Supreme monarchs of the southern Deccan from the late 11th to the early 14th century, the Hoysala kings and queens commissioned splendid Hindu and Jain monuments. Apart from direct royal benefactions, funds were provided to ministers, generals and governors. Aimed at consolidating local loyalties, this pattern of sponsorship resulted in over 300 religious monuments being erected throughout the Hoysala kingdom in less than 150 years. Such a prolific dispersal of patronage testifies to political consolidation of power and allegiance, while perfecting an architectural idiom unique to this dynasty.
In this vast oeuvre, the temples at Belur, Halebidu and Somanathapura are the finest, each representing an outstanding aspect of Hoysala art. The Chennakeshava temple at Belur is celebrated for its brackets fashioned as alluring maidens, perhaps the most beautiful in all Indian sculpture. The Hoysaleshvara temple at Halebidu is cloaked with carvings of celestials portraying almost the entire spectrum of Hindu myth and legend. While these two early 12th century monuments signal the beginnings of the Hoysala achievement, the Keshava temple at Somanathapura, built some 150 years later, is an architectural jewel summing up the overall contribution of the Hoysalas. ‘The Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas,’ comprising this trio as a serial nomination was inscribed as India’s 42nd UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2023.
A distinctive aspect of Hoysala temples is the stellate plan, an attribute derived from Chalukya architecture. Sanctuaries all have their walls divided into multiple facets with angled points. Such complex geometries are generated from squares rotated about a common point to create 16-sided configurations. A variety of layouts incorporating single (ekakuta), double (dwikuta) or triple (trikuta) sanctuaries are seen at Belur, Halebidu and Somanathapura respectively. Each of the twin linga sanctuaries at Halebidu faces into a mandapa, and beyond, towards a free-standing Nandi pavilion, while Somanathapura accommodates three different forms of Vishnu opening into a common mandapa. A tower soaring above the sanctuary, its summit coinciding with the linga or image directly beneath, proclaims the presence of the deity within. Basement friezes are composed of superimposed carved bands separated by deep incisions.
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