A Hoysala Masterpiece
A ride to Somanathapura.
Bhushan Kudali
My second trip to Somanathapura, home to the architectural marvel of Chennakeshava Temple (now a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the Sacred Ensembles of Hoysalas), happened suddenly, resulting in a bike ride with the boys.
We took the Kanakapura Road (now on NH 948) out of Bangalore and rode beyond Malavalli towards Bannur, guided by the yellow boards of Karnataka Tourism, and peppering the ride with several stops.
After a humble lunch comprising ragi balls at a wayside hotel outside Bannur, we set off to Somanathapura that’s 7km away. Outside the temple stood an old multilingual board to tell us that we had arrived, having covered 130km in friendly weather!
Somanathapura is an otherwise quiet, agrarian village with the Kaveri flowing beside it. There was a group of at least 6 temples at this location, developed from the mid-13th century onwards, primarily credited to the General, Somayya (or Somanatha) Dandanayaka, who served under Narasimha III, the Hoysala king of those times... hence the name of this place.
By the 15th century, most of the temples were damaged due to repeated wars with the Sultanates, and were repaired with the grants made by the rulers of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 16th century. Damaged again in the 19th century, it was repaired by the Wodeyars of Mysore during the 20th century. Today, only the Keshava Temple stands in melancholic majesty amidst green lawns. It is under the ASI and is open between 10.00 AM and 5.00 PM, although it is no longer a living temple. Services of qualified guides are also offered at this site, though we did not avail the same.
Hop-skip-jumping travellers will certainly find other attractions nearby; otherwise, its single status is a boon to explore the temple in detail. It is a Vaishnava temple built in typical Hoysala style, with a stellar platform and an eastern entrance, and three similar sanctums for Keshava, Janardhana and Venugopala connected by a common sabha-mantapa. It is located in an enclosed courtyard which is surrounded by a fort-like structure. All the walls, ceilings and pillars are covered with intricate carvings and friezes having great theological significance – in fact, Somanathapura represents the pinnacle of the Hoysala style of temple architecture, reached at the conclusion of a spree that saw the construction of a combined total of about 1500 Hindu and Jain temples all across their kingdom! We can only marvel at the labour that has stood the test of time and remains documented on several inscriptions found across the land.
As laymen, we looked inside many of the small shrines located along the corridors that surround the main temple and wondered whether this temple was excavated!
However, if we consider that this is the third most important location that illustrates the finesse of Hoysala architecture after Beluru (which has remained a living temple) and Halebidu, it is unlikely that this temple was ever buried; in which case the systematic damage to each and every important, beautiful structure within the premises begs an explanation.
A sense of déjà vu pervaded our coffee break that followed the tour of the temple. India has a rich wealth of temples in terms of architectural beauty; equally, countless amongst them have been ravaged while many others have been ignored and relegated to dust. Every ancient temple has been a mirror to how mankind itself has evolved, and a lot remains to be done towards preserving this aspect of our heritage. Our ride back home was dominated by an inexplicable sense of humility and sobriety.