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The Gods themselves were so taken in by the
excellence of perfect design and delicate craftsmanship of the Kesava
temple, that they tried to steal it from earth.
The three towers of the
Prasanna Channa Kesava temple at Somnathpur were aglow in the early
morning light with a group of Indian and foreign tourists alighted
under the huge umbrella tree in front of the shrine. They had come a
half hour earlier than the scheduled opening of the temple. The
resourceful guide anticipating complaining murmurs, took control of
the situation and ordered for them Mysore’s steaming filtered
coffee from the neighbouring tourist hotel Mayura. As the visitors
began to savour the celebrated brew, he engaged them by narrating the
very interesting legend associated with the temple.
This temple is the
creation of the master architect and sculptor Jakanachari who left
his wife and son to travel in his quest for a living and fame.
Eventually, he approached the Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana, a patron
of the arts, who employed him to create this marvel of a temple. The
excellence of his perfect design and delicate craftsmanship became
the envy of gods who employed him to create this marvel of a temple.
The excellence of his perfect design and delicate craftsmanship
became the envy of the gods who wanted to teal it. They caused the
shrine to rise heavenward. Shocked and angry, Jakanachari thought
that the only way he could retain the structure on he ground was to
make it a little imperfect. He instantly disfigured some of the
carvings on the outer walls. Once the gods found that the perfection
was marred, they coveted it no longer and allowed it to sink to the
ground. In the process, its traditional flagstone got dislodged from
its original position and since then stands to the left of the main
entrance.
The Kesava temple at
Somnathpur, a somnolent village 45 kilometers from Mysore, is one of
the most famous Hoysala temples in Karnataka, the two others at Belur
an Halebid being equally famous. The Somnathpur temple built in AD
1268 is considered an example of the fully evolved style of Hoysala
architecture. The Hoysalas were a mighty marital race who ruled large
parts of presentday Karnataka between 1100 and 1320 AD. They
bequeathed some of the great masterpieces in temple architecture and
sculpture. Their reign was noted for its peace and a leisurely life
and so they were able to encourage talent of all kinds. They also
encouraged a healthy sense of competition between artisans who were
allowed to sign their names below their creations something unheard
of before their times and this served as an incentive. The Hoysala
ruler commissioned the building of temples as an act of thanksgiving
after their victories in the battlefield. Victory then imbued art
with incredible intricacy.
From the fine inscription
on the slab at the entrance porch of the Kesava temple, we learn that
Somnatha, a high ranking officer under the Hoysala king Narasimha III
(AD 1254-1291) established the
village as an agrahara or rent-free settlement to the people in the
surrounding areas. He then named it Somnathpur after himself. He had
this Vishnu temple constructed in it in AD 1268. It is situated in
the middle of a courtyard surrounded by an open veranda which
contains 64 cells. It stands on a raised platform about three feet
high, which closely follows the contour of the structure and is
supported at angled by figures of elephants facing outwards.
The temple is a
trikutachala or three-called, star-shaped structure, the main cell
facing east and the other two, north and south respectively. All
these cells are surmounted by three elegantly carved towers which are
identical in design and execution. The front elevation with the three
towers presents an imposing appearance and has inspired craftsmen to
design silver and gold caskets on this model.
An important feature of
the Kesava temple is that it is squat and on a refreshingly human
scale. Here, there is no universal vaulting pyramidical tower like in
other South Indian temples. There is no need for one to crane one’s
neck and use field glasses to view the marvelous carvings that
proliferate on the towers walls. As the three towers are somewhat
dwarfish, the elaborately carved sculptures on them can be viewed at
eye level.
The outer walls of the
temple have a number of railed parapets running the whole way round
the shrine. They contain, beginning from the bottom, running friezes
of beautiful scrulptures of caparisoned elephants, charging horsemen,
swans, mythological beasts and scrolls. Besides, there are more
running friezes depicting themes from the Indian epics, the Ramayana,
the Mahabharata and the Bhagvata Puranas. There are
turreted niches with small images of lions separating them. Above
them and below the eaves are perforated screens.
The outer walls are an
art connoiseur’s delight. They contain elaborately carved
sculptures of Vishnu and other deities-as many as 194, of which 114
are female figures. The gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon are
represented by the majority of figures of Vishnu and his many
incarnations such as Narsimha, Varaha, Hayagriva and Venugopala.
There are also elegantly sculptured figures of Brahma, Siva and Indra
seated with his consort Sanchi on the elephant Airavata. There is an
exceptionally beautiful figures of Saraswathi, the goddess of
learning and of Durga as Mahisasuramardhini.
A unique feature of the
Kesava temple like all other Hoysava temple, is the fact that the
images on the outer walls bear on their pedestals the names of the
sculptors who carved them, like Mallitamma, Baleyan, Choudeya and
Yelamasaya. Forty sculptures bear the name of Mallitamma alone and,
he must have been, obviously, the master craftsman. These signed
works of art glow with elaborate ornamentation very characteristic of
Hoysala sculpture. Many sculptors, equally skilled and even more
renowned, have preferred anonymity of authorship. It is noteworthy
that nowhere in the temple do we find the name of the legendary
Jakanachari, the man who is supposed to have constructed the temple.
It is the opinion of many scholars that there was no master builder
by the name of Jakanchari.
Fergusson in his
description of the Somnathpur temple speaks of the elegance of
outline and marvelous elaboration of detail that characterizes it.
Its height seems to be only about 30 feet which, if it stood in the
open, would be too small for architectural effect, but in the center
of an enclosed court and where there are no objects to contrast with
it, it produces an everlasting impression of grandeur.
Says workman in his
Through Town and Jungle: If any parts can be called finer than
others, the palm must be given to the three stellate towers. Not a
square inch of their surface is without decoration. These towers
absolutely captivate the mind by their profusion of detail and
perfection of outline; and there is no suggestion of superfluity in
the endless concourse of figures and designs. To construct a building
of less than 35 feet in height, load it from bottom to top with
carvings and produce the effect not only of beauty and perfect
symmetry but also impressiveness, shows supreme talent on the part of
the architects.
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