Keshava Temple at Somanathapura In Karnataka

                                              Keshava Temple at Somanathapura

Somanathapura is famous for the Chennakesava Temple built by Soma, a dandanayaka in 1268 CE under Hoysala king Narasimha III, when the Hoysalas were the major power in South India. The Keshava temple is one of the finest examples of Hoysala architecture and is in a very well preserved condition. The temple is in the care of the Archeological Survey of India as a protected heritage site and visitors are allowed only from 9:00AM to 5:30PM.

Located on the banks of Cauvery River, Chennakesava Temple was built in 1268 by Somnatha, a general of King Narasimha III. The temple stands on a raised platform like other Hoysala temples. The temple comprises three shrines and three wonderfully carved peaks with a common Mandapa. The three sanctums once housed beautifully carved idols of Keshava, Janardhana and Venugopala. Today, the idol of Lord Kesava is missing but the other two are still worshipped by the visitors.
The Somnathpur temple is famous for its elaborate and intricate sculptures. The temple is enclosed in a walled courtyard with a mandapa running along the wall. The temple is built on an elevated star shaped platform. At the temple, the outer walls of the main temple are decorated with a series of star-shaped folds and the entire surface is covered with carved stone plaques. The walls above the plinth are also carved with exquisite figures of gods and goddesses taken from the Hindu puranas and arranged in vertical panels.
The most characteristic feature of this temple is its 16 different ceilings, each depicting a different stage of a blooming plantain (banana flower). Small and large pieces of finely carved stone chips are set in complicated patterns. One of the main highlights of this temple is the central wall space. There are images of deities decorated with heavy jewellery, bangles on every arm, towering crowns and chunky anklets. The vimana over the sanctums have greatly carved images of gods.

The Kesava temple is a fantastic piece of art. It consists of three identical shrines built on a raised platform - with a common entrance chamber in an enclosed courtyard.
The main shrine is dedicated to Kesava; however there is no image of worship now. The other shrines are dedicated to Janardhana and Venugopala.
These shrines are only about 30 feet in height. Yet they are covered profusely with ornate sculpture of the highest order, as seen in the Hoysala temples of Belur and Halebidu, with themes from the Indian epics, nature and so on.
An open corridor runs around the circumambulatory path and it has sixty four cells, meant for housing images of divinities (as in the kailasanatha temple at Kanchipuram). These cells are now bereft of images.
The temple is regarded as perfect in symmetry with exquisite stone carvings. As it stands in the middle of a walled compound, the temple is an open verandah having 64 cells. It consists of carved pinnacles and a common Navranga that stands on a raised platform. The excellent architecture on this temple is symbolic of the master craftsmanship done by Mallitamma. The exterior walls of the temple are adorned with exquisite sculptures of Vishnu and there are images of 194 other idols as well. The Hindu mythological characters are sculpted on the walls of the temple. There are three splendidly carved sanctums that of the idol of Lord Keshava, Lord Janardhana and Lord Venugopala of which the idol of Lord Keshava is missing.

History Of Keshava Temple, Somanathapura :-

The Keshava Temple at Somanathapura was constructed by a commander of the Hoysala Army, Somanatha. This general had just established a small town here named after himself – Somanathapura. Obviously enjoying the favor of his overlord, the Hoysala King Narasimha III, he appealed to the king for permission and resources to undertake the project of building the magnificent temple. With the blessing of the king, the construction was started.
The construction of the temple was completed and consecrated in 1268 AD. There is an Old Kannada inscription on a stone slab in the temple which gives all these details.

Somnathpur is a small village in the Tarumakudalu Narasipur Taluk of the Karnataka district and is situated about 0.8 kilometre (half a mile) from the Kaveri river. It is about 32 kilometres (twenty miles) from Sirangapatnam. According to epigraphical records, Somnath (Soma), an officer under Narasimha III (A.D. 1254-1291), built the Kesava temple in A.D. 1268. The temple is situated in a courtyard measuring 65.53 by 53.95 metres (215 by 177 feet) the main structure is placed on a metre (three feet) high stone platform. It is a three-celled structure (Trikutachala), the main cell facing the cast and the other two facing the north and south; they are surmounted by three elegantly carved towers which are identical in design and execution.

Outer Wall:-

Temple of Somnathpur:-

On both sides of the entrance, there runs around the front hall a railed parapet (Jagati) and from the bottom upwards horizontal friezes of elephants, horsemen, scroll - work scenes from the Epics and the Puranas, turretted pillars, miniature erotic sculpture, and lions intervening between them, and a rail divided into panels by double columns with tiny figures, have enhanced the beauty of the temple. Above them are perforated stone windows (Jali); they are also beautifully decorated with filigree work and images. From the corners on both sides of the entrance, where the rail parapet ends, there begins a row of large images with different types of ornamental canopies. Just below these images there are six horizontal friezes the first four are identical with the railed parapet design but the fifth and sixth have a frieze of mythical beasts (Makaras) surmounted by' a row of swans (or peacocks).

Somnathpur Temple Wall OutSide:-

We can easily sum up the number of large images on the walls as one hundred and ninety-four. There are fifty-four in the south cell; in the corner between the west and north cells there are only fourteen figures, and there are fifty-four images round the north cell. The Brahmanical deities represented by the above images are Vishnu and his different incarnations (i.e., Narasimha, Varaha, Hayagriva, Venugopal and Parasurama), Brahma, Shiva, Ganapati, Indra-Indrani, Hara-Parvati, Manmatha, Surya, Garuda, Shakti, Mahishasura-mardini, Karttikeya, Lakshmi, Sarasvati and a Gandharva. Moreover, apart from the friezes of the Epics and the Puranas the portions running round the south cell presents scenes from the Ramayana; the west cell has scenes from the Bhagavata-Purana and the north has representatives Mahabharata stories.

Internal Arrangement:-

As the temple contains three cells, each cell consists of a Garbha-griha (Adytum) and a Sukhanasi (vestibule). On the chief cell (Garbha-griha), just opposite to the main entrance, there was a Vishnu (Keshava) image about 1 .52 meters (5 feet) high, but it has been stolen. As a result, it is absolutely a dead temple; nobody cares to offer puja (worship) here. However, the authorities have replaced the lost Vishnu image by another of the same size. The temple is now under the exclusive control of the Archaeological Survey of India.

Somnathpur Temple:-

The north cell has a beautiful image of Janardana, of about 1.88 meters (6 feet) height, and Venugopala (Krishna) of the same height breaks the monotony of the southern cell. With a great amount of ecstasy VenugopaIa is playing his flute before his rapt listeners, including men and animals. And this panel is really a magnificent specimen of medieval Indian art. Thus, judging from the figures here the lost image of Keshava (Krishna) must have been a piece of wonderful worksmanship. The lintels of both the Garbha-griha and the Sukhanasi doorways of all the cells are carefully decorated.
The chief cell of the Garbha-griha doorway depicts a seated figure of Vishnu at the top, an image of Lakshmi-Narayana in the centre and the ten incarnations of Vishnu at the bottom. As the base there is a tiny elephant over the Sukhanasi doorway, Paravasudeva and Keshava are also seen, apparently Vishnu as a Dvarapala (door-keeper) is on the jambs of both the doorways.

Temple of Somnathpur:-

The Navaranga (central hall) has six ceiling panels and the Mukha-mandapa (front hall) has nine. All of them are 0.91 meter (three feet) deep and are artistically executed with the plantain flower (Kadali-Pushpa) design; and formerly difficult colors were painted on them. Four bell-shaped pillars support the Navaraga and fourteen of them hold the Mukha-mandapa; they are all artistically-designed.
Like many other Hoysala temples, some names of the scupltors are engraved on the pedestals of different images.

They are Mallitamma (Malli), Baleya, Chaudeya, Bamaya, Masanitamma, Bharmaya, Nanjaya and Yalamasay. Thus, the sculptor Mallitamma played a very significant role in the decoration of the Keshave temple at Somnathpur. Most probably he was the artist mainly responsible for the magnificent work to be seen there. In A.D. 1249, he also worked in the Lakshmi-Narasinha temple at Nuggihalli in the Channarayapatna Taluk of Hassan district, and we necessarily must attach great historical value to three temples for their unique contribution to Indian plastic art. In this connection, we should discuss the role of the legendary sculptor, Jakanachari, who is believed to have constructed many temples of the Hoysalas. But no such name has been found in any temple of Karnataka. It may be a corruption of the Sanskrit word Dashinacharya, that is, a sculptor of the South school" and perhaps does not denote any particular artist. There is another possibility that he was the chief architect and sculptor of many Hoysala temples; and unlike an ordinary artist he did not like to inscribe his name on them.

Somnathpur Temple Hall:-

There are many temples and Jain-bastis which were embellished with same amount of skill. Among them Lakshmidevi, Kappe-Channigarah, Kirtinarayana, Trimurti, Kedareshvara, Harihara, Someshvara, and many others, are of great artistic value and they were built during the heyday of the Hoysalas. “Whether we look at these temples as disinterested historians or art critics or engineers interested in the details of their structure and beauty, one fundamental truth stands out for all time, that from faith springs devotion and from devotion the virtues of courage, patience, sacrifice and intelligence. For otherwise it is hard to explain the enormous amount of labour and skill that hosts of masons and sculptors poured for centuries into the construction of these exquisite temples. To modern generations, they have become a legend. But still many devotees of Hindu culture who seek inspiration and enlightenment from a knowledge of the past will not be disappointed by a pilgrimage to these centre’s of ancient art of Mysore.”

Deity and sculptures:-

The ceiling of hall is supported by lathe curved pillars. Between pillars, the ceiling is arched as well as intricately decorated. These decorations comprise multi-petalled lotuses, banana bud motifs depending on stepped ponds as well as ananta (snake) knots indicating eternity. Among the three shrines, one is dedicated to Keshava, however the idol is missing from the sanctum. Another two shrines accommodate idols of Janardhana and Venugopala (the three idols are different incarnation of Lord Vishnu). That is exactly a Vaishnava temple and you can find no representation of any types of Hindu God Shiva.
Many sculptures are usually of depictions of the prosperity of that period including members of royal family driving well decorated chariots, soldiers as well as commoners driving horses, camel drawn vehicles, dancers, musicians, hunters armed with bows & arrows and along with their dogs, and going for the hunt. You can find sculptures of palaces of the kings protected by armed guards, jewellery including pendants, bracelets, waistbands and necklaces as well as female with unique hair styles too.
The names of the many architects and sculptors are found from which it is clear of the fact that designers used to be both local as well as from outside the province. The well-known Ruvari Mallithamma, Masanithamma, Chameya, Rameya, Chaudeya as well as Nanjeya are accounted as locals whereas Pallavachari and Cholavachari are considered artists belonging to Tamil region.

Keshava Temple, Somanathapura – Facts:-

This Hoysala temple is stunningly beautiful. Unfortunately, this temple is no longer used as a place of worship because the idols here have been broken and the temple was desecrated by the invading armies of the Muslim Sultanate. But the beautiful temple still charms visitors and reminds people of the magnificent artistic and engineering achievements of the era.

How to Reach to Keshava Temple, Somanathapura:-

Somanathapura is 38 km from Mysore. You can get bus service from Mysore and Srirangapatna to Somanathapura. There is also a Railway Station in Somanathapura. You can visit this temple throughout the year, as there is no particular time.

By Air:-

 Bangalore International Airport

By Rail:-

 Maddur

By Road:-

 Somanathapura is well connected by road network.
One can reach Somanathpura from Mysore via T. Narasipura and Bannur
Somanathapura can be reached from Bangalore via Ramanagara, Channapattana, Maddur and Bannur.