Chennakeshava Temple, Belur
Interesting facts
- The temple once had a tall tower over its sanctum, but it was taken down in the late 19th century when it began to collapse and was never rebuilt.
- Local tradition holds that the tower of the small Somyanayaki shrine in the courtyard is a miniature copy of the lost main tower.
- The hall was first open to the air; stone screens added in the 14th century for security darkened it, and ten carry carved scenes, including a Hoysala royal court.
- According to local legend the Narasimha pillar, carved from top to bottom with tiny figures including a miniature bull, could once be turned on its base.
- On the four bracket figures under the central dome, some of the carved stone necklaces and bracelets hang free and can actually be moved.
- The temple was raided and its gateway burned in the 14th century; the Vijayanagara rulers repaired it and raised a seven-storey brick gopuram in 1397.
- Queen Shantala Devi sponsored the smaller Kappe Chennigaraya temple beside it; according to legend its name comes from a frog, kappe, found near the idol's navel.
- The sculptor Dasoja and his son Chavana, from Balligavi, are each credited with several of the temple's celebrated bracket figures.
- Though dedicated to Vishnu, the temple's carvings also include Shiva, Shakti goddesses, a Jain Jina and the Buddha.
- Hoysala rulers built about 1,500 temples in some 958 centres between roughly 1000 and 1346.
Why it is worth it
The Chennakeshava temple at Belur is where Hoysala sculpture reaches its most lavish. King Vishnuvardhana commissioned it in 1117 on the bank of the Yagachi river, and inscriptions say the work went on through three generations, more than a century in all. Dedicated to Vishnu as Chennakeshava, the "handsome Keshava", it is still a living temple, and since 2023 it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas, together with nearby Halebidu and Somanathapura.
The building itself is compact, set on a raised platform with a stepped, star-like outline that multiplies the corners of the walls and gives every surface its own play of light and shadow. The stone is a fine-grained chloritic schist, often called soapstone, which allowed the carvers an almost jeweller's precision. On the outer walls some eighty large reliefs of gods and goddesses stand above bands of friezes, and under the eaves lean the madanikas, bracket figures of dancers, musicians and women at their toilette, originally forty and now thirty-eight. They reward close looking: every face, bangle and fold of cloth was worked separately.
Inside, the mood changes to dim, polished intimacy. The hall is carried on pillars, many of them turned on a lathe so that their rings and bells gleam like metal; the most celebrated are the intricately carved Narasimha pillar and the Mohini pillar. More than a hundred inscriptions have been found in the temple, and several of the sculptors signed their work, among them Ruvari Mallitamma, who left his name on more than forty pieces. The whole complex stands in a walled courtyard with smaller shrines, a stepped tank and an entrance gateway tower.
Getting there
The temple stands in the centre of the town of Belur, about 35 km from Hassan and some 16 km from the Hoysala temples at Halebidu, which are usually visited on the same day. The nearest airport is Mangaluru International Airport (IXE), about 108 km away in a straight line; many visitors instead come by road from Bengaluru, around 220 km away.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
The Chennakeshava Temple, also referred to as the Keshava, Kesava or Vijayanarayana Temple, is a 12th-century Hindu temple in the Hassan district of Karnataka, India. It was commissioned by King Vishnuvardhana in 1117 CE, on the banks of the Yagachi River in Belur, an early Hoysala Empire capital. The temple was built over three generations and took 103 years to finish. It was repeatedly damaged and plundered during wars, repeatedly rebuilt and repaired over its history. It is located 35 km from Hassan city and about 220 km from Bengaluru.
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