In the ancient city of Somanathapura, near Mysore, in the state of Karnataka on the banks of the river Kaveri, stands the magnificent Chennakesava Temple. It was built in 1258 AD by Somanatha Dandanayaka, a general of the Hoysala King Narasimha III. Chennakesava (lit. "Handsome Kesava") Temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu.
The Somanathapura Temple is one of the best specimen of Hoysala Temple architecture. It is a Trikuta, that is, three shrine temple. Each shrine has its own Vimana(Temple tower). The porch has lathe turned pillars, decoratively sculpted. The three shrines with the Vimanas are in perfect symmetry. The temple complex is enclosed in a courtyard with a pillared corridor of small shrines. There are in total 64 shrines that once featured various deities and rooms for pilgrims.
The main temple in the center is on a high star-shaped platform - the jagati or the world platform with three symmetrical sanctums (garbha griha), set in a square matrix oriented along the east-west and north-south axes. The western sanctum is dedicated to Kesava, the northern sanctum to Janardhana and the southern sanctum to Venugopala, all forms of Lord Vishnu. The sanctums share a common community hall (sabha mandapa) with many pillars. Above each of these sanctums rise the 16 pointed star shaped North Indian style tower called Vimana or Shikara.
The raised jagati platform circles around the main temple with a broad walking space. It is the pradakshina patha (circumambulation path), and is supposed to be walked in a clockwise manner in order to pictorially read the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagavata Purana legends in the correct sequence. The entire outer wall of the temple is decorated with exquisitely carved parallel horizontal bands of artwork. It has three major section, the basement band, the wall band and the top band.
The lowest band in the basement section is about 6 inches tall and shows a row of elephants mostly marching to the left in the clockwise direction. The band above the elephants is of horses with armed riders, depicting a military march. In some spots, camels substitute for horses suggesting that the Hoysala had adopted camels into their army. The band above the horsemen friezes is a scroll of nature. It shows flowers, fruits, occasionally some peacocks and wildlife. The band above it is the mythology frieze. It is about 7 inches tall, around 2.5 feet above the platform, and it depicts the legends and spiritual stories found in the Hindu texts such as the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata Purana. The inner walls, the pillars and the ceiling of the temple too are intricately carved with theological iconography of Hinduism.
All three Shikharas are of same height. Their plan uses lotus with an oblong projection, four sets of ornamental turrets, rhythmically reducing in height and are capped by a stone kalasa. The carvings on the tower include dancers, gandharvas, yakshas, kirtimukhas, lion faces and mythical animals such as makaras. The top of each tower is shaped as an inverted blooming lotus flower. The original tower tops each had a large stone kalasa.
South shrine
The south shrine entrance has two dvarapalas: Bhadra and Subhadra. The lintel above the entrance shows Venugopala. A 13th century Lakshminarayana carving is shown seated in the Sukhasana yoga pose, with him are chakra, conch, lotus and a gada (mace). The image of Krishna in the sanctum is 4.5 feet high. He wears ear rings, necklaces, armlets, bracelets, finger rings, toe rings, anklets, girdle and jewelled diadem.
North shrine
The north shrine entrance too has two dvarapalas. The lintel above the entrance shows Janardana while the canopy again shows Lakshminarayana. Past the Sukhanasi, the lintel shows a seated Lakshmi. The garbha griya has a 6 feet high statue, wherein the Garuda pedestal is 1.5 feet, and the image of Janardhana is 4.5 feet high. He wears jewelry, and on the fringe of his image's torana are again carved the ten avatars of Vishnu.
West shrine
The west shrine entrance is similar to the southern sanctum in size and included features. The lintel above the entrance shows a standing Kesava while the canopy shows Gajalakshmi. Past the Sukhanasi, the lintel shows a Vaikuntha Narayana seated on Ananta Shesha and the canopy shows a Vishnu in Sukhasana yoga posture. The garbha griha has a Garuda pedestal that is 1.5 feet tall but the image is missing.
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