Arakeshvara Temple, Hole Alur

Arakeshvara Temple
Hindu temple
View of Arakeshvara temple mantapa (10th century A.D.)
Country	India
State	Karnataka
District	Chamarajanagar District
Languages
• Official	Kannada
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)

Closed mahamantapa with circular pillars with bas-relief depictions of battle scenes

Open nandimantapa with circular pillars with bas-relief depictions of battle scenes

The Arakeshvara Temple, dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, is located in the village of Hole Alur in the Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka state, India. According to the historian Sarma, the temple which dates back to the middle of the 10th century rule of the Western Ganga Dynasty appears to have been renovated in later periods. It was constructed by King Butuga II around 949 A.D. to celebrate his victory over the Cholas of Tanjore in the historically important battle of Takkolam. It was a military engagement between crown prince Rajaditya, son of the Chola King Parantaka I, and King Butaga II (a powerful vassal of the Rashtrakuta emperor Krishna III).^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] The temple is protected as a monument of national importance by the central Archaeological Survey of India.^[3]^[6]

Temple plan

The temple has a simple plan characteristic of Western Ganga constructions. It has a sanctum (garbhagriha), a vestibule (called sukhanasi) that connects to the sanctum a large well sculptured closed hall (navaranga or mahamantapa) and an open, elevated and detached mantapa outside facing the shrine containing the sculptured image of nandi (the companion of the Hindu god Shiva) facing east (called the nandimantapa). The base on which the temple is raised (called adhishthana) is a simple set of moldings.^[3]

The overall decoration is simple with dancing celestial maiden (apsaras) within volutes of scrolls (lata-patra, lit, "creeper leaf") which extend over the door jamb and linel. On either side of the entrance doorway are two tall rectangular vertical slabs reaching up to the lintel, divided into four panels with relief friezes depicting male drummers (called dola-nritya). The top panel has rustic male dancers who appear to dance to a musicians' ensemble who play the drum, violin, rudra veena, flute and the kanjira. According to the historian Sarma, in no contemporary temple are such native (desi) forms of dance depicted.^[7] The most interesting bas-relief sculptures in the temple, according to Sarma, are the ones on the rounded pillars in the nandimantapa and the closed mahamantapa. These relief vividly depict the victory of Butaga II over the Chola prince Rajaditya, in addition to themes from the Hindu epics, mythical figures and demi-gods.^[3]^[5]^[8] The high point of the relief work, in the closed mahamantapa is the ashtadikpalaka grid ("guardians of eight directions") in the ceiling with a central dancing Shiva (called natya shiva). There are several independent sculptures in the closed hall, including Mahishasuramardini (version of the goddess Durga slaying an asura), Yago Dakshinamurthy (god Shiva as "the teacher"), Saptamatrika (seven celestial mothers) and other sculptures that adhere to the 8th-9th century Ganga-Chalukya sculptural idiom.^[9]

Notes

↑ Kamath (1980), p.83
↑ Sastri (1955), p.162
1 2 3 4 "Sri Arakesvara temple". Archaeological Survey of India, Bengaluru Circle. Archaeological Survey of India. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
↑ Chopra, Ravindran and Subrahmanian (2003), p.97
1 2 Sarma (1992), p.21, p.111
↑ "Alphabetical List of Monuments - Karnataka -Bangalore, Bangalore Circle, Karnataka". Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India. Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
↑ Sarma (1992) p.107
↑ Sarma (1992), pp.109-110
↑ Sarma (1992), p.107

References

"Sri Arakesvara temple". Archaeological Survey of India, Bengaluru Circle. Archaeological Survey of India. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
Kamath, Suryanath U. (2001) [1980]. A concise history of Karnataka : from pre-historic times to the present. Bangalore: Jupiter books. LCCN 80905179. OCLC 7796041.
Sarma, I.K. (1992) [1992]. Temples of the Gangas of Karnataka. New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India. ISBN 0-19-560686-8.
Sastri, Nilakanta K.A. (2002) [1955]. A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar. New Delhi: Indian Branch, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-560686-8.
Chopra, P.N.; Ravindran, T.K.; Subrahmanian, N (2003) [2003]. History of South India (Ancient, Medieval and Modern) Part 1, The Cholas-Vijayalaya line. New Delhi: Chand Publications. ISBN 81-219-0153-7.

Gallery

"Guardians of eight directions" in relief on mahamantapa ceiling in Arakeshvara temple at Hole Alur
Natya Shiva (dancing Shiva) depiction on ceiling in Arakeshvara temple at Hole Alur
A "guardian" (dikpala) on the ceiling in Arakeshvara temple at Hole Alur
A "guardian" on the ceiling in Arakeshvara temple at Hole Alur
mantapa pillar with intricate bas-relief in the Arakeshwara temple at Hole Alur
Nandi mantapa pillar with depictions from the battle of Takkolam in relief in the Arakeshwara temple at Hole Alur
Musicians in relief on vertical slab in the Arakeshwara temple at Hole Alur
Hero stone with relief sculpture in the Arakeshwara temple at Hole Alur
Dakshinamurthy in the Arakeshwara temple at Hole Alur
Mahishasuramardini in the Arakeshwara temple at Hole Alur
Deity sculpture in relief in the Arakeshwara temple at Hole Alur
Varaha in relief in the Arakeshwara temple at Hole Alur

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arakeshwara Temple, Hole Alur.

Indian state of Karnataka

Overviews	Architecture Cinema Climate Cuisine Demography Economy Education Folk Arts Geography History Media People Sports Transportation Wildlife

History	Aihole Alupa dynasty Amoghavarsha Badami Banavasi Balligavi Belur Chalukya dynasty Chitradurga Nayakas Deva Raya II Durvinita Halebidu Haleri Kingdom Halmidi Hampi Hoysala Empire Kadamba dynasty Kalyani Chalukyas Keladi Nayakas Shivappa Nayaka Kittur Chennamma Kingdom of Mysore Mayurasharma Pattadakal Pulakeshin II Rashtrakuta dynasty Sringeri Srirangapatna Tipu Sultan Unification of Karnataka Vijayanagara Empire Vijayanagara Vishnuvardhana Veera Ballala II Vikramaditya II Vikramaditya VI Western Ganga dynasty

Geography	Cities and towns Districts Rivers Dams and Reservoirs Taluks Villages Highest point Bayalu Seeme Malenadu Karavali Western Ghats

Culture	Bharata Natyam Bhuta Kola Bidriware Channapatna toys Chitrakala Parishat Gaarudi Gombe Ilkal saree Kamsale Kannada Karnatik music Kasuti Khedda Mysore Dasara Togalu Gombeyaata Udupi cuisine Veeragase Yakshagana Mysore musicians

Literature	Kannada Milestones Epics Medieval Rashtrakuta Western Ganga Western Chalukya Hoysala Vijayanagara Vachana Haridasa Mysore Play Modern Kannada Sahitya Parishat Kannada Sahitya Sammelana Karnataka

Noted poets	Asaga Gunavarma I Adikavi Pampa Sri Ponna Ranna Devar Dasimayya Basava Akka Mahadevi Allama Prabhu Siddharama Harihara Raghavanka Rudrabhatta Janna Kumara Vyasa Chamarasa Nijaguna Shivayogi Ratnakaravarni Purandara Dasa Kanaka Dasa Vijaya Dasa Gopala Dasa Jagannatha Dasa Lakshmisa Sarvajna Shishunala Sharif Krishnaraja Wadiyar III D. R. Bendre Gopalakrishna Adiga K. S. Narasimhaswamy M. Govinda Pai Kuvempu D. V. Gundappa G. S. Shivarudrappa

People and Society	Karnataka ethnic groups List of people from Karnataka

Tourism	Beaches Dams Forts National Parks Hindu Temples Jain Temples Waterfalls

Awards	Karnataka Ratna Pampa Award Nrupatunga Award Basava Puraskara Rajyotsava Prashasti Jakanachari Award Varnashilpi Venkatappa Award

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 2/5/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.