Kalai "N" Koyil
Belur,Chenna Keshava Temple- Karnataka.Explore #194 08.10.2015
The Heroic Hoysalas :
The Hoysalas dynasty reigned from 11th to 14th century, over the area between the rivers Kaveri and Tungabhadra, which covers most of the modern day Karnataka and some parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Their origin is shrouded in various myths and legends and inscriptions dating back to 1078 and 1090 indicate that the Hoysalas trace their origins to Yadavas in north india,but there are no proper records to substantiate the claim.
Hoysala Art and Architecture :
Hoysalas were great patrons of art and architecture. The reign of Vishnuvardhana, Narasimha I and Veera Ballala II marked the epitome of temple art and architecture in Karnataka. Shantladevi, the beautiful queen of Vishnvuvardhana, encouraged dancers,musicians,painters and sculptors.The best known examples of the surviving Hoysala temples are - the Chenna Keshava temple at belur,the Hoysalaleswara temple at Halebeedu and Kesava temple at Somnathupur.
Temples in those days were not only meant for worship or religious activities. They also played important roles of courst for providing justice, treasure house,imparting ethical education and encouraging various art forms like literature,music and dance.The state of karnataka is regarded as the 'Cradle' of Indian temple architecture.
General Architecture Style of Hoysala :
Various dynasties like Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas,Hoysalas and Vijayanagar empire contributed significantly towards the development of major temple styles. The Chalukyas of Kalyani evolved a cruciform plan of the temple and Hoysalas further developed it into stellate or star plan. Other distinct variation in Hoysala temples is presence of more than one cell, each with antarla or sukhnasi (Vestibule) connected to a common navaranga (Pillared hall), mostly with three mukhamandapas (entrance porches) as compared with earlier southern temples that had a single garbhagriha attached to a navaranga through a sukhanasi. The Jagati (elevated platform ) on which the temple stands follows the stellate shape of the temple, unlike the northern temples, where the Jagati is a rectangular or square shaped platform, irrespective of the contours of the superstructure built upon it.The provision of Jagati in Hoysala temple served as a open circumambulatory (Pradakshinapatha) passage for the ritual of circumambulation around the temple for the devotees, as the inner garbhagriha (Sanctum sanctorum) is devoid of such feature and the open space could also be used to admire the great work of the sculptors on the outer walls. The star or stellate plan of the Hoysala temples increased the number of offsets,providing more space for sculptural decoration on the walls and a plan which accentuated the play of light and shade.Th high plinth (adhisthana) embellished with highly organised horizontal bands off friezes in one plane, makes the temple look like an orantely carved "Jewel box".Another noteworthy feature of Hoysala temple its sikhara or vimanam (tower), built in VESARA STYLE , which blends the Dravidian (south) and Nagara (north) styles. The stepped sikhara also known as Kadamba sikhara are low as compared to other styles of temple architecture and the stellate plans extends to the tower through the eave from the Sukhasana or richly carved horizontally treated outer walls.
Belur,Chenna Keshava Temple- Karnataka.Explore #194 08.10.2015
The Heroic Hoysalas :
The Hoysalas dynasty reigned from 11th to 14th century, over the area between the rivers Kaveri and Tungabhadra, which covers most of the modern day Karnataka and some parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Their origin is shrouded in various myths and legends and inscriptions dating back to 1078 and 1090 indicate that the Hoysalas trace their origins to Yadavas in north india,but there are no proper records to substantiate the claim.
Hoysala Art and Architecture :
Hoysalas were great patrons of art and architecture. The reign of Vishnuvardhana, Narasimha I and Veera Ballala II marked the epitome of temple art and architecture in Karnataka. Shantladevi, the beautiful queen of Vishnvuvardhana, encouraged dancers,musicians,painters and sculptors.The best known examples of the surviving Hoysala temples are - the Chenna Keshava temple at belur,the Hoysalaleswara temple at Halebeedu and Kesava temple at Somnathupur.
Temples in those days were not only meant for worship or religious activities. They also played important roles of courst for providing justice, treasure house,imparting ethical education and encouraging various art forms like literature,music and dance.The state of karnataka is regarded as the 'Cradle' of Indian temple architecture.
General Architecture Style of Hoysala :
Various dynasties like Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas,Hoysalas and Vijayanagar empire contributed significantly towards the development of major temple styles. The Chalukyas of Kalyani evolved a cruciform plan of the temple and Hoysalas further developed it into stellate or star plan. Other distinct variation in Hoysala temples is presence of more than one cell, each with antarla or sukhnasi (Vestibule) connected to a common navaranga (Pillared hall), mostly with three mukhamandapas (entrance porches) as compared with earlier southern temples that had a single garbhagriha attached to a navaranga through a sukhanasi. The Jagati (elevated platform ) on which the temple stands follows the stellate shape of the temple, unlike the northern temples, where the Jagati is a rectangular or square shaped platform, irrespective of the contours of the superstructure built upon it.The provision of Jagati in Hoysala temple served as a open circumambulatory (Pradakshinapatha) passage for the ritual of circumambulation around the temple for the devotees, as the inner garbhagriha (Sanctum sanctorum) is devoid of such feature and the open space could also be used to admire the great work of the sculptors on the outer walls. The star or stellate plan of the Hoysala temples increased the number of offsets,providing more space for sculptural decoration on the walls and a plan which accentuated the play of light and shade.Th high plinth (adhisthana) embellished with highly organised horizontal bands off friezes in one plane, makes the temple look like an orantely carved "Jewel box".Another noteworthy feature of Hoysala temple its sikhara or vimanam (tower), built in VESARA STYLE , which blends the Dravidian (south) and Nagara (north) styles. The stepped sikhara also known as Kadamba sikhara are low as compared to other styles of temple architecture and the stellate plans extends to the tower through the eave from the Sukhasana or richly carved horizontally treated outer walls.