In the ancient town of Belur, also known as Velapura, an early Hoysala Empire capital, in the Hassan district of Karnataka, stands the magnificent Chennakesava temple. It was commissioned by Hoysala Emperor Vishnuvardhana in 1117 AD and took almost 100 years to complete. The grandiose structure mesmerises with its amazing sculptures and intricate artistic galore.
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| Chennakesava Temple front view |
Chenna means beautiful while Kesava refers to Lord Vishnu. The temple is dedicated to Vishnu and has been an active Hindu temple since its founding. It is reverentially described in medieval Hindu texts, and remains an important pilgrimage site in Vaishnavism. The entire facade of the temple is carved, no space has been left blank. Chennakeshava temple is a testimony to the artistic, cultural and theological perspectives in 12th century South India and the Hoysala Empire rule.
The building material used in the Chennakesava temple is chloritic schist, more commonly known as soapstone. It is soft when quarried and allows artists to more easily carve details. Over time the material hardens. The compound is entered from the east through a Gopuram added later during the repairs of the Vijayanagar empire era. Right in the middle of the temple courtyard, there is a huge 42m high pillar or lamp post mounted on a star-shaped platform. The pillar stands on its own! It does not have a foundation below it and since, it stands erect on its own weight, it is called as the gravity pillar. The star-shaped platform on which is stands, is a typical design of the Hoysala dynasty. The entire Chennakesava temple is build in a star-shaped design.
Along the outer walls of the main temple, there are rows of sculptures of various animals, scenes of Mahabharata and Ramayana and dancing damsels. Each carving is perfect and has a certain symbolism. The elephants at the base reflect strength, while the lions above them were a symbol of courage. Right above them you will see rows of horses, which stood for speed. There are around 600 plus elephants carved along the outer wall itself. Near the entrances and around the temple walls, there are several miniature shrines. It is said that these served as prototypes for the actual shrines to be built. The miniatures themselves are so intricately carved, that they do not look as model but actual mini temples. Right above the various entrances of the temple are beautiful ornate horizontal pieces of art. Each entrance has a different one.
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| Animal Carvings on the walls |
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| Hoysala Emblem |
The picture above is a symbol or crest of Hoysala. Hoy means strike while Sala refers to the name of a forefather of this dynasty who saved a saint from a lion by striking him dead.
At regular intervals at the temple, you will notice several dancing nymphs carved onto brackets on the wall. The madanikas or nymphs are said to have been modeled after the beautiful Queen Shantala, wife of King Vishnuvardhana. There were originally 40 madanakai, of which 38 have survived in damaged or good form. Two of these are Durga, three huntresses (with bow), others are dancers in Natya Shastra abhinaya mudra (acting posture), musicians, women dressing or doing make up, a woman with a pet parrot etc. Some of the statues present exceptional details. For example, one madanakai figure is shown with a fruit tree canopy, where a small fly is shown sitting on the fruit and nearby a lizard is preparing to pounce on the fly. In another, an eagle is shown attacking a sarabha, which in turn is attacking a lion, which in turn is pouncing on an elephant, which itself is seizing a snake, which in turn is shown in the act of swallowing a rat – a sight that includes a pondering sage
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| Madanika holding a mirror |
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| Madanika with a parrot |
Once you enter the temple, the one thing that will amaze you are the numerous pillars of various designs. The navaranga hall has forty eight pillars. All except the central four are carved in a unique way. The central four are later additions, added in 1381 CE during the Vijayanagara Empire era, to support the internal structure of a damaged temple. Despite the fact that there is little light within the temple, these pillars actually glisten as if they were made of metal. A point to note here is that the entire temple is made using “soap stone” and not metal. Most popular and intrinsic in terms of art, is the Narasimha Pillar. Easily identifiable with the red vermilion marks made by the devotees, this pillar is covered with miniature figures all over. It is said that the pillar has ball bearings on the top and could be rotated in its hey-days. The other remarkable pillar is the Mohini pillar. Other than the female avatar of Vishnu, the pillar has eight bands of carvings, including those of Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, then ten avatars of Vishnu, the eight direction deities, mythical animals with the body of a lion but the face of other wildlife. The four central pillars are notable for having been hand carved while the others were lathe turned.
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| Narasimha Pillar |
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| Vishnu as "Mohini" |
The mandapa leads to the garbha griya past the pillars and a doorway. The door is flanked by dvarapala, Jaya and Vijaya. Its pediment has Lakshminarayana in center. Below it are musicians playing 12th-century musical instruments. On the side are two makaras with Varuna and Varuni together riding on them. Inside the square sanctum is the image of Keshava, or as inscriptions call it "Vijayanarayana". It stands on a 3 feet high pedestal, is about 6 feet high with a halo.
It has four hands, with chakra and shankha in the upper hands and a gada and lotus in his lower hands. The halo has cyclical carving of the ten avatars of Vishnu – Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parasurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki.
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| Entrance to the garbhagriha |
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| Sculpture of one of the dvarapala |
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