Hoysala architecture is the building style in Hindu temple architecture developed under the rule of the Hoysala Empire between the 11th and 14th centuries, in the region known today as Karnataka, a state of India. Hoysala influence was at its peak in the 13th century, when it dominated the Southern Deccan Plateau region. Large and small temples built during this era remain as examples of the Hoysala architectural style, including the Chennakesava Temple at Belur, the Hoysaleswara Temple at Halebidu, and the Kesava Temple at Somanathapura. Other examples of Hoysala craftsmanship are the temples at Belavadi, Amruthapura, Hosaholalu, Mosale, Arasikere, Basaralu, Kikkeri and Nuggehalli. Study of the Hoysala architectural style has revealed a negligible Indo-Aryan influence while the impact of Southern Indian style is more distinct.
The Hoysala Empire was a Kannadiga power originating from the Indian subcontinent that ruled most of what is now Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur, but was later moved to Halebidu.
The Lakshmi Devi temple is an early 12th-century Hindu temples complex located in Doddagaddavalli village in Hassan District, Karnataka India. The main temple consists of four-shrines that share a common mandapa (hall), each sanctum being a square and aligned to a cardinal direction. The eastern shrine has Goddess Lakshmi, the northern shrine is dedicated to Kali-Durga, the western to Shiva, and the southern is empty and likely Vishnu. The complex has a separate Bhairava shrine to the northeast of the main temple, and four small shrines at the corners inside a nearly square prakara (compound). All nine temples are notable for its pyramidal north Indian style Nagara shikhara – likely an influence from Maharashtra and an evidence of active flow of ideas between the southern, central and northern India. The complex has additional smaller shrines.
The Western Chalukya Empire ruled most of the western Deccan, South India, between the 10th and 12th centuries. This Kannadiga dynasty is sometimes called the Kalyani Chalukya after its regal capital at Kalyani, today's Basavakalyan in the modern Bidar District of Karnataka state, and alternatively the Later Chalukya from its theoretical relationship to the 6th-century Chalukya dynasty of Badami. The dynasty is called Western Chalukyas to differentiate from the contemporaneous Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi, a separate dynasty. Prior to the rise of these Chalukyas, the Rashtrakuta empire of Manyakheta controlled most of Deccan and Central India for over two centuries. In 973, seeing confusion in the Rashtrakuta empire after a successful invasion of their capital by the ruler of the Paramara dynasty of Malwa, Tailapa II, a feudatory of the Rashtrakuta Dynasty ruling from Bijapur region defeated his overlords and made Manyakheta his capital. The dynasty quickly rose to power and grew into an empire under Someshvara I who moved the capital to Kalyani.
The Lakshmi Narasimha temple was built in 1246 CE by Bommanna Dandanayaka, a commander in the Hoysala Empire during the rule of King Vira Someshwara. It is a good example of 13th-century Hoysala architecture. Located a short distance away in Nuggehalli, and built around the same time is the Sadashiva temple. The town was called Vijaya Somanathapura in ancient times and gained importance as an agrahara during the time of Bommanna Dandanayaka. Nuggehalli,, is a town in Hassan district of Karnataka, India. It is located on the Tiptur-Channarayapatna state highway and is about 50 km from Hassan city. It is well connected by road with Bangalore, the state capital.
The political history of medieval Karnataka spans the 4th to the 16th centuries, when the empires that evolved in the Karnataka region of India made a lasting impact on the subcontinent. Before this, alien empires held sway over the region, and the nucleus of power was outside modern Karnataka. The medieval era can be broadly divided into several periods: The earliest native kingdoms and imperialism; the successful domination of the Gangetic plains in northern India and rivalry with the empires of Tamilakam over the Vengi region; and the domination of the southern Deccan and consolidation against Muslim invasion. The origins of the rise of the Karnataka region as an independent power date back to the fourth-century birth of the Kadamba Dynasty of Banavasi, the earliest of the native rulers to conduct administration in the native language of Kannada in addition to the official Sanskrit. This is the historical starting point in studying the development of the region as an enduring geopolitical entity and of Kannada as an important regional language.
The Lakshminarayana Temple is a 13th-century Hindu temple with Hoysala architecture in Hosaholalu, Mandya district of Karnataka, India. Dedicated to Vishnu, this three-shrine monument is notable for its finely carved plinth (adhisthana) with panels of the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata Purana. It has one of the most beautifully embellished Hoysala tower projection (sukanasa) that integrates the Dravida motifs with asta-bhadra Bhumija motifs from central India. Also notable are polish and jewelry-like carvings inside the temple's mandapa.
Western Chalukya architecture, also known as Kalyani Chalukya or Later Chalukya architecture, is the distinctive style of ornamented architecture that evolved during the rule of the Western Chalukya Empire in the Tungabhadra region of modern central Karnataka, India, during the 11th and 12th centuries. Western Chalukyan political influence was at its peak in the Deccan Plateau during this period. The centre of cultural and temple-building activity lay in the Tungabhadra region, where large medieval workshops built numerous monuments. These monuments, regional variants of pre-existing dravida temples, form a climax to the wider regional temple architecture tradition called Vesara or Karnata dravida. Temples of all sizes built by the Chalukyan architects during this era remain today as examples of the architectural style.
The Tripurantaka Temple was built around c. 1070 CE by the Western Chalukyas. This temple, which is in a dilapidated state, is in the historically important town of Balligavi, modern Shivamogga district, Karnataka state, India. The exterior walls of the temple have erotic sculptures on friezes. These depictions are considered rare in Chalukyan art. Being miniature in size, these are visible only upon close examination. During medieval times, Balligavi was a seat of learning to multiple religious faiths and was home to many monuments and structures built by the Chalukyas. More than 80 medieval inscriptions have been discovered in Balligavi and belong to the Shaiva, Vaishnava, Jain and Buddhist faiths. These inscriptions describe, among other things, the building of temples.
The antiquity of architecture of Karnataka can be traced to its southern Neolithic and early Iron Age, Having witnessed the architectural ideological and utilitarian transformation from shelter- ritual- religion. Here the nomenclature 'Architecture' is as old as c.2000 B.C.E. The upper or late Neolithic people in order to make their shelters by their own they constructed huts made of wattle and doab, that were buttressed by stone boulders, presumably having conical roof resting on the bamboo or wooden posts into red murram or paved granite chips as revealed in archaeological excavations in sites like Brhamagiri, Sanganakallu, Tekkalakota, Piklihal. Megaliths are the dominant archaeological evidence of the early Iron Age. There are more than 2000 early Iron Age burial sites on record, who laid the foundation for a high non-perishable architecture in the form of various distinct architectural styles of stone-built burials, which are ritualistic in its character. The active religious architecture is evident 345 with that of the Kadamba Dynasty. Karnataka is a state in the southern part of India originally known as the State of Mysore. Over the centuries, architectural monuments within the region displayed a diversity of influences, often relaying much about the artistic trends of the rulers of twelve different dynasties. Its architecture ranges dramatically from majestic monolith, such as the Gomateshwara, to Hindu and Jain places of worship, ruins of ancient cities, mausoleums and palaces of different architectural hue. Mysore Kingdom (Wodeyar) rule has also given an architectural master structure in the St. Philomena's Church at Mysore which was completed in 1956, in addition to many Dravidian style architectural temples. Two of the monuments are listed under the UNESCO World Heritage List of 22 cultural monuments in India. Styles of Indo-Saracenic, Renaissance, Corinthian, Hindu, Indo-Greek and Indo-British style palaces were built in Mysore, the city of palaces. Sikh architecture at Bidar (1512) and also in Bangalore in 1956 can also be cited as having an impact on the architectural composition of the state.
The Amruteshvara temple also spelt "Amrutesvara" or "Amruteshwara", is located in the village of Amruthapura, 67 km north of Chikmagalur town in the Chikkamagaluru district of the Karnataka state, India. Located 110 km from Hassan and 50 km from Shimoga on NH 206, Amruthapura is known for the Amruteshvara temple. The temple was built in 1196 C.E. by Amrutheshwara Dandanayaka under Hoysala King Veera Ballala II.
Bucesvara temple, also referred to as the Buceswara, Bucheshwara or Bhucheshvara temple, is a 12th-century Hindu temples in Koravangala village, Karnataka, India. The most sophisticated historical temple in the village, it is considered to be the flag-bearer of Hoysala architecture and was built by a wealthy patron named Buchi during the reign of king Ballala.
The Mallikarjuna temple, dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, is in Basaralu, a small town in the Mandya district, Karnataka state, India. Basaralu is close to Nagamangala and about 65 km from the culturally important city of Mysore. The temple was built by Harihara Dhannayaka around 1234 A.D. during the rule of the Hoysala Empire King Vira Narasimha II. This temple is protected as a monument of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India.
The Kedareshvara temple is located in the town of Balligavi, near Shikaripura in the Shimoga district of Karnataka state, India. Dotted with centres of learning (agrahara), Balligavi was an important city during the 11th - 12th century Western Chalukya rule. The term Anadi Rajadhani used in medieval inscriptions to describe this town tells a tale of great antiquity. Art historian Adam Hardy classifies the style involved in the construction of the temple as "Later Chalukya, non mainstream, relatively close to mainstream". He dates the temple to late 11th century, with inscriptional evidence of additions made up to 1131, by the Hoysalas during their control over the region. The building material used is soapstone. The Archaeological Survey of India classifies the style of architecture as distinctly Hoysala. The Hoysala ruling family was during this period a powerful feudatory of the imperial Western Chalukya Empire, gaining the trappings of independence only from the period of King Vishnuvardhana. The temple is protected as a monument of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India.
The Nageshvara-Chennakeshava temple complex, sometimes referred to as the Nagesvara and Chennakesava temples of Mosale, are a pair of nearly identical Hindu temples in the village of Mosale near Hassan city, Karnataka, India. One for Shiva, other for Vishnu, this pair is a set of highly ornamented stone temples, illustrating the Hoysala architecture. These temples also include panels of artwork related to the goddess tradition of Hinduism (Shaktism) and Vedic deities. Another notable feature of these temples is the artwork in their ceilings, how the shilpins (artisans) integrated the historic pre-Hoysala architectural innovations from the Chalukya era. Further, the temples include north Indian Bhumija and south Indian Vesara aedicules on the outer walls above the panels. It is unclear when this temple pair was built, but given the style and architectural innovations embedded therein, it was likely complete before 1250 CE.
Kedareshwara Temple is a Hoysala era construction in the historically important town of Halebidu, in the Hassan district of Karnataka state, India. It is located a short distance away from the famous Hoysaleswara Temple. The temple was constructed by Hoysala King Veera Ballala II and his Queen Ketaladevi, and the main deity is Ishwara. The temple is protected as a monument of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India.
Panchalingeshwara Temple in Govindanahalli, Mandya district, Karnataka state, India, was constructed around 1238 A.D. during the reign of the Hoysala empire King Vira Someshwara. The name "Panchalingeshwara" literally means "five linga". The temple is protected as a monument of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India. The famous sculptor of Hoysala times, Ruvari Mallitamma, is known to have made contributions to the temple.
The Rameshvara temple is a 12th-century Shiva temple in Kudli, Shimoga district, Karnataka India. It is an early non-ornate, Hoysala construction with simpler Vesara style. The village of Koodli – also spelled Kudli, Kudali – was a major town through the 14th-century and of great antiquity, with ruins of over eight major Hindu temples and monasteries. It is located about 18 kilometres (11 mi) north-east of Shimoga city, the district headquarters. The town gets its name because it is situated at the confluence of the Tunga and Bhadra tributaries that form the Tungabhadra river.
Hinduism is the most followed Religion in India and nearly 84% of the total population of Karnataka follows Hinduism, as per 2011 Census of India. Several great empires and dynasties have ruled over Karnataka and many of them have contributed richly to the growth of Hinduism, its temple culture and social development. These developments have reinforced the "Householder tradition", which is of disciplined domesticity, though the saints who propagated Hinduism in the state and in the country were themselves ascetics. The Bhakti movement, of Hindu origin, is devoted to the worship of Shiva and Vishnu; it had a telling impact on the sociocultural ethos of Karnataka from the 12th century onwards.
The Lakshminarasimha temple at Nuggehalli is a 13th-century Hindu temple with Hoysala architecture in Nuggehalli village, Hassan district, Karnataka, India. This three shrine Vaishnava complex is dedicated to Keshava, Lakshminarayana and Venugopala. The temple is notable for its Vaishnava reliefs, Shaiva reliefs such as those of Harihara, Dakshinamurti, Chandikesvara and Ganesha, Shakti reliefs such as of Durga Mahisasuramardini, dancing Lakshmi and Saraswati, as well as Vedic deities such as Surya and Brahma. The lower section depicts scenes from the Hindu epics and the Bhagavata Purana. The artwork completed and signed by the Hoysala artist Mallitamma are particularly notable.
India 
