Keshava Temple at Somanathapura

On a long motorcycle ride again. This time to closely observe a beautiful temple, read on.

The Keshava Temple at Somanathapura, near Mysore, is an UNESCO world heritage monument along with Belur and Halibedu as the Sacred Ensembles of Hoysalas. The Keshava temple, was consecrated in 1258 CE by Somanatha Dandanayaka, a general of the Hoysala King Narasimha III. The Kesava temple is one of some 1,500 Hindu and Jain temples built by the Hoysala Empire kings in different parts of their kingdom. The other well studied Hoysala temples include those at Belur and Halebidu.

In my view, it's among the best examples of Hoysala Architecture. It's the high noon of Kannada culture. The Inscriptions are in Hale (old) classical Kannada. The sculptures here are one of a kind. 

Sadly this was destroyed, plundered and looted by the Islamic barbarian invader of Malik Kafur. The first attack was by Malik Kafur, Alauddin Khilji's general in 1311 and in 1326 Muhammad Bin Tughlaq destroyed the remaining structures. Some parts of the temples were restored by Vijayanagara Kings and later by Wodeyars of Mysuru.

Every sculptures nose and face is cut or distorted in one way or the other. Despite all this you can still see the beauty of these sculptures. The temple itself is constructed with interlocking stones and no use of cement or concrete or wood or steel. It has survived so many natural disasters of cyclones, thunderstorms, earth tremors, quakes for over 750 years!

It's both figuratively and literally a multi layered structure. There are six layers on the outside walls. One narrating the epic Ramayana and another the Mahabharata. One layer has Elephants symbolizing strength. Another horses symbolizing speed. One has set of flowers symbolizing beauty. All these six layers are taller than 6 feet, see the picture of me standing next to it. These display extensive friezes of Hindu texts such as the Ramayana (southern section), the Mahabharata (northern section) and the Bhagavata Purana (western section of the main temple).

The temple is in a courtyard with a pillared corridor of 64 small shrines (damaged). The main temple in the center is on a high star-shaped platform with three symmetrical sanctums (garbha-griha), oriented along the east–west and north–south axes. The western sanctum was for a statue of Kesava (missing), the northern sanctum of Janardhana and the southern sanctum of Venugopala, all forms of Vishnu. The sanctums share a common entrance and dance hall (sabha-mandapa) with many pillars. The outer walls, the inner walls, the pillars and the ceiling of the temple are intricately carved with iconography of Hinduism.

The Navaranga roof consists of 16 squares, nine in the sabha mandapa and the remaining seven in the extension near the eastern entrance. These are all carved, each different, each with nature motifs and Hindu theology symbolism embedded.

I did my best to capture the pictures on my Sony Alpha. With the upload of course the resolution will be lower. 

Enjoy these pics.



The multiple sculpture levels are as tall as my 6ft height


Each sculpture is almost 2 feet high

Lakshmi Narayana 

Breathtakingly intricate multi layer Carvings

There were 64 idols in 64 rooms. Now empty.

This is a great snap which shows details both on the roof and on the walls. Very difficult to get exposure right in both places, with sich strong sky light above. But the Sony Alpha camera did it. 

Bhagavata purana of Krishna lifting the hill to protect residents in rain 

Vishnu avatar in a rare relaxed seating.

Venugopala Krishna 

Ceilings are intact 

There are 64 different instruments and players on the sides of that massive flower

Beautiful celing pictures

Janardhana 

Janardhana chest and tummy looks like s cows face.

Hand made carvings 
Mohini (female) avatar of vishnu

My loyal steed

The photographer behind the subject.

Biker, Photographer & Writer
Nash Narasimhan Tupil 




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