Belur

The most outstanding temple in belur is the chenakeshava, a monumental edifice that took 103 years to build, possibly because of the intricate details and the myriads of friezes and sculptures that embellish the temple walls. Scenes from the epics, elephants in battle and sensuous dancers come alive in stone. The 42 'madanikas' or celestial dancers were inspired by queen shantaladevi, who is said to have epitomized beauty. The hoysala architects had an eye for detail and such wizardry with their chisels that the earrings on the lobes of the dancers can rotate and beads of perspiration glisten in the hair of some. Belur was once the capital of a powerful empire on the banks of river yagachi, now called the banaras of the south, aka dakshina varanasi. Belur's main temple, chennakeshava (dedicated to lord krishna and set in a compound with several smaller temples and a pond), was commissioned by king vishnuvardhana in 1117 ad to celebrate hoysala military victories. It took over a hundred years to complete and its architecture is foreign to the prevailing hoysala style of the 12th century – it is exceptionally large (about 100-ft high) and its decoration very lavish (with a magnificent gateway tower – gopuram) in dravidian style. It is delicate in its filigree work, with the added attraction of bracketed figures of celestial dancers, called madanikas and exclusive to belur, and an innumerable variety of intricate pillars. Contrary to indian tradition, these hoysala sculptors signed their work at this temple.

Gopuram

Belur temple

Belur temple

Our guide enlightened us with an interesting tale of how the hoysala dynasty got its name. It is said that 'hoy sala', meaning ‘strike sala!’, were the words called out to sala, the legendary head of this dynasty, as he was involved in armed combat with a tiger. Sala immortalised himself and the tiger by single-handedly killing the beast, and this tale of heroism inspired the royal emblem of the hoysala dynasty, also to be found in the temple carvings. Hoysala architecture has its roots in today's

temple carvings