Hoysaleswara Temple, Halebidu
– The Temple
The
temple complex is facing towards the east. The
temple stands on a raised platform (jagati), a feature common to many
Hoysala temples. The platform provides ample space for the devotess to
circumbulate the temple. The
temple was built with chloritic schist, more commonly known as greenschist
or soapstone. The soapstone is soft when quarried and easier to carve into
intricate shapes but hardens over time when exposed to air.
The
temple is constructed in divikutachala style (two shrines and two
superstructures). The
temple has four entrances flanked by miniature shrines. The northern
entrance is the commonly used entrance as it is situated close to the parking
lot. There is one entry on the south side and two on the east side one for each
shrine. The southern entrance is guarded by six feet tall four-armed dvarapalas
on either side. The door lintel has a carving of Nataraja accompanied by Nandi,
dancers and musicians.
The south eastern entrance also
has six feet tall four-armed dvarapalas on either side. The door lintel
has a best-preserved carving of ten armed Nataraja accompanied by Narasimha,
Sarasvati, Brahma, Ganesha, Parvati, Bhairava, Indrani, Keshava and Surya. The
north eastern entrance doorway is damaged. The dvarapalas are missing but the
pedestals housed the dvarapalas can be seen. The carvings above the door lintel
are defaced.
The original dvarapalas of the
northern entrance are lost and two dvarapalas found on the ruins of the
surrounding region is kept there. The carvings above the door lintel is also
damaged and inferior in execution. The dvarapalas and the carvings at the
entrances suffered destruction during Islamic invasion. Both the shrines are of
same size and faces towards east. Both the shrines have a characteristic star
shaped ground plan and consists of sanctum, antrala, navaranga and nandi mandapa
respectively.
The navaranga of the both the
shrines are joined by a common verandah creating a spacious columned interior. The
navaranga was originally an open structure but it was closed with perforated
stone screens and the entrance doors were added during the reign of Hoysala
king Narasimha I as per an inscription found in the
temple. The navaranga has two small niches facing each other between the
two temples where they are joined at the transept. These have carvings and
artwork, but the statues inside each is missing.
There is a stone panel near the
western niche with a large Sanskrit inscription in a North Indian and a South
Indian script. The four central pillars of the navaranga and its ceiling of
each shrine are intricately carved. Each of the four pillars had four standing madanikas
(Salabhanjika) figures. There are totally 32 figures on the central pillars for
the two temples only 11 remains currently. Six remains in the northern shrine
and five remains in the southern shrine.
All the madanikas are in damaged
condition. The pillar near the second eastern door have two
damaged madanikas, but the better preserved are those in the central navaranga.
The shrine of Hoysaleswara (southern shrine) enshrines the Linga installed by the
King Vishnuvardhana and the shrine of Shantaleswara (northern shrine) enshrines
the Linga installed by the Queen Shantala Devi. Each shrine is square on plan.
Both the shrines faces towards east and with three niches on the north, west
and south.
The doorways of the antrala of
the shrines are guarded by dvarapalas on either side. There is an intricate
carving of Lord Shiva with Parvati accompanied by the celestial beings with two
large makaras above the lintel. Varuna with his consort Varuni are seen riding
the makaras. The doorjambs are decorated with purnaghatas (vessels of abundance).
The superstructure over the shrines are completely missing. The exterior walls
of the sanctum are plain.
The superstructure over
the vestibule which connects the shrine to the navaranga,
called sukanasi (a low tower that looks like an extension of the main
tower) is also missing. There are two shrines situated opposite to the two main
shrines enshrining its respective Nandis in seated posture. The Nandi shrines
also has miniature shrines at the entrances. There is a small Surya shrine
attached to the southern Nandi shrine. It enshrines a seven feet tall image of
Surya in its sanctum.
A set of nine moldings can be
seen at the base of the wall above the platform (jagati). The first horizontal
molding from the jagati contains procession of elephants, second contains yalis,
foliages on the third, horsemen on the fourth, again foliages on the fifth, depictions
from the Hindu epics and puranic scenes in the sixth, makara in the
seventh, friezes of swans in the eighth and again foliages in the ninth. There
are about 340 large intricately carved reliefs around the external walls of the
main shrine.
Notable among them are Uma Mahesvara,
Nataraja, Dakshinamurti, Bhairava, Govardana Giridhari, Gajasura Mardana,
Bhairavi, Durga, Mahishasura Mardini, Kali, Venugopala, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana,
Trivikrama, Harihara, Ganesha, Kartikeya, Brahma, Saraswathi, Indra, Surya,
Mohini, Nardana Vinayaka, Madanikas and other deities. There is a Garuda
Sthamba (Garuda Pillar) situated to the south of the main shrine in the
temple premises.
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The top portion of the pillar is
completely lost. There are eight male figures (Garudas) in the middle of the
pillar, four of whom are shown as using their swords to sacrifice themselves. One
of the martyr is shown seated in an anjali posture preparing for the sacrifice,
while others are shown in the process of the sacrifice. The images represent
the devotion of these to their leader and their determination to die with him.
Garudas were known to be the selected bodyguards of the kings and queens. They
used to live and move with the royalty with the sole aim to defend their
master.
They committed suicide at the
death of their master. The inscription on the pillar records that a general
Lakshmana, his wife and followers sacrificed themselves after the death of
Veera Ballala II. There is a
museum managed by the Archaeological Survey of India situated inside the
temple premises. It contains sculptures, architectural fragments,
inscriptional slabs and various temple artworks recovered from the site. There
are remains of a destroyed shrine can be seen on the south western side of the
temple.
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