My sister and I have been exploring some of the lesser known
Hoysala temples whenever possible. This time we picked four temples based on
the distance from Bangalore and between each other to cover these in a day. Hoysala Empire reigned from the 11th to
the 14th Centuries largely in the present day Karnataka,
India and built more than 1500 temples all across their empire. Out of which
only a little over 100 survive today and
handful of them are well known tourist destination.
On Dec 5th 2019 hired a local taxi (Etios car) for a
day and started our journey at 6:45 AM to Nuggehalli/Nuggenahalli (about 135 KM
from Bangalore via Mangalore NH 75 to Chennaraypatna-Tiptur route). This is an ancient town and apparently people
from here were the first ones to lead during wars/attacks and hence called “Nugge/kannada
word for pushing forward halli/village”. We had breakfast at Swathi restaurant on the highway
– A decent pit stop. Roads are good but the route after Chennaraypatna was very
dry due to drought this year. We did not
realize till we got here that it was a highly contested election day here, we
had to go through police check posts as we entered the town and town was sort
of dead with shutters down. We reached our
first destination by 9:45 AM.
Inside the compound |
Lakshmi Narasimha
temple, Nuggehalli: Once we reached,
we were unsure if this was the right temple. From outside it didn't look anything like the picture on the net.
Once we went inside the compound, only expression that came out was WOW!!!
This 1246 CE temple built by Bommanna
Dandanayaka, a commander in the Hoysala Empire during the rule of King Vira
Someshwara, is in a
typical 13th Century Hoysala Architecture.
Temple is constructed
in trikutachala/three sanctums and is on a jagati/pedestal, material is
soapstone with intricate carvings on the walls.
outside the compound |
Lovely sun rays |
The friezes are from the Bhagavatha.
There are about 120 panels with Hindu God and Goddess sculptures. There are
horizontal sections below with carvings of elephant processions, horses, foliage,
scenes from the Hindu epics and beasts.
The marvelous work of sculptors Baichoja and Mallitamma here are awe
inspiring. There is an inscription in Halegannada/old Kannada script.
Sculpture |
Sculpture |
I read somewhere after we retuned that, due to neglect of these grand edifices by the Government/
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), people having a lineage to Nuggehalli
came together more than 40 yrs ago to form a society under the name Nuggehalli Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Seva
Samithi for the upkeep of the temples & to ensure the day to
day pooja’s are performed to the almighty as per the shastras/tradition”
Govindanahalli route |
From here we proceeded to Govindanahalli about 40 KM on
Chennaraypatna road towards Arasikere. The landscape changed, it was green all
over with coconut trees and Sugar cane. A
decent single lane road till the last 5 KM stretch!
Panchalingeshwara temple, Govindanahalli: As we entered the gate, was pleased to see the temple yard maintained (under archaeology Dept.). This temple was built around 1238 CE, during King Vira Someshwara period. The sculptor credited for this exquisite complex is Ruvari Mallitamma. Temple is built directly on the ground without pedestal.
We had to wait for the guide cum watchman to come as he had
gone to vote. Surprised to see few army
commandos who had come to visit this temple.
Chatting with them we found they are out-of-towners who had come for
election security duty and thought of visiting this place. They assumed we are NRI and were asking why we chose to come here as it is not
famous 😃. By now guard came and gave us a tour of the
temple complex. This is a unique temple with Panchakuta- 5
gopura/towers with 5 shrines and inner sanctum of all 5 facing east. Understand this style is uncommon in Hoysala architecture. There are two sukhanasi (tower over the
vestibule) entrances to the temple and each of these has a beautifully carved Nandi.
The Dwarapalakas at the entrance reminds of Halebeedu but smaller in scale. Inner sanctum has elaborate pillars. Here Shiva is in the form of linga and across from each linga is a Nandi. All 5 lingas are different in size and is similar to our fingers height difference. There are Parvathi, Subramanya and Ganesha idols here as well.
The Dwarapalakas at the entrance reminds of Halebeedu but smaller in scale. Inner sanctum has elaborate pillars. Here Shiva is in the form of linga and across from each linga is a Nandi. All 5 lingas are different in size and is similar to our fingers height difference. There are Parvathi, Subramanya and Ganesha idols here as well.
jali work |
One of the linga |
Gopuram |
By now it was noon, we proceeded towards Kikkeri about 5 KM
from here on Arsikere road for our 3rd destination.
Brahmeshwara temple, Kikkeri : Perfect location on the banks of a huge lake. As per its foundation inscription, this temple was built by Bammavve-nayakiti, the wife of Samanta Baramayya, in 1171 CE during the reign of the Hoysala King Narasimhadeva. This temple is at the ground level without pedestal. The temple is dedicated to Shiva with Brahma on the doorway and hence the name. This is a trikutachala temple facing east.
Rope carving |
Jaya-Vijaya and Vijaya |
From here we proceeded to our final destination Hosaholalu –
16 KM from Kekkeri towards south on Arsekeri road to Chennaraypatna. It is 2 KM
from K R Pete.
Lakshminarayana
temple, Hosaholalu : Good to see
huge open area all around this majestic temple which is on a jagati/platform. This temple
was also built iby Hoysala king Vira Someshwara in 1250 CE. There is a structural
addition to the main entrance built during the Vijayanagara times and one can
easily identify the structure which is similar to Dravidian style of
construction. The Garudagamba is missing.
carvings |
Carvings of Bhagavatha, Ramayana & Mahabharatha in great details on the railings and the beautiful images of Vishnu, Lakshmi, Parvathi, Shiva, Brahma, Ganapathi, etc., can be seen. There is even an awesome carving of Samudhra Manthana. Time to wait for the priest – got some entertainment from the kids playing on this temple steps. Finally he showed up and opened the door.
Ceiling wo |
There are magnificent and stunning pillars. The first four pillars are star shaped and the remaining four pillars in the Navaranga are bell shaped with extraordinary carvings on them. The ceiling work has splendid workmanship of geometric designs and bearings.
As you enter, there is a Ganesha idol between the Venugopala and Lakshmi Narayana, the intent of this is to look at Ganesha first and then proceed. As per the priest, the original Venugopala is not here, a new one was sculpted in 1950’s.
The Lakshmi Narayana idol is very beautiful and the Dashavathara is sculpted on the Prabhavali. Garbagruha/inner sanctum has carved embroidery work. On the way to the Lakshmi Narasimha idol there is a Parvathi idol in the form of Mahishasura Mardini. Beautifully carved Lakshmi Narasimha idol with Lakshmi seated on the left thigh.
A distinct work here is of Anajeneya drinking Coconut water
on a pillar. This carving is so small and it can be covered with a thumb. It is
just amazing!
It was 2:00 PM now.
Our taxi driver said there is a decent place in K R Pete town center for
lunch. It was fine and was only Rs 60. At 2:40 PM we left – had a coffee
break at Swathi restaurant and more importantly a much needed pit stop (From morning till
now there was no pit stop - A huge issue
while traveling to these places). Reached home by 6:00 PM after a wondrous
11:00 hrs/450 KM trip at a total cost of Rs 6,000.
carving above the garbagruha |
We have to thank Late C K Nagaraja Rao for his extensive research on Hoysala empire. His books “Pattamahadevi Shantaladevi", "Veeraganga Vishnuvardhana" and "Dayada Daavanala” have inspired us to visit lesser known Hoysala temples. Viji has created the list of temples we must visit from these books.
How can I end my writing without my two cents closing
statement? Anyone who has visited any of the Hoysala temples will agree that these
sacred ensembles of the Hoysala represent the pinnacle of artistic and
cultural accomplishments. It is unfortunate that we are yet to act on
preserving some of these surviving Hoysala temples. I remember my extended stay in Peru –
initially one sees only the prominent places of their heritage that are well managed, as you travel
deeper, you see the same apathy with houses and colonies built on ruins and artifacts stolen. Wonder if other older civilizations are also like this?