Musafir

The detail in which the sculptures of those days are carved is no longer found today. Sculptures that we see in temples like Swamynarayan may be beautiful in their designs; However, they are created with machines and cannot even be compared with the great detail of thought and effort that was put in those days. One small example is the Mahishasura Mardhini sculpture which shows Lord Parvathi in the form of Durga slaying the demon Mahishasura (in the form of a wild Buffalo). If you keenly observe, you can see that the tongue of the buffalo is sticking out and the expression on its face clearly shows that its dead. You can identify it with the bent head and the position of Goddess Durga’s leg. One more minute detail which is an example work of the great artisans are the skin folds on the buffalo’s neck. These details actually make these sculptures immortal. You can find many examples like this in the Hoysaleswara Temple. There is a statue called Nada Bramha which is a statue of a musician playing a drum. He wears a crown. Needless to say, the sculpture is monolithic. It is so delicately carved that you can see the small gaps in the crown as a design. Even a small ounce of carelessness would have totally ruined the sculpture and this their commitment to this level of detail has to be saluted.

Now lets see the fifth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the Vamana. Two different statues tell this story. The first is the dwarf man vamana asking for alms and the demon king Bali offering. Even though in original mythology, this whole thing was a dialogue, it is shown here that the King Bali offers water as a symbolic gesture for alms. The second statue shows the vamana taking the form of Trivikrama. The image on the right shows Trivikrama, with one step covering entire earth and covers the entire sky with his second leg. When he looks for a third step, the demon King Bali offers his head and Vishnu presses him down to the Patala. One the top left of the image, Bramha is shown washing the feet of Trivikrama and the water flowing over to the earth as the river Ganga. See the imagination of the artist. Fishes and tortoises are carved on the flowing pattern to depict it as a river. Vishnu’s carrier Garuda is shown with folded hands in front.

There is the statue of the Sun God with his two wives Sandhya (Sunset) and Chaya (Shadow). The statue of Chennakesava the main deity of the temple at Belur is carved at multiple places here even though this temple is primarily a Saiva one. It is said that these small statues looks exactly like the 9 feet one in Belur. In fact many of the statues like incarnations of Lord Vishnu and the various forms of Durga are repeated here with the immense size of the temple. There is also this large panel depicting the story Parijatapaharanam.. The background of the story is Krishna saving the Indraloka from a disaster and asking for the Parijatha (Lotus) Tree  in favour, Indra not conceding to the request and this angering Krishna and taking away the tree by force which ends in a fight between them. The artist’s imagination puts Krishna in the form of Lord Vishnu on his carrier Garuda along with Satyabhama, his wife. Indra comes on his carrier, the Iravatha (Elephant) with his wife Sachi Devi. Indra is shown holding his weapon the Vajrayudha and the elephant in a battle position ready to pounce. Many stories like this are depicted in the numerous panels and in the friezes of this temple.

Apart from the mythological forms, images of people and their various professions where also carved. In a particular one, you can find the sculpture of a person with a trouser like clothing and a wig. That was the clothing that was worn by the Dharmadhikari (the designation of the person who took care of the law and order during the Hoysala rule). These kind of sculptures found in many other temples across South India and they give a nice idea of the rule and the government structure. The amazing thing of those sculptures are that they depict the usage of some items which the modern man is said to have invented hundreds of years later., For example, two people are shown drinking coconut water through a straw pipe. People are shown using instruments like binoculars and telescope (Durbhin) and war artillery throwing missile like armoury. It is just the greatness of Indian culture that, we have known and used things long before the Western World even thought on similar lines.

Another detailed sculpture is the demon king Ravana lifting the moutain Kailasa which is abode of Lord Siva. Ravana is a great devotee of Lord Siva and is shown with 10 heads and 20 hands. The different kind of people and animals found on a typical mountain are shown in this sculpture and on the top are Lord Siva and Parvathi. This depiction is found in many other temples across India and the most famous of them is in the Cave 16 of the Ellora Caves. There is a small museum in the temple complex and that was closed at the time i had been there. There is a statue of Gomateswara in the complex. As we come to the end of our tour of this amazing structure, i would like people to note that i had just discussed only some of the most important aspects of the temple. This temple is extensive and will require considerable time to explore the length and breadth of it.

As for the blog, we will continue exploring the Hassan District and the next destination is Basadihalli, a small hamlet near Halebidu.

Continued from the previous post…

There are several inscriptions here. Some date during the Hoysala reign and some others written during later rulers who developed the temple premises E.g., the gopura of the temple, constructed during the Vijayanagara period. There are 17th century inscriptions on the walls about the donors, written in Kannada. Lets go back to the sculptures.

There is this idol of of a lady dancing. You can see the musicians playing at her feet. It is said that this idol is in so amazing symmetry that if a water drops from the tip of the finger on top, it drops through tip of her left hand, tip of her left breast, tip of her left hand finger and then finally tip of her left toe before touching the ground.

I have written only about some of the sculptures but there are many others with a story and interpretation of its own. There are other things to know and see in this temple complex. The Kalyani tank is situated in the north east corner of the complex. It was earlier called as Vasudeva Tirtha according to an inscription during Veera Ballala - II dated 1175 A.D. There are two elephants at the entrance and pavilions to the north and south of it. It is 46 feet deep and has receding steps from all the four sides.

There is this victory pillar which is 35 feet in height that was placed in the 14th century. It is monolithic with a square shaped base. It somehow stands only on three corners and you can clearly see a gap from the base. While placing this pillar, they must have properly calculated the wind velocity and the angle in which it had to be placed so that the centre of gravity falls on the base. There is the Kappe Chennigaraya Temple which is closed. It contains a damaged statue of Chennakesava. I talked about the legend that Jakkana found a frog inside this statue and he cut his hand in the first post.

To the south west of the Kesava Temple, is the temple of Saumyanayaki. It has a garbhagriha surmounted by a tower. According to an inscription, the original tower which was damaged was got repaired in 1387 by Muddappa a minister in the court of the Vijayanagara King Harihara II and a metal kalasa was fixed on it. The front portion of this temple was a later addition by the Dalavayi family of Kalale.

The Veera Narayana Temple to the west of the Kesava Temple is a small and compact structure with the outer wall containing beautiful sculptures of Vaishnava and Saiva faith. It consists of a Garbhagriha, a Sukhanasi and a Navaranga. The 59 large images on the outer wall include Vishnu, Siva, Bramha, Parvati etc. This temple is raised on an elevated basement and is contemporary to the Chennakesava Temple.

The temple of the Goddess Andal situated to the north west of the Kesava Temple is also called as the Ranganayaki Temple. The basement has friezes of elephants, scroll work and puranic scenes. It has the appearance having built with the materials belonging to some ruined Hoysala Temple. It is known for the row of 31 sculpture on its outer wall. The canopies on these images which differ from one another show true workmanship. Two of the images on the south wall have the names of sculptures Bechama and Madhuvanna who carved them.

Whatever i wrote is just a glimpse of this marvellous piece or art. Visit this temple at least once in your lifetime. With that said, i continue on my journey to my next step a temple which is bigger than the Chennakesava Temple and more intricately carved, the Hoysaleswara Temple in Halebidu.

One post is not enough to describe the outer section of the Chennakesava Temple. But no blog can deliver the same experience as personally visiting to this amazing place. It was already drizzling when i started off checking out its outer beauty, but i did not budge.

Outside the main entrance of the temple are two statues of the Royal Emblem of the Hoysalas. Refer to my earlier posts for the description of the emblem. These emblems are found on all four entrances to this temple. Above the main entrance there is the Makaratorana and in between there is a very unique sculpture, Garuda (the man-eagle, vehicle of Lord Vishnu) carrying Lord Narasimha (Lion headed Lord Vishnu). Around this sculpture are 10 circles on which are miniature carvings of incarnations of Lord Vishnu. The entire sculpture is monolithic and seems a finger can be passed behind the entire sculpture which is exquisite art. Again, this makaratorana is found at all entrances, but the incarnation of Vishnu is different in each.

To the left of the Makaratorana, there is a lady holding a mirror admiring her beauty. There are attendants on her either side. The one on the left is offering her vermilion to apply on her forehead and the one on the right carries a monkey and a bunch of grapes to lure it. The poor monkey is disappointed and is licking its finger with a sad face. All this has been carved on a single stone and the detail in which these idols are carved makes this temple a man made wonder. There are 42 sculptures like this on the outer section of the temple and i will describe some of them as we move along. On one of the panels is carved the image of the Hoysala King Vishnuvardhana, who commissioned this temple with his wife Shantala and consorts. There is an idol of a woman with a parrot perched on her hand, being used as a messenger.

The bottom panel of the basement is carved with 644 elephants and each one’s design is different from the others. Elephant represents strength. Above Elephants, there is the row of Lions all around. As we know, lion stands for courage. Above lions, there are horses which depict speed. Above it there is circular scrollwork with miniature dancing figures or contemporary images. You can see some of the idols missing from the panels here. They were stolen in the 14th century and are currently in the Victoria Albert Museum, London. The Mahabharata is carved on small idols and the important thing to mention is that the artists concentrated on small fables also (E.g.. Bhagadatta Samhara, The audience hall of King Virata, Bheema shaking a tree to make the Kauravas fall from it) along with the main story. These stories, i am sure will not be found in any other temple.

A special mention has to me made of the various hair styles of these danseuses. These hair styles seems to be today’s fashion, however it is evident from these sculptures that they were nothing new in India. See the idol which is in a dance posture. The legs are tilted 120 degrees and the body and waist are in a different position. The artist has also taken care of putting the garlands in a proper position according to the body and legs. And mind you, everything is chiselled out of a single stone.

There is one interesting idol where a woman with donkey’s head is being loved by a man. The explanation given is that even a donkey like woman looks beautiful to a boy in teenage. There is one idol of a woman carrying Rudraveena. You can see that one string was there which is now broken. And the entire image along with the thin string is monolithic.

If you observe these idols, its exciting to notice the symmetry between the ornaments and the body is maintained perfectly keeping in mind the structure of the body. These collection of images were also chosen well. The sanctum sanctorum part has idols of Gods where as the other sections have idols of common men/women like huntress, vidushaka (joker) etc. The image that you see beside is one masterpiece. This is Narasimha, slaying the demon king Hiranyakasipa. Look the detail in which the hands with weapons and the two bodies have been carved. The intestine of Hiranyakasipa is shown taken out and it forms a garland around Narasimha. Lastly, the tongue of Narasimha is razor thin. The thought that this is all in one stone is enough to render one speechless.

One more different thought is the idol of Gajasuramardhana (Lord Shiva slaying Gajasura, the elephant headed demon king who hides Siva inside his body). Siva tears the body of the demon and comes out. The artist shows that Siva is dancing with one leg on Gajasura’s head and its skin all around him. You can also see the elephant feet. This is one depiction of this scene which you will not find in an other place.

I had discussed about the Hoysala pattern of construction in my earlier posts. This temple is on a jagati with 32 angles and each angle is in symmetry with one corner of the outer part of the temple. We will talk about the Outer part of the temple complex in the next post too…

There are some places when we see, we get a feeling that God himself created them. The Chennakesava Temple (also called Vijayanarayana Temple in olden days) in Belur is one of them. This is one extraordinary temple which is so vast that it took 103 years to complete. Belur is 40 kilometres from Hassan town and is on the banks of the Yagachi river.

The Chennakesava Temple was commissioned by King Vishnuvardhana in the year 1117 A.D, which many scholars believe was to promote his military success against Cholas, Chalukyas and others. A total of 118 inscriptions have been recovered from the temple complex, covering the period between c. 1117 CE to 18th century, which give details of the artists employed, grants made to the temple and renovations. The Hoysalas employed many noted architects and artisans who developed a new architectural tradition, which some historians call Karnata Dravida tradition. The master sculptor was Jakkanacharya and later his son Dankanacharya completed the construction. Jakkanacharya was entitled ‘Amara silpi’ (Immortal Sculptor). The credit of carving most of the sculptures goes to Jakkanacharya. A legend says that Dankanacharya found that the main statue of Lord Vishnu was faulty and had frog inside it. Jakkana, shocked to believe this, cuts his right hand. He will begin to build the other temple and contemplates the task. Later, the old temple(which had faulty statue) came to be known as Kappe Chennigaraaya's temple (kappe=frog).

By the time i reached Belur, it was very cloudy and i anticipated downpour. One needs at least an hour to spend in this complex. I could have spent as much as half a day, however due to the time constraint spent two hours. The main entrance to the complex is crowned by a rajagopura built during the Vijayanagara reign in the area. The view once i entered the temple is amazing. There lies a masterpiece in front stretching wide welcoming the visitors. The temple complex, the Chennakesava temple is in the centre, facing east and flanked by Kappe Channigraya temple on its right, and a small Sowmyanayaki (Lakshmi) temple set slightly back. On its left, set slightly back is the Ranganayaki(Andal) temple. There are also shrines dedicated to Saint Ramanuja and the twelve alwars in this temple complex.

There are smaller shrines on either ways of the steps that lead inside the temple. They are very beautifully carved out of one stone with intricate designs. Each shrine has a kalasa on top and sculptures of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Vishnu beautifully carved inside. One the topmost step, you will find large life like sculptures of the Royal Emblem of the Hoysala Dynasty (Sala killing the Tiger) on either sides. The sculpture is so detailed that even some not so insignificant details like Sala holding the dagger are shown. The temple was built using soap stone which will be soft when unearthed, however turns hard as it gets exposed to light and air.

The Chennakesava temple has three entrances and the doorways have decorated sculptures called dvarapalaka (doorkeepers) on either side. Two main Sthambha (pillar) are there in this temple complex. The pillar facing the main temple, the Garuda sthambha was erected in the Vijayanagar period while the pillar on the right, the Deepa sthambha dates from the Hoysala period.  We will talk about this Deepa Sthamba after a little while. A dhwajasthamba signifies that the temple is still functional and there is a deity who is worshipped. Absence of flag post tell us that the temple is a monument.

This is just the beginning of an amazing temple constructed for over 100 years with 1000 sculptors working on it. As i move inside the temple, i look forward to have a great darshan of the beautiful Chennakesava.