The Hoysala Temples of Karnataka Join the World Heritage List
UNESCO listed three temples at Belur, Halebidu and Somanathapura in September 2023. Built of soft grey-green stone in the 12th and 13th centuries, they carry the most intricate sculpture in southern India.
Three temples in the south Indian state of Karnataka were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list on 18 September 2023 as the Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas. They became India’s 42nd World Heritage site, a day after Santiniketan was listed at the same session.
The Hoysalas
The Hoysala dynasty ruled the southern Deccan from the eleventh to the fourteenth century. Its kings and their officers built more than a hundred temples, in a style of their own. The architects took elements from the temple traditions of north, south and central India and combined them. The typical plan is a star with many points, set on a raised platform that worshippers walk around. The walls follow the points of the star, which multiplies the surfaces available for carving.
The stone is chloritic schist, usually called soapstone. It is soft when quarried and hardens in the air, and it can be cut almost like wood. The sculptors used it to produce figures with jewellery, hair and drapery in the finest detail. Many of them signed their work, which is rare in Indian art.
The three temples
The Chennakeshava temple at Belur was founded in 1117 by King Vishnuvardhana and is dedicated to Vishnu. It is still in worship. It is known for the bracket figures under its eaves, dancers and musicians and a woman looking into a mirror, and for the turned stone pillars of its hall.
The Hoysaleswara temple at Halebidu, the dynasty’s capital, was completed around 1160 and is dedicated to Shiva. Its outer wall is banded with friezes that run right round the building: elephants at the base, then lions, horsemen, scrolls of foliage and scenes from the epics, and above them hundreds of large figures of the gods.
The Keshava temple at Somanathapura dates from 1258 and was built by a general named Somanatha. It is the smallest and the most complete, with three shrines and three towers within a cloistered court.
For travellers
Belur and Halebidu are sixteen kilometres apart, near the town of Hassan, about four hours by road from Bengaluru. They are usually seen together in a day, with a night at Hassan or on one of the coffee estates of Chikkamagaluru nearby. Somanathapura is in a different direction, 38 kilometres east of Mysuru, and is easily added to a visit to that city and its palace. The cooler, dry months from October to March are the best time. Shoes are left at the entrance, and the stone platforms become hot by midday.