Context:
- Three Hoysala-era temples in Karnataka recently made it to UNESCO’s World Heritage List, under the collective entry of ‘Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas’.
- Hoysala temples are known for the rare beauty and finesse of their wall sculptures, and have been described as “art which applies to stone the technique of the ivory worker or the goldsmith”.
Importance:
- Built in the 12th and 13th centuries, the three temples selected for the UNESCO list are important not just because they demonstrate their builders’ superior skill, but also because they narrate the tale of the politics that shaped them.
Three Hoysala temples:
- The three temples include the Chennakeshava temple in Belur, the Hoysaleswara Temple in Halebidu, and the Keshava Temple in Somanathapura.
Who were the Hoysalas?
- The Hoysalas held power in Karnataka from the 10th century to the 14th century. The dynasty began as provincial governors under the Western Chalukyas, but as the two dominant empires of the South, the Western Chalukyas and the Cholas, crumbled, the Hoysalas established themselves as rulers.
- Two of the temples that made it to the UNESCO list are located in cities that served as the capital of the Hoysalas — earlier Belur, and then Halebidu (or Dwarasamudra).
When were the Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas built?
- The Chennakeshava temple, dedicated to Lord Vishnu, was consecrated around 1117 AD by the mighty Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana, to mark his victories against the Cholas. It is thus also called the Vijaya Narayana temple.
- The other Vaishnava shrine, the Kesava temple, was built in Somanathapura in 1268 by Somanatha, a general of Hoysala King Narasimha III.
- The Hoysaleswara temple in Halebidu is believed to be the largest Shiva temple built by the Hoysalas, and is dated to the 12th century.
What makes Hoysala architecture stand out?
- One notable feature of Hoysala architecture is the use of soapstone, a malleable stone that is easy to carve. This is one of the reasons behind the abundance of intricate sculptures one can see on the temple walls. The sculptures include animals, scenes of daily life, as well as depictions from the epics and the Puranas. The jewellery, headgear, clothes, etc. of the detailed sculptures give an idea of the society of the times.
- Another special feature of Hoysala architecture is the unique confluence of styles.
- Hoysala architecture is an amalgamation of three distinctive styles— the mainstream Dravidian architecture as represented in the Pallava and Chola temples; the Vesara style, the variant of the Dravida style that emerged in the Chalukya and Rashtrakuta temples; and then the North Indian Nagara style.
- The political dimension to this is the various military expeditions that the Hoysalas undertook, which led them to different regions from where they brought back masons, sculptors, architects who could visualise and actualise such temples.
- The temples are generally built on stellate (star-shaped) platforms, and have several structures inside the complex. The walls and pillars are covered in beautiful sculptures that, according to Shobhi, have “rich narrative and descriptive dimensions”.
- An interesting feature of Hoysala temples is that they are ‘signed’ — the sculptors, masons leave behind their names, and sometimes a few more details.
- Also, these Vaishnava and Shaivya shrines were built at the time Jainism was prominent in the region, and thus mark a turn towards Hinduism.