The Archaeological Survey of India recently conducted landscape restoration work on the premises of the Hoysaleshwara Temple in Halebid in Belur taluk and found the basement of one more temple from the Hoysala period.
The ASI conducted the work at a site, which was excavated by the department in 1983. That time two temples were found, and, this time one more has been added.
“Earlier a trikutachala temple and another ekakutachala temple were found. This time one more ekakutachala temple has been found on the site, next to the Dorasamudra lake,” said Aravazhi P., assistant archaeologist.
Temples with three ‘garbha grihas’ are called trikutachala. The landscape restoration was taken up by the ASI as the area was covered by plants and shrubs. Now it is open for public viewing. There is a need for further research to find out the details of the temple traced.
The work, which continued for about 45 days, ended about 15 days ago. Surprisingly, the officers found skeletons buried in the site.
“Over the years the place has been used as a burial ground by the local people. We found skeletons buried in the place,” the officer said.
Halebid, the capital of the Hoysala dynasty, attracts hundreds of tourists daily.
Apart from the Hoysaleshwara Temple, the Jain Basadi at Bastihalli near here is also popular.
A large tract of the area at Bastihalli has not been excavated. In the past, the ASI had proposed to take up the excavation work to understand the pre-Hoysala period of the place. “All these years we have given enough attention to the temples of the Hoysala period. There are other things, which need equal attention. We hardly know anything about the township of those days, the lifestyle of the people living then. There is a need for excavation and research to know the history of the place well,” said Mr. Aravazhi, who has done a special study on water resource development in the Hoysala period.
The archaeologist believes that present problems of the people of Halebid have solutions in the past.
“The Hoysala rulers were experts in hydrology. They knew water management very well. We need to study their water management to find solution for tackling situation in constantly drought-hit Halebid,” he added.
