Belur is a Town Municipal Council in Hassan district in the state of Karnataka, India.
Belur was the early capital of the Hoysala Empire. With Halebidu which is only 16 km away, this is one of the major tourist destinations in Karnataka, India. Belur is located in Hassan district. According to inscriptions discovered here, it was also referred to as Velapuri.
The main attraction in Belur is the Chennakesava temple complex which contains the Chennakesava Temple ( dedicated to Chennakeshava , meaning handsome Vishnu) as the centre piece, surrounded by the Kappe Chennigraya temple built by Shantaladevi, queen of king Vishnuvardhana and another attraction is the tragic love story of anusuya devi and sri jayaprasad raja from king's family.
The lowermost frieze panel around the temple is made up entirely of elephants. There are two more shrines here that are still in use by devotees and there is a Pushkarni or stepped well to the right side of the main entrance. The Dravida style rayagopuram at the entrance which was a later addition by the Vijayanagar kings, who considered this deity as one of their Kuladevata or family god.
The temple is one of the finest examples of Hoysala architecture. It was built by king Vishnuvardhana in commemoration of his victory over the Cholas at Talakad in 1117 CE. Legend has it that it took 103 years to complete and Vishnuvardhana's grandson Veera Ballala II completed the task. The facade of the temple is filled with intricate sculptures and friezes with no portion left blank. The intricate workmanship includes elephants, lions, horses, episodes from the Indian mythological epics, and sensuous dancers (Shilabalikas). Inside the temple are a number of ornate pillars. Darpana Sundari ( Lady with the mirror ) carved on walls of Belur Temple is one of major attraction in complex.
This temple along with Hoysaleswara temple in Halebidu and the Jaina monuments at Shravanabelagola are being proposed as UNESCO world heritage sites.
Chennakesava Temple
The Chennakesava Temple originally called Vijayanarayana Temple was built on the banks of the Yagachi River in Belur, an early capital of the Hoysala Empire. Belur is 40 km from Hassan city and 220 km from Bangalore, in Hassan district of Karnataka state, India. Chennakesava literally means "handsome Kesava" and is a form of Hindu God Vishnu. Belur is well-known for its marvelous temples, built during the rule of Hoysala dynasty, making it and nearby Halebidu, a favored tourist destination in Karnataka.
History
The temple was commissioned by Hoysala King Vishnuvardhana in 1117 CE. Scholars are divided about the reason why King Vishnuvardhana commissioned the construction of the temple. The military successes of Vishnuvardhana is considered a probable reason. Some scholars believe Vishnuvardhana commissioned the temple to surpass his overlords, the Western Chalukya Empire (who ruled from Basavakalyan), after his military victories against them. According to another theory, Vishnuvardhana was celebrating his victory against the Cholas of Tamil country in the battle of Talakad, which resulted in the annexation of Gangavadi (modern southern Karnataka) by the Hoysalas. Another explanation points to Vishnuvardhana's conversion from Jainism to Vaishnavism, considering this is predominantly a Vaishnava temple. The Hoysalas employed many noted architects and artisans who developed a new architectural tradition, which some historians call Karnata Dravida tradition. 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.
Temple complex
The main entrance to the complex is crowned by a Rayagopura built during the days of Vijayanagar empire. Within the temple complex, the Chennakesava temple is in the centre, facing east and flanked by Kappe Channigraya temple and a small Lakshmi temple on its right. On its left and to its back is an Andal temple. Two main Sthambha (pillar) exist here. The pillar facing the main temple was erected in the Vijayanagar period while the pillar on the right dates from the Hoysala period. This is the first great Hoysala temple, though the artistic idiom is still Western Chalukyan. Hence, over decoration which is seen in later Hoysala temples (including the Hoysaleswara temple at Halebidu and the Keshava temple at Somanathapura) is not visible here. During later years, the Hoysala art took an inclination towards craftsmanship, with a weakness for minutia. The Chennakesava temple has three entrances and the doorways have decorated sculptures called dvarapalaka (doorkeepers) on either side. While the Kappe Channigraya temple is smaller than the Chennakesava temple, it is architecturally significant, though it lacks any sculptural features. The Kappe Chennigraya temple became a dvikuta (two shrined temple) with the later addition of a shrine to its original plan. The original shrine has a star-shaped plan while the additional shrine is a simple square. The icon inside is also that of Kesava and was commissioned by Shantala Devi, queen of king Vishnuvardhana.
Temple plan
The building material used in the Chennakesava temple is chloritic schist (soapstone) and is essentially a simple Hoysala plan built with extraordinary detail. What differentiates this temple from other Hoysala temples of the same plan is the unusually large size of the basic parts of the temple. The temple is a ekakuta vimana design (single shrine) of 10.5 m by 10.5 m size. A large vestibule connects the shrine to the mandapa (hall) which is one of the main attractions of the temple. The mandapa has 60 bays. The superstructure (tower) on top of the vimana has been lost over time. The temple is built on a jagati (platform). There is one flight of steps leading to the jagati and another flight of steps to the mantapa. The jagati provides the devotee the opportunity to do a pradakshina (circumambulation) around the temple before entering it. The jagati carefully follows the staggered square design of the mantapa and the star shape of the shrine. The mantapa here was originally an open one. A visitor would have been able to see the ornate pillars of the open mantapa from the platform. The mantapa is perhaps the most magnificent one in all of medieval India. The open mantapa was converted into a closed one after about 50 years, during the Hoysala rule. This was done by erecting walls with pierced window screens. The window screens are on top of 2 m high walls. There are 28 such windows, with star-shaped perforations and bands of foliage, figures and mythological subjects. On one such screen, King Vishnuvardhana and his queen Shanatala Devi are depicted. Another icon depicts the king in a standing posture.
Shrine
The vimana (shrine) is at the back of the mantapa. Each side of the vimana measures 10.5 m and has five vertical sections. Each vertical section comprises a large double storeyed niche in the centre and two heavy pillar like sections on either side. The two pillar-like sections adjoining the niche are rotated about their vertical axis to produce a star-shaped plan for the shrine. The pillar-like section and the niche bear many ornate sculptures, belonging to an earlier style. There are some 60 large sculptures of deities from both Vaishnava and Shaiva faiths. From the shape of the vimana it has been inferred that the tower above it would have been of the Bhumija style and not the regular star shaped tower that followed the shape of the vimana. The Bhumija towers, which are intact on the miniature shrines at the entrance of the hall are actually a type of nagara (North Indian) tower, being curvilinear in shape. This shape of tower is quite uncommon in pure dravidian architecture. The shrine has a life size (about 6 ft) image of Kesava (a form of Vishnu) with four hands. Each hand holds an attribute; the discus (chakra), the mace (gadha), the lotus-flower (padma) and the conch (Shanka), in clockwise direction. The entrance to the shrine is flanked by life size sculptures of door guardians (dvarapalaka).
Pillars and Sculptures
The pillars inside the hall are an attraction and the most popular one is the Narasimha pillar which at one time, it is said, could revolve on its ball bearings. There is a rich diversity about the pillar styles here. While all the 48 pillars and the many ceilings are well decorated, nothing surpasses the finish of the four central pillars and the ceiling they support. These pillars may have been hand chiselled while the others were lathe turned. All of these four pillars bear madanikas (Salabhanjika–celestial damsels) and there are 42 of them, 4 inside the hall and the rest outside, between the eaves on the outer walls of the hall. They are also called madanakai, salabanjika or shilabalika and epitomise the ideal female form. They are depicted in various forms, such as, dancers, musicians and drummers and are rarely erotic in nature. Some madanikas that are popular with tourists are the Darpana Sundari (beauty with mirror), "The lady with the parrot", "The huntress" and Bhasma mohini. Other interesting sculptures inside the mantapa are Sthamba buttalika (pillar image) which are more in the Chola style indicating that the Hoysalas may have employed Chola craftsman along with locals. These images have less decor than regular Hoysala sculptures, the mohini pillar being an example.
At the base of the outer walls are friezes of charging elephants (650 of them) which symbolise stability and strength, above which are lions which symbolise courage, and further up are horses which symbolise speed. Above the horses are panels with floral designs signifying beauty above which are sculptures depicting the Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. This style of articulation is called horizontal treatment with friezes. Hoysala artistry preferred to be discreet about eroticism, mingling miniature erotic sculptures in not so conspicuous places such as recesses and niches. Sculptures depict daily life in a broad sense.
The doorways to the mantapa have on both sides an image of "Sala slaying a tiger". Though Sala is popularly known to be the founder of the Hoysala empire, there is no support for this theory from scholars. Normally this image is placed on the sukanasi (tower over the vestibule) adjoining the main tower. Legend has it that Sala killed the tiger which was about to pounce on the meditating muni (saint) who sought Sala's help. Some historians speculate that the legend may have gained importance after the victory of King Vishnuvardhana over the Cholas at Talakad, the tiger being the royal emblem of the Cholas.
Other important sculptures here are the Narasimha (a form of Vishnu) image in the south western corner, Shiva-Gajasura (Hindu God Shiva slaying demon in form of elephant) on the western side, the winged Garuda, a consort of God Vishnu standing facing the temple, dancing Kali, a seated Ganesha, a boy with an umbrella and a king (the Vamana avatar or incarnation of Vishnu), Ravana shaking Mount Kailash, Durga slaying demon Mahishasura, standing Brahma, Varaha (avatar of Vishnu), Shiva dancing on demon (Andhakasura), Bhairava (avatar of Shiva) and the Sun God Surya. The sculptural style of the wall images bear similarities with wall sculptures in contemporary temples of northern Karnataka and adjacent Maharashtra.
Artists
The Hoysala artists, unlike other medieval artists, preferred to sign their work in the form of inscriptions. In doing so, they sometimes revealed fascinating details about themselves, their families, guilds and place of origin. Stone inscriptions and copper plate inscriptions provide more information about them. Ruvari Mallitamma was a prolific artist to whom more than 40 sculptures are attributed. Dasoja and his son Chavana who were from Balligavi in modern Shimoga district made important contributions. Chavana is credited with the work on five madanikas and Dasoja with four. Malliyanna and Nagoja created birds and animals in their sculptures. Artists such as Chikkahampa and Malloja are credited with some of the sculptures in the mantapa.
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