摘要: Description　　Ensembles at Belur, Karnataka 13°09’46.29” N, 75°51’38.41” E　　Ensembles at Halebid, Karnataka 13°12’45.43” N, 75°59’39.62” E　　The Hoysala era is one that contributed enorm

Description

　　Ensembles at Belur, Karnataka 13°09’46.29” N, 75°51’38.41” E

　　Ensembles at Halebid, Karnataka 13°12’45.43” N, 75°59’39.62” E

　　The Hoysala era is one that contributed enormously to the development of several creative fields as well as spiritual and humanistic thought. During their reign, the Hoysalas built more than 1500 temples all across their empire of which only a little over 100 survive today. Art historians recognize the exceptionally intricate sculptural artistry of the Chennakeshava temple at Belur and the Hoysaleshwara temple at Halebid to be among the masterpieces of South Asian art making the name of Hoysala synonymous with artistic achievement.

　　In addition to supporting both Shaivite and Vaishnavite sects of Hinduism, the Hoysala rulers gave court recognition and status to Jainism, a religion that prescribes a path of non-violence and self-control as paths to spiritual liberation and emphasizes the equality of all beings. They were not only inclusive of the plural religious following but the sacred ensembles were important agents in the development of the spiritual beliefs of Vaishanavism, Shaivism, and Jainism through interpretations in sculpture, poetry, music, classical dance, and Kannada literature.

　　The sacred ensembles of the Hoysalas were far beyond temples for worship. They were extraordinary expressions of spiritual purpose and vehicles of spiritual practice and attainment. Set in the foothills of the hilly and forested terrain of the Western Ghats on sites of enduring sanctity, the sacred ensembles included grand and small Hindu temples designed on ancient treatises, Jaina temples, numerous secondary structures, intricate sculpture and iconography, temple dances and music, lakes and tanks, town planning with the sacred elements, and a relationship to the natural environment that was both material and symbolic.

　　The most remarkable architectural achievement of the Hoysala is the numerous intricately carved stone temples in star shaped plans. The architecture of the Hoysalas is a hybrid of the nagara style of temple architecture of north India and the dravidian style from the South. The temples were built on platforms and had a star shaped plan. A navaranga was usually included as a place for people to gather and participate in cultural programs such as music and dance performances, story-telling from mythology, and religious discourses. Visual elements such as a gently curving bell shaped chajja, and lathe turned stone pillars with circular rings carved on them are typical stylistic elements of Hoysala architecture. Rich sculptural decoration is a mark of the highest artistic achievement of the Hoysalas. The exterior walls of the numerous temples were intricately decorated with stone sculptures and carving. These sculptures are rich with religious and cultural iconography depicting gods and goddesses, wars and victories, dance and music, hunting, games, processions, and the dress, jewelry, and daily life of people and scenes from the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and the Bhagavatham. The temples were built of a soft chlorite-schist stone quarried nearby that was especially soft when first quarried and hardened on contact with air. Other smaller temples, shrines, and mantapa dot the town. Mantapa that are pavilions or pillared halls of all sizes are a typical feature and occurred with temples and without.

　　Kalyani or stepped wells are commonly found in the Hoysala sacred ensembles. These wells served as an important source of water and were an important architectural structure. The lakes were places for bathing and ritual cleansing, worship, meditation, and water management for the agricultural areas surrounding the temple and town. Open Mantapas, present around the water bodies, provided shelter to visitors. A pushkarani or well was often located within the temple premises and a tank or lake adjacent to the temple.

　　The towns were planned on a cosmic diagram with main axes in the cardinal directions and the main temple at the center of town at the intersection of the axes. The temple complex had rathabeedi or wide streets for processions and circumambulation of the deities on enormous chariots. The town surrounded by a fort wall and moat as a defense mechanism. The typical settlement pattern consisted of a fortified area called kotte, and a commercial centre called pete. The kotte was on a slightly more elevated land and was made of mud and stone. Historians believe that typically, a dry moat or ditch surrounded the fort wall. The main temple was located in the middle of the fortified kotte on an elevated platform. The towns had grand entrance gateways in the four cardinal directions. Residential streets were narrow with an irregular grid. Outside the fort wall and around the lake were stretches of fields. A main street led from the temple to the pete forming the central spine of the town. The sacred ensembles of the Hoysalas at Belur and Halebid are the finest, most exquisite, and most representative examples of the artistic genius and cultural accomplishments of the Hoysalas remaining today.

　　Sacred Enesemble of the Hoysala at Belur

　　Belur was the first capital city of the Hoysalas. The Chennakeshava temple complex was at the center of the old walled town located on the banks of the Yagachi River. The complex itself was walled in a rectangular campus with four rectilinear streets around it for ritual circumambulation of the deity. Construction of the temple commenced in 1117 AD and took a 103 years to complete. A total of 118 stone inscriptions have been recovered from the temple complex covering a period from 1117 to 18th century, giving details of the artists employed, grants made to the temple and renovations done.

　　The Chennakeshava temple was devoted to Vishnu. The richly sculptured exterior of the temple includes sculptures and iconography and horizontal friezes that depict scenes from daily life, music, and dance, and narrate 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. Consecrated on a sacred site, the temple has remained continuously worshipped since its establishment and remains until today as a site of pilgrimage for Vaishnavites.

　　The layout of the town represents the cosmic diagram with walled kotte, the streets in four cardinal directions, the temples of anjaneya at the gates at the ends of these four cardinal streets, the rathabeedi or chariot streets around the temple, and the remains of the defensive wall and moat. Chariot festivals with processions around the temple complex and festivals centered on the Vishnusamudhra lake have continued to this day. Monuments of the Shankareshwara temple complex, devoted to Shiva were located on the bank of the lake to the north of the fortified town, the Kalasadakere.

　　Sacred Ensembles of Halebid

　　At the zenith of the Hoysala empire, the capital was shifted from Belur to Halebid that was then known as Dorasamudhra. Far bigger and grander than Belur, the city served as the capital for nearly three centuries. However, the fort was attacked numerous times by invaders from North India who finally succeed in pillaging the city in 1310. The main temple at the center, various other smaller temples ad shrines and palace buildings were all destroyed making it the ‘ruined city’ or Halebid. Despite all the destruction, some temples and structures of unparalleled beauty still remain.

　　The Hoysaleshwara temple at Halebidu is the most exemplary architectural ensemble of the Hoysalas extant today. Built in 1121CE during the reign of the Hoysala King, Vishnuvardhana Hoysaleshwara. The temple, dedicated to Shiva, was sponsored and built by wealthy citizens and merchants of Dorasamudra. While rulers have typically sponsored the grandest temples in southern India, the merchants of the city dedicated the Hoysaleshwara temple. The intertwining of the sacred and spiritual attainment with commerce and artistic achievement was most clearly evidenced in the Hoysaleshwara temple. More sculpturally and artistically sophisticated than any other Hoysala temple, the Hoysaleshwara temple is most well-known for the more than 240 wall sculptures that run all along the outer wall. Bands of intricately carved friezes run along the exterior wall expressing aspirational spiritual qualities, symbolism, and mythology.

　　Halebid has a walled complex containing of three Jaina basadi (temples) of the Hoysala period as well as a stepped well. The basadi are located in close proximity to the Dorasamudhra lake. The Parshvanatha Basadi, the Adinatha Basadi, and the Shanthinatha Basadi are three Jaina shrines containing tall idols of the Jaina deities. The Parshvanatha Basadi, as the largest of them also has niches for idols of the 24 thirthankaras or saints of Jainism.

　　The Kedareshwara temple is another exquisitely carved temple dedicated to Shiva that is close to the Jaina basadi complex and with a temple pond adjacent to it. Other somewhat more modest temples of the Hoysala period that are made of similar architectural elements, material, and style dot Halebid including the Ranganathaswamy temple, the Huccheshwara temple and the recently excavated remains of the Nagareshwara temple complex in addition to smaller shrines dedicated to Anjaneya and Ganesha. Dorasamudhra was built with defensive fortifications. The walls had 5 gateways in addition to the 4 main ones in the cardinal directions. Excavation has revealed the remains of an inner fortification protected the royal palace, offices, and women’s quarters.

　　Numerous tanks, wells, and ponds, are in and around the town and lakes just outside. The largest lake close to the Hoysaleshwara temple is the Dorasamudhra lake. Mantapa of various types are extant around the Dorasamudhra lake. Hulikere, located on the southern side of the town is a kalyani (stepped well) of exceptional beauty. Richly carved and decorated with numerous miniature shrines, the stone well is most outstanding example of Hoysala water structures extant today that combine artistry and hydrology with the sacred.