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.
Vikramaditya VI became the Western Chalukya King after deposing his elder brother Someshvara II, a political move he made by gaining the support of Chalukya vassals during the Chola invasion of Chalukya territory. Vikramaditya's reign is marked with the abolishment of the Saka era and the start of the Chalukya-Vikrama era. He was the greatest of the Western Chalukya kings and had the longest reign in the dynasty. He earned the title Permadideva and Tribhuvanamalla. He had several queens who ably assisted him in administration. One of his queens, Chandala Devi, a princess from the Shilahara ruling family of Karad was called Abhinava Saraswati for her skills as an artist. Queen Kethala Devi administered the Siruguppa region and Savala Devi was in charge of an Agrahara in Naregal. According to the historian Kamath, Vikramaditya VI was a "great king who ruled over South India" and he finds a "pride of place in Karnataka history". More inscriptions in Kannada are attributed to Vikramaditya VI than any other king prior to the Vijayanagara era.
North Karnataka is a geographical region consisting of mostly semi-arid plateau from 300 to 730 metres elevation that constitutes the northern part of the Karnataka state in India. It is drained by the Krishna River and its tributaries the Bhima, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, and Tungabhadra. North Karnataka lies within the Deccan thorn scrub forests ecoregion, which extends north into eastern Maharashtra.
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.
Balligavi a town in Shikaripura taluk Shivamogga district of Karnataka state, India, is today known as Belagami or Balagame. Its ancient names are Baligrama, Dakshina Kedara, Valliggame and Valligrame. Dakshina Kedara means Kedarnath of the South. A place of antiquity, it is known for its ancient monuments. Balligavi is located 72 km from Shivamogga city and 21 km from Shikaripura town and 2.3 km from Shiralakoppa in Shikaripura taluk. Balli in Kannada means creeper or vine.
The Gandaberunda or Berunda, or Bheruṇḍa is a two-headed bird in Hindu mythology, believed to possess immense magical strength. It is an avatar of Lord Vishnu to fight Lord Sharabha, who in-turn was an avatar of Lord Shiva and had the mission of stopping Narasimha, Vishnu's lion avatar. It was the emblem of the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore under the Wodeyar kings, and after India attained independence, it was retained by Mysore state as its emblem. That state was enlarged in 1956 and renamed Karnataka in 1973, and the Gandabherunda continues to be the official state emblem of Karnataka. It is used as the official emblem of the Karnataka state government because it is a symbol of strength. It is believed to be capable of fighting the forces of destruction. It appears as an intricately carved sculpture motif in Hindu temples.
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.
Some famous temples built by the Western Chalukyas, referred to as the "Later Chalukya art" that flourished in and around the Tungabhadra River districts of modern Karnataka state, India, are included in the table below.
The Mahadeva Temple is located in the town of Itagi in Yalburga Taluk, in the Koppal District of Karnataka state, India. It is about 7 km (4 mi) from Kuknur and 20 km (12 mi) from Lakkundi.
The Siddhesvara Temple is located in the town of Haveri in Haveri district, Karnataka state, India. It is considered an ornate example of 12th century Western Chalukyan art and is well known for the many loose sculptures of Hindu deities that exist in it. However, inscriptional evidence would suggest that the initial consecration of the temple was in late 11th century. An interesting aspect about the temple is that it faces west, instead of facing the rising sun in the east–a standard in Chalukyan constructions. Though it is currently used as a Shaiva temple dedicated to God Shiva, historians are unsure by which faith or sect the temple was originally consecrated and to which deity. This uncertainty perhaps stems from the many loose sculptures of deities that exist and the degradation of primary wall images.
The Mahakuta group of temples is located in Mahakuta, a village in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka state, India. It is an important place of worship for Hindus and the location of a well-known Shaiva monastery. The temples are dated to the 6th or 7th century CE and were constructed by the early kings of the Chalukya dynasty of Badami. The dating of the temples is based on the style of architecture which is similar to that of the temples in nearby Aihole and the information in two notable inscriptions in the complex: the Mahakuta Pillar inscription dated between 595–602 CE ; and an inscription of Vinapoti, a concubine of king Vijayaditya, dated between 696–733 CE and written in the Kannada language and script.
The Kasivisvesvara temple and sometimes called Kashivishvanatha temple is located in Lakkundi, in the of Karnataka state, India. It is 11 km from Gadag city, 24 km from Dambal and about 50 km from Kuknur.
The Bhutanatha group of temples is a cluster of sandstone shrines dedicated to the deity Bhutanatha, in Badami town of Karnataka state, India. There are two major temples here. Temple No.1, on the east side of the lake, called the Bhutanatha temple has a superstructure that resembles early South Indian style or North Indian style with its open mantapa extending into the lake, while the smaller Temple No.2 on the north-east side of the lake, sometimes called the Mallikarjuna group of temples, has a stepped superstructure, commonly found in Kalyani Chalukya constructions. The inner shrine and mantapa (hall) of Temple No.1 were constructed in the late 7th century, during the reign of the Badami Chalukyas. While the outer mantapa, facing the Badami tank, was completed during the rule of the Kalyani Chalukyas of the 11th century. Hence the Bhutanatha temple contain architectural forms from different periods. Studies show that these Kalyani Chalukya architects could have belonged to the same early phase workshop, that later built the nearby Yellamma temple and the Mallikarjuna group 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, 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 Chalukya dynasty was a Classical Indian royal dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynasty, known as the "Badami Chalukyas", ruled from Vatapi from the middle of the 6th century. The Badami Chalukyas began to assert their independence at the decline of the Kadamba kingdom of Banavasi and rapidly rose to prominence during the reign of Pulakeshin II. After the death of Pulakeshin II, the Eastern Chalukyas became an independent kingdom in the eastern Deccan. They ruled from Vengi until about the 11th century. In the western Deccan, the rise of the Rashtrakutas in the middle of the 8th century eclipsed the Chalukyas of Badami before being revived by their descendants, the Western Chalukyas, in the late 10th century. These Western Chalukyas ruled from Kalyani until the end of the 12th century.
The Kalleshwara temple is located in the town of Hire Hadagali of the Hoovina Hadagalitaluk in Bellary district of Karnataka state, India.
The Mallikarjuna temple is located in the town of Kuruvatti in the Bellary district of Karnataka state, India. The temple was constructed in the early 12th century rule of the Western Chalukya Empire. The 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 Nagareshvara Temple, also called the Aravattarukmbhada Gudi is a 12th-century Western Chalaukya construction. Bankapura is located in the Haveri District of Karnataka state, India. According to the Archaeologist Henry Cousens (1854–1933), during medieval times, the Bankapura fort was considered one of the most important fortifications in the Karnataka region. According to Cousens, the temple suffered much damage when Bankapura fell to the armies of Firoz Shah Bahamani in 1406 CE and later again when it was occupied by the Bijapur Sultan Adil Shah. According to the writings of Farishtah, the Sultan "ordered a superb temple within the fort to be destroyed". However, despite much pillage, the large temple with its majestic "great" hall (mantapa) still retains some of its original beauty. That the temple was built in honor of the Hindu god Shiva comes from two short inscriptions in the temple which begin with a salutation to "Shambu". There are other inscriptions in the temple, two of which are dated 1138 CE and one dated 1091 that record grants to the god "Nagaresvaradeva". The temple is protected as a monument of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India.
The Jain Temple, Lakkundi or Brahma Jinalaya is located in the historically important temple town Lakkundi in the Gadag District of Karnataka state, India.
