. Thereafter, Veera Ballala III fled to the state of Tamil Nadu and Dwarasamudra was rechristened “Halebidu” or “Old City”.

Divinity arrayed!

The bewilderingly majestic temple building, seated on its enormous 5-feet high star-shaped platform (“jagati”), externally follows the sculptural artistic style idealized by its slightly older sibling at Belur and yet at the very first visual impression, one can undeniably state that its exceedingly ornamented facade and the sheer variety of artworks encompassed therein are not imitation, but further evolution of the latter – and although overall the angles and the protruding corners appear less distinctly pronounced and thoroughly simplistic, it is the noticeable emphasis on miniaturization and detailing that is the most noteworthy. The entire superstructure is composed of dark-green/blue-black hued chloritic schist (soapstone) which is extremely easy to chisel into ornately detailed patterns in its original form but transforms to tremendously resilient, unmalleable stone once exposed to the elements for years. One unquestionably perceives that the engrossingly committed Hoysala sculptor-craftsmen might have believed that even a layman visitor will comprehend each and every mythological tale etched in stone and reflect unyielding attention not only on the individualistic sculpture of each deity and mythical entity, but also on their bejeweled ornaments and composite physical traits – thus the unrelenting emphasis on even the minutest of details, the slightest of illustration of movement and the simplest of physical features, even when the sculpture is merely a fraction of an immensely massive panel portraying over a dozen divine beings and anthropomorphic mythological deities.

Sculptural extravaganza!

Furthermore, the extraordinarily accomplished artists did not merely restrict themselves to the artworks and ornamentation introduced by their counterparts painstakingly building the shrine at Belur, but unequivocally took their craft to an unparalleled zenith by introducing several decorative elements and depictions of sculptures, mythological tales and mythical folklores that are absent in the latter – thus there are representations of Goddess Kali, the unruly manifestation of primordial feminine energy who reigns supreme over sexual acts and inclinations and death and destruction; Goddess Saraswati, the patron of arts, music, learning and knowledge; Lord Kartikeya, the young and formidable General of the mighty celestial armies; Lord Krishna (aka “Govardhana Girdhari” or “The Lifter of Mount Govardhana”), the ostentatious playboy-strategist-statesman-cow herder-warrior-philosopher who supposedly lived some 5,000 years ago and is regarded as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, physically lifting the mountain Govardhana to shield the inhabitants of his domain from a merciless hammering of fierce hailstorms invoked by indomitable demon lords. This in addition to the ubiquitous sculptural illustration of other deities, most prominently of course Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu and their varied incarnations and aspects – the anthropomorphic, boar-faced mighty Varaha lifting the Earth Goddess Bhudevi from the sea of ether after defeating the demons who had imprisoned her; the terribly fierce and unimaginably powerful semi-lion, semi-human Narasimha furiously tearing apart the body of the demon Hiranyakashyipu; the benevolent, boon-bestowing, omniscient aspect of Lord Shiva flanked by his wife Parvati; the winged, muscular, multi-armed falcon-faced bird deity Garuda; the ten-faced, twenty-armed intellectual demon King Ravana of Lanka attempting to physically lift the massive Kailasha mountain, the abode of Lord Shiva; the supremely gifted archer-warlord Arjuna; the ten-armed Goddess Durga, a fierce manifestation of primordial feminine energy, piercing the body of buffalo-demon Mahishasura with her intimidatingly long trident; Lord Shiva furnishing his terrific trident and celestial drum and indulging in “Tandava” (the destructive dance of universal obliteration); “Gajasurasamhara”/“Gajacharmambaradhari”, that portrays a sixteen-armed combative depiction of Lord Shiva wielding numerous weapons of death and devastation while dancing blissfully upon the decapitated head of the slain elephant-demon Gajasura whose flayed hide he triumphantly raises and brandishes as an enormous cloak while his family and followers gaze wide-eyed terrified and deferential.

"Gajasurasamhara" - The ecstasy of a triumphant God (V2.0)

Exquisitely evocative is the intricate depiction of foliage of numerous varieties abounding on the immensity that is Govardhana mountain (so lavish is the sculptural treatment showered by the craftsmen that even the slightest of details – crowns of bananas dangling from trees, monkeys climbing the shrubbery and the snakes slithering around – can be observed in fantastic vivacity!), and yet my unquestionable favorite remains “Gajasurasamhara”, especially considering that here Lord Shiva is not revealed with his celestial followers and devotees but surrounded by extensive slithering snakes and horrific undead corpses with ghastly emaciated faces and protruding ribs worshipping him with drums and cymbals! Unbelievably, the impeccably flawless shrine envisages an enthralling profusion of exemplar ornamentation and an outstanding variety not only in the splendid array of larger sculptures that lines its exterior surface barely below the roof delineation, but also in the tiniest of the fantastical rows of creatures that mark its colossal base – counting vertically upwards from the base are fashioned eight individualistic horizontal layers respectively composed of charging elephants, fearsome lions, mounted horses, mythical “Makara” (entities possessing the body of a fish, the face and tusks of an elephant, the limbs of a lion and the tail of a peacock) and beautiful swans respectively symbolizing insurmountable stability, formidable strength, matchless agility, unchallenged might and elegant grace, punctuated by floral scrolls of foliage and creepers and miniaturized discontinuous depictions of tales from the epics Ramayana, Mahabharata and the various Puranas, followed eventually with an extravagant flourish of hundreds of smaller, inconsequential crafted deities, celestial dancers and divine devotees.

Breathtaking!

The exquisite artworks and the years of toil that must have gone into their execution also give credence to the unforeseen span of time – nearly 86 years – involved in the shrine’s completion – however, for some inexplicable reason not documented in contemporaneous historic records, it is said that several portions of the shrine were never consecrated or even completed even though Emperor Vishnuvardhana’s successors Narasimha I (reign AD 1152-73) and Veer Ballala II (reign AD 1173-1220) had their chief architects embellish it with additional layers of ornamentation and sculptural artwork. As with the Sri Chennakesava Temple at Belur, the multitudes of sculptures and scroll work here too lend testimony to the incomparable skill of the architects and artists who were themselves so impressed and overjoyed by their own creations that they disregarded ancient Hindu architectural customs that prohibit artists and sculptors from signing their work – thus come to light the names, sovereign-bestowed titles and places of origin, but not the achievements and lives, of Kalidasa, Ketana, Ballana, Harisha, Damoja and Revoja.

But the vivid blossoming of poetry in stone does not cease here – the massive doorjambs that grace the spectacular facades mutate into an intricately convoluted sculptural rococo depicting Lord Shiva wielding weapons in his ten arms and dancing ecstatically to the tune of the celestial musicians flanking him amidst an eye-opening visual composition of sophisticated floral scrollwork and wave flourishes bearing as their apex the vicious jaws of a “Kirtimukha” (the ferociously wide fanged, lion-like face of an all-consuming demon conceived and originated out of thin air by Lord Shiva to destroy other, mightier demons) and eventually culminating in an elephantine mythical “Makara” on either side of the lintel whose skin and tail too transform into a sophisticated embellishment of foliage and elaborate artwork.

Hoysala ornamentation - Epitome of miniaturization art

The most spellbindingly realistic and artistically evocative statues are however those of the celestial guards that flank the entrances – draped with extremely fine jewelry and headgear that one would have been hard pressed to even be able to carve in soap and yet those tremendously skilled sculptors of yore crafted in stone, the divine figures, bearing tridents and drums wrapped with layers upon layers of writhing snakes and serpentine foliage not very differential from each other, are embossed upon layers of elaborate foliage and geometric patterns once more culminating into fierce Kirtimukhas, miniature Makaras and horrendous skulls. And yet, while one reflects upon the explosive bursts of artistic confidence and cultural development that prompted the sculptors to enthrallingly conceive and dexterously shape the extensively detailed nature of the ornate jewelry and celestial weaponry, one cannot fail to register explicable disappointment, in fact even sorrow, at witnessing that most of these otherworldly figurines were brutally disfigured and dismantled by the iconoclast Muslim soldiers led by the pitiless Malik Kafur – it is at once a discovery of ancient Hindu imperial magnificence and bourgeois grandeur and also of the cruelest of illusions that the unrelenting passage of the sands of time could wreak on unsuspecting humans – the illusion originating from hope, from belief, that even though we might wither and die and decay, our mere creations, be they sculptures carved in perennial stone or words in timeless literature, will survive the ravages of time and the exploitation and imprudence of fellow individuals.

Those sculptors, these details!

Somehow, standing there, gazing rapturously at the surrealistic filigree of stone adornments and shrubbery, I began to feel grievously ashamed about belonging to the ancient city of Delhi, whose remarkable achievements in the spheres of art and architecture I often profoundly and poignantly termed as notable enough to be classified as amongst those that can be termed as the pinnacle of civilizational heritage – after all, could not those soldiers, those seekers of worldly plunder, timeless fame and religious redemption, sense the intricacy of the stone jewels that I was looking at? Could they not visualize the sweat and labor of the sculptors who meticulously and laboriously toiled on crafting these? Could they not notice the enchanting textures, the ethereal impressions imbibed in stone by those expert craftsmen hopeful of being remembered through their hypnotizing creations, if not their mortal names and meager origins? How could they have failed to be mesmerized?

“Blessed are the braggart, the bully, the brute for it is the thoughtless thug – the nithing – and not the pitiful, picked-upon, penniless poor or the cursed and curmudgeoned mean and meek who shall surely stand to inherit the earth.”

– Stephen Edden, “The Wordsmith’s Tale"

Interestingly though, possibly a consequence of the aforementioned Islamic invasions, the elegantly sculpted smaller shrines (“Bhumija”) that are surmounted by pyramidal spires and border the wide staircases and were supposed to be studded with thoroughly carved and polished figurines are devoid of the same – ditto for the minor shrines and alcoves that line the interiors.

Here myths come alive!

The enchanting superstructure is divided internally into two exactly identical, parallel square sanctums located along the extremities, each facing east and accessible by a set of two entrances set perpendicular to each other along the corners of the adjacent sides such that the western side of the enormous temple delineating the rear of the twin sanctums is entirely devoid of any openings. The interiors are illuminated only by minute streams of sunlight tracing their way in through the formidably set entrances or the numerous square openings of the highly symmetrical stone lattice screens. The darkness further accentuates the forbiddingly straight vertical and horizontal lines that define the numerous deftly designed stone pillars and smaller shrines that support the immensely heavy roof, but it also succeeds in blurring the methodically detailed nature of the delicately carved stone roofs that grace the square hallways preceding the two sanctums and the exceedingly long and straightforward walkway connecting the two. The extensively conceived roofs of the large square hallways are supported upon tantalizing pillars passionately decorated with ornate strings of sculpted trinkets and meshwork patterns and culminating into lithe arched lion figurines supporting upon their heads brackets inset with voluptuous, finely proportioned celestial damsels crafted to perfection – referred to as “Madanika” or “Shilabalika” or “Salabhanjika” (literally translating to “breaking a Sala tree (Shorea robusta) branch”), each of the heavenly maidens, attired in fine thin draperies that barely cover their large breasts and hips, is adorned with jewels and ornaments and surrounded by followers and highly intricate foliage – sadly however, most of these were destroyed by the Islamic plunderers-pillagers and none survives in its entirety without its facial features disfigured with chisels and hammers and its limbs dismantled. Similar amorous figurines that gracefully existed within the telltale brackets fitted along the exterior walls have disappeared in their entirety, in all probability demolished and crushed irretrievably to bits and pieces.

Lines!

One might be forgiven for believing that the discerning sculptors forgot to incorporate the unmistakable, renowned emblems of the Hoysala Dynasty – a young man battling a huge aggressive lion (some say a tiger) either with his bare hands or with a sharp-edged sword – but the insignia is nonetheless reinforced here as well, not constructed as massive sculptures defining exterior adornments, but once more as miniature, more complexly visualized panels inset along the bases of the smaller shrines lining the interiors and composed of a single piece of stone sculpted pattern-wise into layers depicting numerous mounted lions being engaged in dreadful mortal combat by a sword-wielding regal warrior. Legend goes that the dynasty’s mythical progenitor, Sala, was indulging in ritualistic ceremonies with his Jain monk Guru Sudatta Muni when a fierce lion (or tiger) pounced upon them prompting the terrified mendicant to pronounce “Hoy, Sala!” (“Strike, Sala!”) and later, following the gruesome battle and the slaying of the lion (or tiger), blessing the courageous disciple with vast territorial sovereignty that would soon flourish. Most architectural historians and wildlife experts however doubt that lions ever existed in this part of the country and that might explain the ill-conceived stone figurines that mark Hoysala temple complexes for they might have been envisioned by the otherwise superiorly talented artists on the features of tigers that are still abundant here. Other historians also point out that this mythical tale and its sculptural depiction gained credence following Emperor Vishnuvardhana’s vanquishing of the Chola armies from his territories and the lion in the sculptures is probably symbolically representative of the Chola insignia.

Yet another corner!!

The twin shrines, christened “Hoysaleswara” and “Shantaleswara” after Emperor Vishnuvardhana and his ethereally beautiful Queen Shantala Devi, too are adorned with resplendently ornate divine guards crafted from lustrous black granite and massive astonishingly impressive doorjambs – both house a single, substantially large “Shiva linga”, the universal, terribly simplistic rounded-pillar representation of Lord Shiva, unbelievably austere and barely encircled with a few garlands of vibrant fragrant flowers. It is said that both the sanctums were originally surmounted by enormous pyramidal spires that spatially followed the stellar pattern established by the shrine’s numerous angles and projections – however neither of the two towers have survived the vagaries of time and nature and can now barely be envisioned as imaginations drawn upon from similar towers that crown analogous exemplars of magnificent Hoysala architecture throughout the vast land of Karnataka. It is compelling to notice how the relatively straightforward interiors were transformed into an artistic extravaganza along the exteriors by matchlessly accomplished sculptors and consummate craftsmen through the employment of numerous angles and recesses in cohesion with hundreds of thousands of sculptural curves and miniaturization art in collaboration with an unequalled understanding of light and shadow play.

Kali - Primordial destructive feminine energy incarnate

On the eastern front outside the temple, facing each sanctum and sharing the enormous plinth with the temple structure, is a gigantic pavilion composed of flawless lathe-turned pillars (that is, they weren't sculpted by hand, but the roughly crafted pillar was mounted on a wheel and rotated so that its edges sweeped against a fixed blade/chisel that smoothly shaped its surface) and flanked by equally passionately conceived and manufactured smaller shrines – visually enchantingly, both the pavilions house imposing monolithic statues of the bull Nandi, the mount of Lord Shiva and a patron of spirituality and religious dedication, however the pavilion opposite the Hoysaleswara sanctum is considerably larger than the one opposite the Shantaleswara sanctum and also possesses towards its rear a small, minimally illuminated hallowed shrine dedicated to a 7-feet tall representation of Lord Surya, the Sun God. The narrow base supporting the heavyweight pillars along the rear side of each of the pavilion is decorated with a single row of substantially smaller sculptures and representations of deities very nearly identical to the superior ones that grace the temple building’s exterior walls.

The Bull

Like several other medieval temple complexes scattered throughout Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the Hoysaleswara Temple too was used to record inscriptions and legends commemorating military victories, religious conversions and heroic deeds – towards the rear of the majestic temple, one such inscription is emblazoned on a short cylindrical pillar embossed with figurines of soldiers severing their own necks with knives – dedicated to the elite personal bodyguards of Emperor Veer Ballala II, the pillar honors the memory of Kuruva Lakshma who was a dedicated “Garuda” (nomenclature derived from the mythological falcon-faced bird deity Garuda, the steed of Lord Vishnu) – valorous soldiers who followed their master like an ever-present shadow, protected him from all unforeseen threatening eventualities and committed suicide upon his demise, natural or otherwise. Kuruva Lakshma is said to have sacrificed not only his own life, but also that of his wife, family and associate officers – and was thus privileged with this celebrated monument, also locally referred to as a “Garuda Stambha” or “Garuda’s Column”. The inscription reads –

“No one before has set such a gallant example as King Ballala's great minister.”

Commemorative

What is however most heartwarming is that the shrine is surrounded by immense, neatly manicured lawns lined with rows of enormous, wide-canopied trees and flowering bushes and carpeted with vibrant green grass that appears to sparkle against the deep blue-black overcast sky. As mentioned in the previous post, the Bangalore (Bengaluru) circle of the Karnataka division of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has undertaken commendable restoration and conservation efforts for the maintenance and preservation of these magnificent ancient temples. Sprinkled occasionally throughout the landscaped lawns are archaeological finds such as enormous sculptures and engraved inscriptions – while some, like a massive monolithic insignia of the Hoysala sovereignty, a lavishly detailed 8-feet high statue of Lord Ganesha (the Hindu God of auspiciousness and beginnings) and an 18-feet high statue of Jain Tirthankara Mahavira are placed thoughtfully towards the rear of the shrine, others are scattered around or left inclined and grass-shrouded as if waiting to be discovered by visitors and devotees. Towards the rear side of the aforementioned elegant Nandi pavilions is mounted another smaller, similarly oriented but more gracefully carved sculpture of the bull Nandi, seated on a high pedestal and surrounded by a ring of red-hued shrubbery. In another corner is being managed a small archaeological museum dedicated to the display of hundreds of inscriptions, engraved memorials and smaller, individualistic sculptures discovered in the surrounding areas.

Discovery!

Despite its near-forested appearance and unmentionably tranquil ambience, Halebidu, like the rest of the hundreds of thousands villages scattered throughout the Indian subcontinent hides in its ancient bosom grand ambitions – peppering the landscape are numerous massive electricity pylons towering immensely high as if attempting, Atlas-like, to support the enormity of dark, rain-bearing black-purple clouds against which sparklingly contrast the flawless white windmills that, seated dominantly on their hill thrones, pierce the skyline like colossal extraterrestrial beings stepping around on their spindly tripods. Head closer towards Hassan and the brightly painted red advertisements of “Airtel” and “Apple Plywood” give way to violet banners of “Byju’s CAT coaching classes” and printed A4-sized posters for “Paying Guest Accommodation for Boys/Girls”. Yet, the general pace of life is unmistakably slow, the manner of doing business laid back like the gait of old men who traverse its numerous bazaars and teashops. Where not dug up into gargantuan craters by bulldozers persistently mining sand for construction, the abundantly fertile, grass-blanketed base of the dried up Dwarasamudra Lake behind the temple’s peripheries doubles up as grazing grounds for scrawny cows, long-horned buffaloes and hundreds of goats. The often inexistential roads that connect Hassan to Halebidu are characterized by their progressively undulating surface and transform into narrow, one-way strips of levelled ground in numerous, unbelievably long stretches where buses, I joke not, literally bounce and spring across the pockmarked surface like roller coaster rides. One cannot help but feel that the village is literally considering whether to sluggishly progress to a dazzling future or continue to exist in the shadow of its former glory. Wonder what would the Hoysala sovereigns be contemplating about this existential dilemma of their erstwhile impressive capital?

A horde of tales and myths! - Halebidu Archaeological Museum

Location: Immediately opposite Halebidu bus stop, Hassan district
Open: The temple complex remains open on all days except Friday from 7 am – 5 pm for people of all faiths, belief systems and genders.
How to reach: Hassan is accessible from different parts of Karnataka by regular KSRTC bus and Indian Railways train services. It is approximately 180 kilometers or five hours away by road from Bangalore. From Hassan, Halebidu is located about 32 kilometers or roughly one hour away by bus at the end of a journey that does take one on certain thoroughly pockmarked stretches of road winding through hill-flanked barren plains and fields. The bus service between Hassan and Halebidu is however not very regular and one might occasionally have to wait up to 30 minutes.
Entrance fees: Nil
Entrance fees for the museum: Indians: Rs 5; Foreigners: Rs 100 (Free entry for children up to 15 years of age)
Photography/Video charges: Nil
Time required for sightseeing: 3 hrs
Remarks – Footwear is not allowed inside the temple complex and shoes can be left at a makeshift counter near the staircase and retrieved afterwards following the payment of a modest sum (usually Rs 10 for two pairs of footwear).
Relevant Links - 
Another Hoysala temple in Hassan - Pixelated Memories - Sri Chennakesava Temple complex
Suggested reading - Whc.unesco.org - Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysala

Sri Chennakesava Temple complex, Belur, Karnataka

 

“Places all have their own characters, and returning to a city where you have lived before is like coming home to an old friend. But the people begin to look the same; the same faces recurring in cities a thousand miles apart, the same expressions. The flat, hostile stare of the official. The curious look of the peasant. The dull unsurprised faces of the tourists. The same lovers, mothers, beggars, cripples, vendors, joggers, children, policemen, taxi-drivers, pimps. After a while one begins to feel slightly paranoid, as if these people were secretly following from one town to another, changing clothes and faces, but remaining essentially unchanged, going about their dull business with half an eye slightly cocked at us, the intruders. At first one feels a kind of superiority. We are a race apart, we the travellers. We have seen, experienced so much more than they. Content to run out their sad lives in an endless round of sleep-work-sleep, to tend their neat gardens, their identical suburban houses, their small dreams; we hold them in a little contempt. Then, after a while, comes envy. The first time it is almost funny; a sharp sudden sting which subsides nearly straight away. A woman in a park, bending over a child in a pushchair, both faces lit by something which is not the sun. Then comes the second time, the third; two young people on the seafront, arms intertwined; a group of office-girls on their lunchbreak, giggling over coffee and croissants..before long it is an almost constant ache. No, places do not lose their identity, however far one travels. It is the heart which begins to erode after a time.”

– Joanne Harris, “Chocolat”

Poetry in stone - Sri Chennakesava Temple

Blessed with vast verdant, foliage enshrouded plains scattered with moderately-sized gentle hills strewn with staggeringly massive boulders and carpeted by vivid green grass that flamboyantly flaunts its lushness under cover of near-perennial dark, rain-bearing clouds, the township of Belur (also spelled Belooru) in Hassan district of Karnataka, teeming with an unbelievably idyllic laid back life composed of numerous small bazaars and marketplaces sprinkled with hundreds of brilliant hues in the form of fruits and vegetables and sweets for sale and the attires donned by the locals, would have been no different from the thousands of other villages that dot the Indian subcontinent were it not for an evocatively ethereal architectural gem that crowns its meager existence and unquestionably confers upon it an extremely enviable position in the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites – the highly embellished Vijayanarayana aka Sri Chennakesava Temple (literally translating to “Handsome Long-haired Lord”), commissioned by the Hoysala Dynasty Emperor Bittideva Vishnuvardhana (reign AD 1108-52) in AD 1117 to celebrate the first of his numerous military victories against the Viceroys of the formidable and expansive Chola Dynasty (reigned the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa and the islands of Sri Lanka and Maldives, 300 BC – 1279 AD) of whom he was a vassal, is dedicated to the mythological Lord Keshava/Krishna, an ostentatious playboy-strategist-statesman-cow herder-warrior-philosopher who supposedly lived some 5,000 years ago and is regarded as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the Hindu God of life and nourishment. In their literature and folktales, the Hoysalas traced their historic lineage to the Yadava clan of north India which claims genealogical descent from Lord Krishna himself. Despite its unostentatious appearances and near village-like atmosphere, Belur, geographically located on the peaceful banks of the river Yagachi, is not just any other miniscule town next door – though its medieval prestigious impressions are presently indiscernible, it was originally referred to by the name “Velapuri” and was the capital of the Hoysalas, one of the most prominent dynasties of southern India!

Epochal!

After setting eyes on the immaculately magnificent temple seated on its 3-feet high perfectly symmetrical 32-vertexed star-shaped platform (“jagati”) and its numerous exceedingly decorated features, one would not be resorting to hyperbole in stating that the grand structure is literally an epitome of sculptural art – the sheer variety and noteworthy ornamental nature of the artworks and sculptures adorning every conceivable surface of the shrine is unmentionably vast and beyond description – moreover, such is the attention to the minutest of ornamental details that the extraordinarily accomplished artists introduced in their craft that one can be forgiven for believing that the patterns and mythological lores are carved not in stone but in wax or wood! The entire superstructure is composed of dark-green/blue-black hued chloritic schist (soapstone) which is extremely easy to chisel into ornately detailed patterns in its original form but transforms to tremendously resilient, unmalleable stone once exposed to the elements for years. My visit to the colossal temple complex a week back coincided with the sacred occasion of the beginning of the annual ceremonial “Rath Yatra” – an event when temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu all over the country resound with the prayers and devotional chants of hundreds of thousands of devotees – and thus the photos I clicked are crowded with the absolutely incalculable numbers of pilgrims. In fact, the first photo that I have posted here, clicked from near the “Garuda Stambha” located in the courtyard opposite to depict the imposing shrine’s spatial span, is actually a stack of 120 photos which were continuously clicked and later assembled in Photoshop (the latter itself took me over almost four hours!) in order to eliminate the perennial flow of pilgrims and families out for sightseeing!

Stellar - One word, two meanings, spatial and artistic description

The impeccably flawless temple, an exemplar of ancient Dravidian architecture and a testimony to the unequaled skill of the architects and artists who painstakingly toiled for its construction, is surrounded by a vast courtyard flanked at its peripheries by simplistic colonnades also inset with several Kannada inscriptions inscribed in stone and dozens of fascinating sculptures of mythological deities and anthropomorphic entities. The entrance to the enormous complex is via a massive seven-floored pyramidal towering gateway (“Gopuram”), chronologically dated to AD 1397 (reign of the Vijaynagara Empire (ruled AD 1336-1646)), painted sunshine yellow throughout and lined with sculptures of various incarnations and aspects of Lord Vishnu along with fierce servants attending to him and several other mythological deities and mythical creatures. The beyond belief splendid shrine itself is accessible through entrances built along three of its sides, each reached by wide staircases bordered by elegantly sculpted smaller shrines (“Bhumija”) surmounted by pyramidal spires and housing within their small alcoves meticulously detailed stone sculptures of deities so finely polished that they appear to be composed of brass! The incredible magnitude of the innumerable sculptures that are employed in the construction of the gigantic shrine is fantastic – the superstructure’s (and not the platform’s) base itself is composed of three individualistic layers depicting charging elephants, fearsome lions and mounted horses respectively symbolizing insurmountable stability, formidable strength and matchless agility – visually bewilderingly, each of the 600+ beasts is uniquely distinctive from the others in its row!! These are vertically followed in an upward fashion by scroll bands of numerous perceptibly different geometric and floral patterns, smaller inconsequential deities, dancers and temple guards followed in their turn by massive circular or star-shaped pillars supporting in their midst a mesh work of small arched alcoves inset with tens of thousands of crafted deities, celestial dancers and divine devotees.

Sculptural orgasm!

The smaller images give way to larger sculptures, each an exemplar not only of unparalleled sculptural art, but also of excellent ancient mythological fables that even precisely specify how a deity is to be visually depicted and which weapon and which facial expression and bodily movement symbolically represents what action and which boon-bestowing capability! On the walls are carved massive sculptures of numerous Hindu deities in their numerous different incarnations, most prominent being Lord Vishnu, the God of life and nourishment, and Lord Shiva, the God of death and destruction – thus there is the anthropomorphic, boar-faced mighty Varaha lifting the Earth Goddess Bhudevi from the sea of ether after defeating the demons who had imprisoned her; the terribly fierce and unimaginably powerful semi-lion, semi-human Narasimha furiously tearing apart the body of the demon Hiranyakashyipu; the benevolent, boon-bestowing, omniscient aspect of Lord Vishnu flanked on either side by his wives Bhudevi and Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth and prosperity; the winged, muscular, multi-armed falcon-faced bird deity Garuda; the ten-faced, twenty-armed intellectual demon King Ravana of Lanka attempting to physically lift the massive Kailasha mountain, the abode of Lord Shiva; the supremely gifted archer-warlord Arjuna; the ten-armed Goddess Durga, a fierce manifestation of primordial feminine energy, piercing the body of buffalo-demon Mahishasura with her intimidatingly long trident; and a representation of Lord Shiva furnishing his terrific trident and celestial drum and indulging in “Tandava” (the destructive dance of universal obliteration). My personal favorite remains “Gajasurasamhara”/“Gajacharmambaradhari” – a sixteen-armed combative Lord Shiva wielding numerous weapons of death and devastation while dancing blissfully upon the decapitated head of the slain elephant-demon Gajasura whose flayed hide he triumphantly raises and brandishes as an enormous cloak while his family and followers gaze wide-eyed terrified and deferential.

"Gajasurasamhara" - The ecstasy of a triumphant God

But the vivid blossoming of poetry in stone does not cease here – punctuating the rows of deities and their attendant guards and followers are exceedingly skillfully finished floral scrolls, exquisite friezes and intricately perforated stone latticework screens which convolute and twist into a sculptural rococo depicting entire tales from ancient Hindu epics like the Mahabharata, Ramayana and the various Puranas. And then there are the unmistakable graceful emblems of Hoysala Dynasty – a young man battling a huge aggressive lion (some say a tiger) either with his bare hands or with a sharp-edged sword. Legend goes that the dynasty’s mythical progenitor, Sala, was indulging in ritualistic ceremonies with his Jain monk Guru Sudatta Muni when a fierce lion (or tiger) pounced upon them prompting the terrified mendicant to pronounce “Hoy, Sala!” (“Strike, Sala!”) and later, following the gruesome battle and the slaying of the lion (or tiger), blessing the courageous disciple with vast territorial sovereignty that would soon flourish. Contemporaneous historical accounts note that Hoysala Dynasty sovereigns preceding Vishnuvardhana were followers of Jainism and he was the first to convert to Vaishnav Hinduism under the influence of the 12th-century Tamil Vedanta saint Acharya Sri Ramanuja and soon thereafter, considering his military victories to be benedictions from Gods, conceived and commissioned this splendid temple complex. Most architectural historians and wildlife experts however doubt that lions ever existed in this part of the country and that might explain the ill-conceived stone figurines that mark Hoysala temple complexes for they might have been envisioned by the otherwise superiorly talented artists on the features of tigers that are still abundant here. Other historians also point out that this mythical tale and its sculptural depiction gained credence following Vishnuvardhana’s vanquishing of the Chola armies from his territories and the lion in the sculptures is probably symbolically representative of the Chola insignia.

"Hoy, Sala!"

The massive panels that grace the three entrances of the temple, besides being flanked by exceptionally realistic celestial guards, transform along the doorjambs into tremendously well-conceived mythological scenes composed of an array of mythical creatures and incarnations and celestial followers of Lord Vishnu – thus there is an incarnation each on each door – Lord Vishnu himself on one, Lord Narasimha on the second and Lord Varaha on the third – with an assortment of heavenly followers and musicians, altogether mounted on a cavernous platform sheltered within the vicious jaws of a “Kirtimukha” (the ferociously wide fanged, lion-like face of an all-consuming demon conceived and originated out of thin air by Lord Shiva to destroy other, mightier demons) and supported upon the mighty wings of a Garuda preparing to fly off – lastly the entire scene emerges from within wave-like flourishes eventually culminating in an elephantine mythical “Makara” (entities possessing the body of a fish, the face and tusks of an elephant, the limbs of a lion and the tail of a peacock) on either side of the lintel. Immediately below each of these fascinatingly vast visual compositions is observable the simplistic portrayal of “Gajalakshmi” – Goddess Lakshmi being showered with milk and honey by huge elephants.

Exquisiteness!

But the most adored and acclaimed sculptures that adorn the temple’s superstructure are the voluptuous, finely proportioned celestial damsels crafted to perfection and surmounted on brackets crowning 38 of the pillars that support the substantial roof of the shrine – referred to as “Madanika” or “Salabhanjika” (literally translating to “breaking a Sala tree (Shorea robusta) branch” – the reference to the legendary Sala is coincidental), the heavenly maidens, each attired in fine thin draperies that barely cover their large breasts and hips, adorned with jewels and ornaments and surrounded by followers and highly intricate foliage and often unusual creatures such as lizards arching to capture flies, depict either feminine mythological divinities such as the beautiful Goddess Natya Mohini (a delicate incarnation of Lord Vishnu postured dancing with a hand on her head – drawing from the tale where she entreated the demon Bhasmasura, who was bestowed with the boon to reduce to ashes every living entity he touched, into touching his own forehead after flirting with and prompting him to dance as she did), or tremendously animated seductive dancers, musicians, huntresses or simply pretty maidens illustrated adoring themselves in mirrors (“Darpana Sundari”), rinsing their hair with water, conversing with their pet parrots (“Shukabhashini”) or even being harassed by monkeys! Most historians concede that the outstanding, ethereally beautiful maidens were inspired by King Vishuvardhana’s wife Shantala Devi who, although professing to Jain faith despite her husband’s conversion, did have constructed within the temple complex’s peripheries a smaller side-shrine also dedicated to Sri Chennakesava and christened as “Kappe Chennigaraya temple” (more on that later). The photo posted here is that of the "Shikarika" (“Huntress”) and besides the extraordinarily vivid detailing of her own being, one can also notice and be awed by the thought process that went into fashioning the superlative nature of the two small sculptures adjacent that respectively portray her with a prey (resembling a dragon!) slung over her shoulder and being helped by a servile maid in plucking a thorn that had got embedded in her foot.

"Shikarika" - The celestial huntress

Similar sculptures exist inside the shrine as well, however, owing to the occasion of the advent of the Rath Yatra, the explicably crowded dark interiors unbelievably stuffed to the seams with devotees repetitively loudly chanting “Govinda, Govinda” (one of the names of Lord Krishna) rendered photography impossible. That the massive sanctum is even more exquisitely ornamented than its exteriors can be gauged from the fact that the patterned pillars here are so painstakingly chiseled and polished to achieve such a remarkable degree of shimmer that several historians and writers mistakenly regard them as being lathe-turned (that is, they weren't sculpted by hand, but the roughly crafted pillar was mounted on a wheel and rotated so that its edges sweeped against a fixed blade/chisel that smoothly shaped its surface). Garlands of fragrant red and yellow flowers adorned the doorjambs and the sculptures and glittering glimmering tinsel stretched from the edges of the shrine to conceive a bejeweled canopy sparkling in the rays of the minutest of streaks of sunlight that escaped the cloudy atmosphere and the exhaustive stone lattice screens only to be caught in the spider web of tinsel. The handsome 6-feet tall sculpture of Lord Chennakesava, attired with silver ornaments and colorful garments, appeared translucently otherworldly while the thoroughly crowded darkness around the sanctum dissolved into whiffs of color and noise as hundreds of devotees pushed and strived to appear in front of the Lord and present to him their aspirations for worldly prosperity and heavenly redemption. Within a glass case adjacent the central shrine rest two considerably massive sandals that are said to belong to the Lord and are worn by him every night when he departs to frolic with his friends and damsels – belief is that a pair of these hallowed sandals disappears each night and the local cobblers reverentially prepare one for consecration every morning and present it to the shrine without fail – to every 21st-century youngster’s delight, the practice of chilling and freaking out with buddies every night thus finds reverberance in the most ancient of our religious and literary traditions as well! The most acclaimed of the numerous ornate pillars that line the sanctum is the exquisite Narasimha pillar that could originally even rotate around on its ball bearing and still prominently flashes the unadorned space on its surface which the sculptors intentionally left blank as an open challenge to any contemporaneous or later craftsmen to engrave and display an artistic flair as resplendent as theirs – that it still remains blank does wordlessly declare something about the consummate skills of the Hoysalas!

Bewilderingly detailed! - King Vishnuvardhana's court

Hindu mythology states that time nearly came to a halt while Lord Krishna recounted the ancient knowledge embodied in the epic scripture Sri Bhagavadgita to the archer-warlord Arjuna in the middle of the battlefield of Kurukshetra during the ruthlessly gory 18-day Mahabharata war. Islamic mythology too states that while the blessed Prophet Muhammad ascended the stairs of heaven to reach Allah’s throne, he spent a lifetime in each of the seven heavens and yet returned before the sweat that he had wiped off his face on the stairs of the first heaven could fall to the ground underneath. Gazing at the unparalleled sculptures embossed on the exterior walls of the shrine, one can literally believe that time is slowing down to a near-halt and the images are beckoning the visitors and coming alive to recount the numerous stories they carry in their stone bosoms, while the tales thus told are themselves merging into each other to portray an entire universe of deities, demon lords, mythical creatures and mighty anthropomorphic warlords. The multitudes of sculptures and scroll work lend testimony to the incomparable skill of the architects and artists who were themselves so impressed and overjoyed by their own creations that they disregarded ancient Hindu architectural customs that prohibit artists and sculptors from signing their work – thus come to light the names, sovereign-bestowed titles and places of origin, but not the achievements and lives, of Ruvari Mallitamma, Malliyanna, Kenchamalliyanna, Malla, Eechana, Chikkahampa, Nagoja, Malloja, Dasoja and his son Javana. The exquisite artworks and the years of toil that must have gone into their execution also give credence to the unforeseen span of time – nearly 103 years – involved in the shrine’s completion – it was eventually consecrated during the reign of Vishnuvardhana’s grandson Veer Ballala II (reign AD 1173-1220).

Divinity framed - Lord Vishnu, the God of life and nourishment

Back in the colossal courtyard, the enormous, 42-feet tall “Deepa Stambha” (“Pillar of Lights”) erected on another considerably smaller star-shaped pedestal is a scientific wonder in itself – a gravity pillar balanced only by its own weight, it touches the pedestal at merely three pinprick points and sheets of paper and cloth can be passed uninterruptedly from one end to another underneath its stone enormity!

The colonnades comprising the enclosing walls of the temple complex bear Kannada inscriptions mentioning the construction of the shrine, later additions commissioned by the sovereigns of several succeeding dynasties, the artists and sculptors involved in the building and ornamentation and also several of the battles and religious conversions that took place in medieval Karnataka. Dozens of sculptures embedded within the walls of the colonnade are arranged in patterns pertaining to the deity they represent or the mythological tales they portray – what is fascinating is that in several of these sculptures, the deities invoked, thoroughly embellished with weaponry and lavish ornaments, bear what appears to be corn cobs! Historians state that corn first appeared in India in late 16th-century accompanying the advent of Portuguese seafaring merchants – then what is it doing in statues and idols envisioned and constructed over 400 years before that?! Worth pondering over.

Stone sentinels

A corner of the courtyard is dedicated to the “Vasudeva Sarovar”, a large rectangular stepped water tank (“Kalyani/Pushkarni”) filled with murky dark green water and flanked on the sides with small shrines surmounted by pyramidal spires nearly identical to the ones that exist along the main temple’s staircases – it is said that the central shrine too was originally crowned with a vertically massive tapering pinnacle which was however over the years lost to the vagaries of time and nature – to my untrained eyes at least, the shrine, in its present form, appears so considerably unique and unusually interesting when juxtaposed against the rest of the architecturally identical Dravidian temples. The restoration and conservation efforts undertaken by the Karnataka division of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) are undeniably commendable and need be emulated throughout the vast country – it is heartening to note that the usual excuses, such as a shortage of funds and experienced manpower, so often advanced by the ASI to explain its lackadaisical attitude, did not become an obstacle in preserving this bewilderingly superlative architectural exemplar for future generations.

In the corner opposite the Kalyani on the far side of the gigantic rectangular complex sits a relatively moderately-proportioned and less densely adorned shrine referred to as “Ranganayaki Temple” and dedicated to the poetess-saint Kodhai Devi Andal of Srivalliputtur (Tamil Nadu) – said to have been raised from the remains of several earlier, individual temples, the shrine, surmounted by an assortment of crown-like domes possessing pointed finials vertically protruding from them, boasts of a large raised courtyard supported upon highly symmetrical, flawlessly chiseled pillars. The walls bear friezes and sculptures that actually look as if they have been drawn from other geographic sources and embedded herein like stickers on a child’s notebook to render it more attractive without necessarily dispelling the overall appearance of a cutout, a jigsaw conceived from numerous unmatched, unassociated fragments.

Stitched together - The Ranganayaki Temple

Besides friezes of tiny mounted elephants bedecked with jewelry running along the base of the Ranganayaki shrine’s exterior walls, several deities including Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu, Goddess Durga, Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Varaha too have been portrayed on the walls – the sculptures here too have been signed by their originators, most prominent of them being Bechama and Madhuvanna. Mesmerizingly, as verifiable from the photos that I clicked of the shrine’s stone jewels, none of the foliage and line-pattern canopies that surround the divine figurines are identical! This unquestionably goes on to corroborate the unquestionably noteworthy sculptural proficiency demonstrated by the artist-craftsmen of medieval India.

Separated from the Ranganayaki shrine by an enthrallingly ornate but relatively simplistic subsidiary shrine (“Soumyanayaki Temple”) which had been on that particular day temporarily fitted with large television screens and recording instruments to broadcast the proceedings of the religious ceremonies under progress in the central shrine to news channels, exists the squat Veera Narayana temple that is contemporaneous of Sri Chennakesava temple and is similarly wreathed with sculptures of deities, celestial damsels and mythological battle scenes – my favorite is the one depicting a physical combat between a massive mounted and caparisoned elephant and the extraordinarily strong Pandava prince Bhima from Mahabharata who is said to have been mighty enough to devastate several armies in a single day of warfare and fling elephants away like toy figurines.

Destruction personified - Prince Bhima

Adjacent the Veera Narayana temple is the aforementioned Kappe Chennigaraya temple – according to an inscription engraved within its sanctum, this smaller shrine, one of the most prominent exemplars of Hoysala architecture and internally spatially almost a smaller replica of the interiors of Sri Chennakesava temple, was commissioned by Queen Shantala Devi. The sanctum boasts of two adjacent shrines, dedicated to Lord Vishnu and his consort Soumyanayaki, slightly offset from each other and each accessed via inspiringly ornate entrances possessing proficiently carved doorjambs and lintels not very different from those leading within Sri Chennakesava temple; the pillars too boast of brackets supported on the shoulders of divinities and inset with beautiful dancing Shilabalikas only slightly less competently sculpted than those of Sri Chennakesava temple. The nomenclature of the shrine is said to have its origins in an exciting medieval legend (not resonated by literary and historical records) concerning the beyond belief interesting tale behind the shrine’s consecration – it is said that the master craftsman Amarashilpi Jakanachari who hailed from the village of Kaidala was enviably entrusted with the sculptural creation of the exceptional 6.5-feet tall, profusely ornamented representation of the deity that was to grace the central shrine, but for years he became so engrossed in the arduous task assigned to him that he forgot all about his family and children, thereby prompting his eldest son Dankachari to journey from the village to Belur to confront his wayward father.

Straightforward symmetry - The Kappe Chennigaraya Temple

However Jakanachari refused to identify or even acknowledge his son's presence and as a last resort the boy, himself an outstanding sculptor, publicly challenged his father that he can identify flaws in the divine idol he was constructing. Enraged, Jakanachari pledged to saw off his own hands if any imperfections were determined. Sandalwood paste was applied to the massive idol and it dried everywhere except in the navel area where a frog was found nesting in a small cavity – as proclaimed, Jakanachari did cut his own hands and the defective idol was relocated to the subsidiary shrine sanctified as “Kappe Channigaraya”, “Kappe” being “frog” in Kannada. The tale of course does not end immediately at this point but juxtaposes on a happier ending where Jakanachari is commanded by the Lord himself to return to his family and construct a similar idol in his village following the completion of which his hands will be restored to him – of course, like all oral folk lore, this one too does not explain how Jakanachari sculpted the second idol without his arms!

The allure of the magnificence of Sri Chennakesava Temple drew me from hundreds of kilometers away and the gracefulness of its unsurpassably delicate sculptures and commendable architectural highlights literally prove to be irresistible amongst all the monuments and shrines I have come across so far in my sojourns – in fact, although the temple not at all condescendingly allows the famed Akshardham of Delhi and the numerous splendid ISKCONs scattered all over the country to garner in the reputation and renown (refer Pixelated Memories - Akshardham Temple, Delhi and Pixelated Memories - ISKCON Temple, Delhi), it stylishly proves to be far grander than all of them combined and lives up to its promise of being an overwhelming site of tranquil solace and reverence, both visual and spiritual – the Hoysalas must be contentedly looking at it and experiencing unadulterated pride in the fact that even though their dynasty never survived, the little architectural jewel they embedded in their erstwhile capital has blossomed and garners tourists, spiritualty seekers and travelers from all over the globe.

Colossal!

How glorious it would have been to read about these architectural marvels in school textbooks that indisputably almost always glorify north Indian kingdoms, histories and edifices – one would be surprised to note that the Sultanate of Delhi that built the towering Qutb Minar, another World Heritage Site, was still almost a century away from coming into being and the dynasty that conceived and constructed the ethereal Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, was still over 400 years away when this imposing shrine was raised. But unbelievably, it is said that the other major temple that the Hoysalas commissioned in their other twin capital Halebidu (Dwarasamudra) incredibly even surpasses this one in terms of sculptural artwork and ornamentation! Off I go again with the wind to locate the tales engraved in stone!

Here myths come alive!

Location: About 500 meters from Belur Bus stop, Hassan district
Open: The temple complex remains open every day from 7 am – 6 pm for people of all faiths, belief systems and genders. The sanctum is closed from 10-11 am, 1-3 pm and 5-5.30 pm.
How to reach: Hassan is accessible from different parts of Karnataka by regular KSRTC bus and Indian Railways train services. It is approximately 180 kilometers or five hours away by road from Bangalore. From Hassan, Belur is located about 42 kilometers or roughly one hour away by bus at the end of a journey that does take one on certain thoroughly pockmarked stretches of road winding through hill-flanked barren plains and fields. Regular buses ply between Hassan and Belur throughout the day.
Entrance fees: Nil
Photography/Video charges: Nil
Time required for sightseeing: 3 hrs
Remarks – Footwear is not allowed inside the temple complex and shoes can be left at the counter near the entrance and retrieved afterwards following the payment of a modest sum (usually Rs 10 for two pairs of footwear).
Suggested reading -

1. Econ.ohio-state.edu - Maize in Pre-Columbian India 
2. Gops.org - Face to face with history :: Belur & Halebid 
3. Karnatakatravelogue.blogspot.in - Interiors of Chennakeshava temple, Belur 
4. Rcmysore-portal.kar.nic.in - History of Sri Chennakeshava Temple 
5. Wikipedia.org - Hoysala Empire 
6. Wikipedia.org - Chennakesava Temple