Harihareshwara Temple, Harihar – The Temple

Harihareshwara Temple, Harihar – The Temple

The temple is facing towards east with a mahadvara on the east. The mahadvara was originally constructed with five storeys. However, all its storeys are gone at present. There are entrance gateways on the north and south side of the temple complex. There are two deepa sthambas (lamp post) inside the temple. Each has Nandi and Garuda in sitting posture facing towards the sanctum. The temple consists of sanctum, vestibule, navaranga with three entrances and mukha mandapa.

The mukha mandapa is an open pillared mandapa and square in plan. It has five entrances, two each on north & south and one on the east. The roof of this mandapa is supported by 56 lathe turned pillars. Its central ceiling once had an image of Harihara surrounded by ashta dikpalas, but all are missing now. The ceiling of the mandapa is adorned with geometric patterns and floral patterns. The parapet wall runs around the mukha mandapa and has seating arrangement on the back side of the parapet wall.

The half pillars resting on the parapet wall supports the outer ends of the roof. The exterior of the parapet wall is well decorated than the exterior walls of the sanctum. It has decorative friezes, from bottom to top, creeper scroll with flying figures, elephants with horses with riders and in between camels, gods placed between pilasters topped with nagara shikhara, dancers and musicians separated with pilasters with rearing lions are corners and finally a narrow creeper scroll frieze at the top.

The last decorative band, of dancers and musician, is in form of a slanting backrest bench like arrangement. The navaranga has entrance porches on the northern and southern side. The doorjambs of the navaranga is profusely decorated. Gajalakshmi can be seen on the lintel of the doorway. The five turrets crown the carving of Gajalakshmi. The roof of the navaranga is supported by four pillars.

The central ceiling has the carvings of ashta dikpalas, however its central image of Harihara is now placed in a nearby shrine of Sanna Harihareshwara to the north-west of the main shrine. There are two niches without any idol in the western wall of the navaranga. There is a small shrine for Kalabhairava can be seen to the north of the northern porch. The original image of this shrine is missing.

The doorway of the antrala is provided with dvarapalas on either side, accompanied with Shiva on right and Keshava on left. It has perforated screens on either side. The doorway of the sanctum is simple and devoid of any decoration. The lintel is also left unfinished. The sanctum enshrines a 6 foot tall image of Harihara, a fusion of the Hindu Gods Vishnu and Shiva.

This idol is believed to be a Swayambhu Moorthy (self-manifested). The left side represent Vishnu with Chakra & Sanka and right side represent Shiva with Trisul. He wears a combined jata and krita makuta. The feet and anklet of the image are hidden behind a pedestal and are perhaps damaged. The head and body above the knees belonged to the original image. It shows signs of erosion due to the water.

It is said that the image was thrown into water during Muslim attacks. It was finally restored during the Maratha rule when it was mounted on an old pedestal hiding the body below the knees as the original parts were not found. The original tower over the shrine (Vimana) is missing and has been replaced in modern times with one of brick and mortar.

The external walls of the sanctum have niches on north and south-west, however these niches are empty at present. There is a shrine for Goddess Lakshmi to the north side of the main shrine. This shrine consists of sanctum and mukha mandapa. The mandapa is square in plan. The parapet wall runs around the mukha mandapa and has seating arrangement on the back side of the parapet wall.

The half pillars resting on the parapet wall supports the outer ends of the roof. The central ceiling is supported by four pillars. The sanctum enshrines an image of Mahishasura Mardini currently. The original image of Lakshmi has been lost.  There is a shrine dedicated to Goddess Parvathi  inside the temple complex. There are several inscriptions dated to 12^th and 13^th century CE and hero stones in this temple.