Somanathapura Temple

The Chennakeshava temple at Somanathapura was consecrated in 1258 and is the most complete surviving Hoysala building, built on a star-shaped platform with three shrines around a common hall, the whole set within a pillared cloister. Hoysala builders used chloritic schist, a soapstone soft enough when quarried to be carved almost like wood and hardening on exposure, which allowed the density of detail: horizontal friezes of elephants, horsemen, foliage and epic scenes run round the base, and larger figures stand above, with ceilings inside worked into deep coiled patterns. It was inscribed by UNESCO in 2023 with Belur and Halebidu.

History

The town was founded in the 13th century by Somanatha, a general of the Hoysala king Narasimha III, who set it up as an agrahara, land granted to Brahmins with resources to build and keep temples, and it took his name. At its centre he built the Kesava temple, consecrated in 1258, as well as a Panchalinga temple to Shiva and a fort wall, now in ruins; of the further temples he built in the region only the Lakshminarasimha remains, itself a ruin, the others having been lost when wars between Hindu kingdoms and Muslim sultanates ravaged the region. The Kesava temple was badly damaged, as 15th-century inscriptions record, and was repaired in the 16th century with grants from the Vijayanagara emperors, which shows in the different colour and quality of the stone in parts of the veranda, the northern tower and the platform; damaged again in the 19th century, it was repaired once more in the early 20th by the Mysore government. It is one of some 1,500 temples built under the Hoysala kings (Wikipedia, Chennakeshava Temple, Somanathapura).

The main sights

• The star platform - the stepped stellate base the temple stands on.
• The frieze bands - elephants, horsemen and epic scenes around the base.
• The three shrines - a triple sanctum around a shared hall.
• The ceilings - deep coiled soapstone patterns inside the hall.

When to go

October to March; Karnataka's plains are hot from March. Morning light rakes the friezes best. The site is quiet compared with Belur and Halebidu.

What to expect

The main images in the shrines were damaged and the temple is no longer in worship. Some outer figures were defaced historically. The site is compact and a visit takes under two hours.

Nearby

Mysore lies west; Talakadu is south on the Kaveri.

Key facts