The Amruteshvara temple also spelt "Amrutesvara" or "Amruteshwara", is located in the village of Amruthapura, 67 km north of Chikmagalur town in the Chikkamagaluru district of the Karnataka state, India. Located 110 km from Hassan and 50 km from Shimoga on NH 206, Amruthapura is known for the Amruteshvara temple. The temple was built in 1196 CE by Amrutheshwara Dandanayaka (lit, "commander") under Hoysala King Veera Ballala II.

Amrutesvara temple

The temple is a built according to Hoysala architecture with a wide open mantapa (hall).Foekema (1996), p37 The temple has an original outer wall with unique equally spaced circular carvings. The temple has one vimana (shrine and tower) and therefore is a ekakuta design,Quote:"Depending on the number of towers, temples are classified as ekakuta (one), dvikuta (two), trikuta (three), chatushkuta (four) and panchakuta (five). The last two types are rare. Sometimes a trikuta temple is literally not trikuta as only the central of three shrines may have a superstructure", Foekema (1996), p25 and has a closed mantapa (hall) that connects the sanctum to the large open mantapa.

It is medium-sized Hoysala temple with certain vastu features similar to the Veera Narayana Temple, Belavadi in mantapa structure and size. The open mantapa has twenty nine bays,Quote:"A bay is a square or rectangular compartment in the hall", Foekema (1996) p36, p93 and the closed mantapa has nine bays with a side porch that leads to a separate shrine on the south side. The shrine is square in shape has the original superstructure (shikhara) which is adorned with sculptures of Kirtimukhas (demon faces), miniature decorative towers (aedicule). Below the superstructure, the usually seen panel of Hindu deities is absent. The base of the wall has five mouldings which according to art critic Foekema is an "older Hoysala style".Quote:"In a typical "older style" that was popular throughout most of the 12th century Hoysala temples, there is one set of eaves where the tower meets the wall of the shrine. The eaves runs all around the temple. Eaves is a projecting roof overhanging the temple wall. Below the eaves are decorated miniature towers on pilasters. Below these towers are the wall panels of Hindu Gods, Goddesses and their attendants. Below these panels are the five mouldings", Foekema (1996), p28 The sukanasi, the tower on top of the vestibule that connects the sanctum to the closed mantapa (the Sukanasi appears like the nose of the superstructure),Foekema(1996), p22 has the original Hoysala emblem of "Sala" fighting the lion.Foekema (1996), p22According to Kamath, Sala fights a tiger. According to historians such as C. Hayavadhana Rao, J. D. M. Derrett and B. R Joshi, "Sala" was the mythical founder of the empire, Kamath (2001), p123

The rows of shining lathe turned pillars that support the ceiling of the mantapa is a Hoysala-Chalukya decorative idiom.Quote:"a common feature of Western Chalukya-Hoysala temples", Kamath (2001), p117 The mantapa has many deeply domed inner ceiling structures adorned with floral designs. The outer parapet wall of the open mantapa has a total of hundred and forty panel sculptures with depictions from the Hindu epics. Unlike many Hoysala temples where the panels are small and carvings in miniature, these panels are comparatively larger. The Ramayana is sculpted on the south side wall on seventy panels, with the story proceeding quite unusually, in anti-clockwise direction. On the north side wall, all depictions are clockwise, a norm in Hoysala architectural articulation. Twenty five panels depict the life of the Hindu god Krishna and the remaining forty five panels depict scenes from the epic Mahabharata.

Ruvari Mallitamma, the well known sculptor and architect is known to have started his career here working on the domed ceilings in the main mantapa.Architectural marvel by P.B.Premkumar, Spectrum, Tuesday, 20 January 2004

The large stone inscription near the porch contains poems composed by medieval Kannada poet Janna who had the honorific Kavichakravarti (lit, "emperor among poets").

Gallery

Notes

See also Hoysala architecture Chikkamagaluru District

References Gerard Foekema, A Complete Guide to Hoysala Temples, Abhinav, 1996 Suryanath U. Kamath, A Concise history of Karnataka from pre-historic times to the present, Jupiter books, 2001, MCC, Bangalore (Reprinted 2002) , .

External links

Architectural marvel