Hoysala Temple

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

An expert team, including a representative from the International Commission on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) will visit the Hoysala temples at Belur, Halebid, and Somanathpur before submitting a report to UNESCO ahead of declaring them as a World Heritage Site.

The team will visit the 12th Century Chennakeshava temple at Belur, the Hoysaleshwara temple (12th Century) at Halebid on 15th and the 13th Century Keshava temple at Somanathpur.

The Hoysala Temples

• The Hoysala temples have a basic Darvidian morphology though they reflect other influences including that of Central India’s Bhumija mode, northern and western India’s Nagara traditions, and Karnata Dravida modes of the Kalyani Chalukyas. 

• The temples, instead of consisting of a simple inner chamber with its pillared hall, contain multiple shrines grouped around a central pillared hall and laid out in the shape of an intricately-designed star.
• Soft soapstone being the main building material.
• Decoration of the temple through sculptures – Both the interior and exterior walls, even the pieces of jewellery worn by the deities were intricately carved.
• Upraised platform known as Jagati.
• The walls and stairs of the temple followed a zigzag pattern.

Chennakeshava Temple

• Chennakeshava Temple is also referred to as Vijayanarayana Temple of Belur.It is a 12th-century Hindu temple in Karnataka.
• The temple was commissioned by King Vishnuvardhana in 1117 CE, on the banks of the Yagachi River in Belur also called Velapura, an early Hoysala Empire capital. 
• The temple is devoted to Vishnu.
• The richly sculptured exterior of the temple narrates 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.

International Commission on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS):

• It is a professional association that works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places around the world.
• Headquartered in Charenton-le-Pont, France, ICOMOS was founded in 1965 in Warsaw as a result of the Venice Charter of 1964, and offers advice to UNESCO on World Heritage Sites.
• Objectives: Restoration of historic buildings and protect the world’s cultural heritage threatened by wars and natural disasters under “Blue Shield”; of which ICOMOS is a partner and founding member