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Bewitching beauty on stone

April 14, 2011 03:46 pm | Updated April 15, 2011 07:42 pm IST

The entrance to the main Sanctum Sanctorium of Kesava Temple, Somnathpur.

While there are many ancient temples in South India which now stand testimony to the sculptural and architectural greatness of the Pallava, the Chola, the Chalukya, the Hoysala and the Vijayanagara periods, there is one temple of sculpture, where every stone speaks the sculptural art of the Hoysalas – the Kesava temple at Somnathpur near Mysore in Karnataka.

Located at a distance of 35 kilometres from Mysore, the 13th century Kesava temple is a paradise for art connoisseurs.

According to the epigraphical records available with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Somnathpur (Tirumakudalu Narasipura Taluka, Mysore District in Karnataka) is an agrahara (A centre of Traditional learning) known in historical lithic records of 13th-14th century as ‘Chaturvedi Vidyanidhi Prasanna Somanathapura,’ where even parrots could discuss ‘mimamsa,’ ‘tarka,’ vyakarna. But now it is a small town.

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Soma, commander-in-chief of the Hoysala king Narasimha III, (1254-1291 AD) built the shrine in 1268 AD and established the ‘agrahara’ in his name.

Built using a soft stone (greenish schist stone), the temple comprises three sanctum sanctorum with separate vimanams (Trikutachala), each with a vestibule in the north, west and south connected to one another.

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The temple structure

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As every inch of the temple is adorned with various sculptures and the entire shrine is raised on a star shaped moulded platform (jagati), it looks like a gallery of sculptures presented on a grand plate.

The superstructure of the temple is crowned with a stupi. Around the temple is an open courtyard enclosed by cloistered prakara mantapa with pillars. The three garba grihas have the presiding deities of ‘Prasanna Kesava’ on the west, ‘Varada Janardana’ on the north and ‘Gandapendaara Gopala’ on the south (as named in the temple inscriptions). According to the ASI, the original idol of Kesava went missing and was later replaced.

From the bottom of the jagati or the platform, which is the base of the temple structure, upto the stupi, every part of the temple is lavishly adorned with sculptures and carvings. The adhishtana (plinth) of the temple is decorated with rows of animals, including elephants, horse-riders in action, narrative depiction of the epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata, Bhagavat purana an swans.

From the door-frames to steps leading to the shrine each is adorned with sculptures of floral and symmetrical designs. The exterior walls are decorated on all sides with sculptures of incarnations of Vishnu, Varha, Narasimha, Hayagriva, Venugopala, Vasudeva, Lakshmi Narayana seated on a flying Garuda, Yoga Narayana, dancing Lakshmi, Brahma, Siva, Indira, Surya, Manmatha, Saraswathi and Mahishasuramardhini.

Even the ceiling of the Sabhamantapa and Mukhamantapa are intricately decorated with stone-frames with miniature sculptures. Some of the sculptures carry the names of sculptors on the pedestals – Mallitamma, Baleya, Chandeya and Bamaya.

Extensive and exquisite sculptures and ornamental panels and floral designs displayed in every part of the shrine denotes one fact that here sculptural art has belittled the architecture.

Though the temple is intact, escaping from the vandalism of invaders, compared to other Hoysala temples, no active worship is carried out here. An ASI official said since some portions of the idols of the presiding deities suffered damage, active worship ceased to exist in the shrine.As the entire shrine is raised on a star shaped moulded platform (jagati), it looks like a gallery of sculptures presented on a grand plate.

Restoring the lost glory

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), as part of its conservation of heritage architecture, has undertaken a Rs. 2.5 crore project to restore the damaged cloistered prakara mantapa of the Kesava temple in Somnathpur in Karnataka.

G.S. Narasimhan, superintendent Archaeologist, ASI, Bangalore, told The Hindu that the project which began in 2010 was expected to be completed by 2012. The ASI has numbered all the damaged pillars and ceiling stone panels. The restoration work is currently going on.

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