The Hoysala architecture represents the climax of Southern India architecture and as the weekend arrived, we surrendered ourselves to the burning desire.
The plan was to travel to the Halebidu, the great Hoysala Capital, which houses the infamous marvels – Hoysaleshwara temple, Kedareshwar temple and the Ancient Shri 1008 Bhagwan Shanthinatha Digambar Jain temple.
We were heading towards west Bangalore, had about 230 kms to cover one-way. Unfortunately the drive turned out to be painful as we left around 12noon. It was awfully hot. I reckon in the summer months of India you should plan your journey before 7am.
I gassed the entire way with full throttle (definitely not a great tip!) and we managed to reach the site before 3:30pm, without any toilet breaks. Having only 2 hours to visit all the 3 temples in the vicinity, we worked upon an agile strategy – we were to survive entirely on tender coconut meat. And we got back to discovering the marvels.
Now these places are consecrated places. And consecrations are best places to receive Grace but for that one has to fully allow himself to accept it; so we made sure we’re free of any inhibitions during our stay.
.. And that led to the discovery of the most intricate inscription!
I dare you to fully comprehend it.
But First – A brief rundown of history.
Vishnuvardhana (1108-1141 A.D.) was the first great ruler of Dorasamudra, and was responsible for expanding much of the Hoysala kingdom. Along with later rulers (Ballala II and Narasimha), military triumphs established the Hoysalas as the most powerful dynasty in Southern India. The territories under their control encompassed most of Karnataka and substantial parts of the Tamil lands. The dynasty declined at the beginning of the 14th century A.D. as they succumbed to Delhi invaders from the north.
The ramparts of the Hoysala capital, now overgrown and crumbling, enclose the city at almost 4km across. The granite walls interspersed with gateways and square bastions. The ramparts at the eastern extent overlook Dorasamudra, a vast tank after which the capital was named. Several monuments reside inside the walled enclosure, including remains of a palace, yet to be excavated.
These marvels (all three temples) were built way back in the 12th century, i.e. about 900 years ago under the Hoysala Empire.
As you enter the premises, you’re greeted by two huge female deities at the entrance, laden with jewels and tassels, positioned either side of the doorways. The ornate design is a model illustration of the Hoysala Architecture.
The stone base makes it nearly impossible to stand on for more than a minute or so. You must keep moving in order to enjoy the flawless carvings and not burn your soles.
Marked by a huge 12 ft entrance, you’d notice that the pillars aren’t exactly the convenient ones that are built to hold something, it is an art in itself, having turned lathe into pillars.
The intricate grandeur and unparalleled majesty of this ancient marvel surpasses the mundaneness of adjectives. Breathtaking!
The outer walls, the inner walls, the pillars and the ceiling of the temple are intricately carved with theological iconography of the events in Hinduism, displaying extensive friezes of ancient history (now symbolized as mythology) such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagvata Purana.
This era of civilized Indian history teaches us that the humans back then were primitive, technologically backwards, had only a handful of tools for their mastery over sculptures, but once you mull over the structures, pillars in this temple, you’ll be flabbergasted at the very precision of the circular discs on the pillar, the symmetrical life-size sculptures, the beyond perfect schematic patterns, the polished surface that still shines on after 100 decades, to name a few.
We spent about an hour and half at the main temple, soaking in the myths, legends, legacies and the glorious past of our ancestors. We tried to enjoy every corner of the temple, following the trails of stories on the ceiling, on the exterior walls and taking in the fragrance of the burning oil meant to exude divine energy forces. We peeped in every nook and corner of the temple, trying to dig up more interesting postures and significance and it didn’t disappoint. A monolith of Bahubali which was earlier present inside this temple, is now displayed outside Halebidu museum.
As per history, Bahubali was the son of Rishabhanatha, the first Tirthankara of Jainism, and the younger brother of Bharata Chakravartin. After he won a duel with his half brother for control of the kingdom, he is believed by the Jains to have realized the transience of temporal affairs and renounced the world. He then stood immobile, with feet straight ahead and arms at his side, meditating for an entire year in the Yogic position of kayotsarga i.e. dismissing the body. He was so unmindful of the world around him that vines grew undisturbed up his arms and legs and anthills rose around his feet. His meditation led him to true victory over human passion and as per the beliefs of the Digambara sect of Jainism, enabled him to become the first human of this kalpa or world age to gain liberation. He is said to have attained omniscience or Kevala Gyana.
The ceilings are domical and intricately decorated. The decorations include multi-petalled lotuses at different stages of opening. And quite interestingly, it resembles the cymatic patterns with very distinct geometrical forms.
The one fascinating aspect that we have noticed, in general, is that Lord Shiva, is worshipped in every corner of the Indian territory. Unlike other deities who take on different forms, depending on which part of the country you are in, Shiva is worshipped in its one form and shape – The Linga and the synonymous symbol of destruction. Let us take a moment to soak in the beauty of Shiva.
As the minutes scuttled randomly over our overwhelming experience, we hastened with our next steps. Next on map were the 2 other temples – Kedareshwar temple and Shri 1008 Bhagwan shanthinatha Digambar Jain Temple.
The Kedareshwar temple, just about a kilometer behind Hoysaleshwar. And we were shocked to find it absolutely deserted. It was stationed by the massive man-made Dwarasmaudra Lake, which has now completely dried up, shooting the temperatures up by a few notches.
The Kedareshwar temple also holds a sacred linga in the middle, however, with the doors locked, we couldn’t take a view inside. What surprisingly seemed to be missing was the Nandi Bull, which we later came to know, had disintegrated over the years.
Narrative historical friezes depicting episodes from the live events of Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas are found on the base as well as the plinths of the temple.
Great skill has been manifested in the carvings. Both the temples until now have their plinths carved with images of the principal trio – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva in unique styles, at times with their consorts.
After a quick video round of this we headed to the last temple – the Jain temple.
It hosts 3 nearly 18ft tall statues of three Tirthankaras – Parshvanatha, Shantinatha and Adinatha.
The ParshvanathaBasadi was built by Boppadeva in 1133 A.D. during the reign of King Vishnuvardhana. Boppadeva was the son of the notable Gangaraja, a minister under Hoysala King Vishnuvardhana. The construction of the temple coincided with the victory of Narasimha I as the royal heir to the throne. The deity therefore is called Vijaya Parsvanatha, Victorious Parsvanatha.
The ShantinathaBasadi was built around 1192 A.D., during the reign of Veera Ballala II. The Adinatha Basadi is the smallest of the Jain basadis also built in 12th century.
Here’s a sample of the script used in the carvings – Old Kannada.
So we now come back to our initial challenge. We will go through the best of the best and a little more creepy than usual. One by one. Oh and I’m saving the best for the last.
Kinnaras are horse-necked beings as mentioned by the Puranas. Whereas, Mahabharata mentions them as half man and half horse much like the Centaur of the Greek mythology. On the other hand, Gandharvas are male nature spirits usually with the head of a horse or a bird.
And now for the most thought-out carving challenge! Can you take a guess what this is?
Let me take a guess – The Chakra Vyuha or Padma Vyuha in the epic Mahabharata?
For those who don’t know, the Chakra Vyuh is arguably the most deadly and the best known of the battle formation or grid structures – was centered around a virtually impenetrable grid that only a few knew how to escape. As carved above, there are 5 circles of alternate clockwise and anticlockwise rotating soldiers that moves so fast that the enemy is completely lost and totally deceived into thinking that the formation is in few numbers as the actual strength of the inner rings cannot be estimated from outside the formation.
The arrangement and the movement of soldiers is controlled by the drum beats which informs the soldiers to make the move uniformly in a particular direction.
If any soldier in the formation gets killed, his position is covered up by the sliding motion of the soldiers following him till the space left by him is completely accommodated. This technique ensured that the maze existed at all times with soldiers distributed uniformly.
As far as the epic goes, the thirteenth day of Mahabharata war is remembered for the construction of Chakra Vyuha by Dronacharya. Drona chalked out a plan to trap Yudhisthira, the main lead of the Pandavas and hence win the war at one sweep.
Drona knew that Arjun and Krishna had the skill of penetration and exit through Chakra Vyuha, so both of them were purposefully drawn in to a separate battle with the Samsaptakas.
As planned Yudhisthira had no other option of himself accepting the challenge. And to his aid came young Abhimanyu. Being a kshatriya, fulfilling his Dharma of protecting his King is must. And he dies in the process as he only had half the information of this war strategy.
My point being, the epic Mahabharata was as REAL as it gets. Otherwise you would not simply carve a war situation so precisely, with primitive tools. If anyone thinks differently, feel free to comment and share your suggestion.
We leave you here to enjoy with a few images but only once you visit this piece of Indian architecture, you’ll truly call it an experience.
Thank you all for reading.
