Hoysala Art: Developed in the southern region of Karnataka!

Hoysala Art: Developed in the southern region of Karnataka!

The Hoysala style (AD 1050-1300) developed in the southern region of Karnataka.

Hoysala art may be said to have its starting point in the temples of the early Chalukyas at Aihole, Badami and Pattadakal, but when it finally developed in the Mysore region, it manifested a distinctly individual approach which has been called the Hoysala Style.

One of the principal features of the style at its maturity related to the plan and general arrangement of architecture.

An important monument is the Kesava temple at Belur (in Hassan district). Erected on the orders of Vishnuvardhana to commemorate his victory over the Cholas at Talakad, the deity of the temple—in fact, Vishnu in his Kesava form—was named Vijaya Narayana. The central building of the temple consists of the usual compartments, the inner chamber, attached to a vestibule which connects with a central hall preceded by an open pillared pavilion.

But it is in the actual architectural planning that the Hoysala temples—the Kesava temple and the temples at Halebid, Somnathpur and elsewhere—are different from others. Instead of consisting of a simple inner chamber with its pillared hall, there are multiple shrines grouped around a central pillared hall and laid out in the shape of an intricately-designed star.

In a large number of cases, the structure is formed of double temples, having most of their essential parts in duplicate and quite often they are triple, quadruple and even quintuple in plan.

The upward progress of the shikhara over each inner chamber is radically modified by an arrangement of horizontal lines and moldings which resolve the tower into an orderly succession of tiers, diminishing them as they rise to terminate at the apex. In fact, a characteristic feature of the Hoysala temple is the comparative dwarfishness of the whole structure.

Yet the Kesava temple at Belur erected in AD 1117, even without its super-structure (as it stands today), reveals a conception of exquisite beauty. Some of the most acclaimed sculptures of the temple are the bracket figures, called madanakais in the Kannada language of the region, which are placed beneath the overhanging roof of the mandapa. The interior of the temple is as rich and ornate as the exterior.

Each pillar of the mandapa is finely carved, some with figures and other elements, others simply in round patterns. The entrance to the temple area is flanked by a pair of large Vaishnavite dwarapalas and is decorated with an elaborate lintel.

At Halebid (ancient Dwarasamudra), the Hoysala capital, the most prominent structure is the Hoysaleswara temple dedicated to Shiva, another monument of ornate style. Believed to have been begun around AD 1121, it was completed only around AD 1160, by the architect of Vishnuvardhana’s son and successor Narashimha I. It consists of two virtually identical but separate temples on a large single platform, connected at the inner arms of their transepts.

Temples built by Narasimha III include the famed Kesava temple (called also Somnatha) at Somnathpur, a Vaishnavite monument of the ornate style.

Apart from the architectural plan, the Hoysala style attained a few more distinguishing characteristics. Sandstone was given up in favour of the more tractable chloritic schist.

The pillars take a special shape owing to the practice of the masons of fashioning the monolithic blocks by turning them on a large lathe. Above all, the temples are decorated with an increasing wealth of sculptured ornamentation.