Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysala

Context

The nomination dossier of ‘Sacred Ensemble of Hoysalas’ for “Tentative List” of World Heritage Sites have been submitted to UNESCO, as per the Ministry of Culture.

About

Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysala at Belur

• The Chennakeshava temple, devoted to Lord Vishnu, was at the center of the old walled town located on the banks of the Yagachi River
  • Construction of the temple commenced in 1117 AD and took a 103 years to complete.
  • A total of 118 stone inscriptions have been recovered from the temple complex covering a period from 1117 to 18th century.
  • The richly sculptured exterior of the temple includes sculptures and iconography and horizontal friezes that depict scenes from daily life, music, and dance, and narrate scenes from the life of Vishnu and his reincarnations and the epics, Ramayana, and Mahabharata.
  • However, some of the representations of Shiva are also included.

Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysala at Halebid

• The Hoysaleshwara temple at Halebidu is the most exemplary architectural ensemble of the Hoysalas extant
  • Built in 1121CE during the reign of the Hoysala King, Vishnuvardhana Hoysaleshwara.
  • The temple, dedicated to Shiva, was sponsored and built by wealthy citizens and merchants of Dorasamudra
  • The Hoysaleshwara temple is most well-known for the more than 240 wall sculptures that run all along the outer wall.
• Halebid has a walled complex containing of three Jaina basadi(temples) of the Hoysala period:
  • the Parshvanatha Basadi
  • the Adinatha Basadi
  • the Shanthinatha Basadi
• The Kedareshwara temple is another exquisitely carved temple dedicated to Shiva.