Sunday, July 20, 2014

Mallikarjuna Temple, Basaralu

Basaralu is a small village in the Mandya district of Karnataka 75kms from Mysore and 130kms from Bangalore. This village is known primary for the ornate Mallikarjuna Temple. This temple dedicated to Lord Shiva was built in the 13th Century by Harihara Dannayaka, who was in charge of the armies under the Hoysala King Narasimha II. 



The temple is a fine specimen of Hoysala architecture and it stands on a platform. The temple plan is that of a three shrined with only the one shrine having a tower. The three shrines are connected by a common hall. Since the lateral shrines have no tower over them, they do not appear like shrines at all from the outside. Rather, they are absorbed into the walls of hall. 



The tower and walls of the temple are highly decorative with intricate carvings of Gods, animals. The tower has a large domed roof over it and the kalasa on top of it. 



By the side of tower is the Hoysala emblem of the Hoysala warrior fighting a lion. The base of the temple has six layers of intricate pattikas starting with war elephants at the bottom, horse riders above it, the Hoysala emblem, scenes from episodes like the Mahabarata, Bhagavata and Ramayana, crocodiles and the last layer has swans. 



The exterior walls of the temple are carved beautifully. Some of the sculptures on the walls are Ganesha, Narsimha, Shanmuga. 



How to Reach: Traveling from Bangalore to Mysore at Mandya turn right to Nagmangala. It is around 25kms from Nagmangala.

33 comments:

Donna Janke said...

The temple is stunning. Such intricate carvings. I've not heard of Hoysala architecture before.

Pradeepa said...

Beautiful temple! Such intricate carvings at the base of the temple!

Muza-chan said...

Amazing sculptures...

Unknown said...

I would find it a little overwhelming, so many beautiful carvings!

http://joshidaniel.com/ said...

always loved to see these beautifully carved walls :)

Megha said...

Nice pictures.. Informative too..

R Niranjan Das said...

Nice sculptures and glad to know about this temple.

Unknown said...

Wow! The exterior walls are really intricate!

Jeevan said...

Great perspective and detail on the temple! Awesome carvings all over the temple

Anonymous said...

Marvellous and so full of history.

Sylvia K said...

Beautiful temple and wonderful captures as always, Rajesh!! A great visit to your world!!

Carver said...

Beautiful temple. I love the carvings.

islandwonder said...

Wow! The building is so ornate and beautiful. Nice shots!

Barb said...

I enlarged you photos for a better persecutive on the stone carvings. You visit such amazing antiquity, Rajesh.

Al said...

I never stop being amazed by this intricate stonework. Nice captures!

Indrani said...

Great framing Rajesh!
The one against the sky is fantastic!

Anonymous said...

oh c'est superbe

Joe Todd said...

So much history

K.A. Acharya said...

Wonderful capture...beautiful temple and sculpture.

Anita Sabat said...

Great pic!

Roger Owen Green said...

some of these are quite ornate! lovely.

ROG, ABC Wednesday

Hildred said...

Marvelous! Thanks for sharing all this wonderful architecture.

Andrea @ From The Sol said...

It is hard to imagine how such a temple could be built. The time and effort it would take plus the artisanship. In our modern age we don't have the patience to accomplish this kind of beauty. Beautiful Temple and thank you for sharing so much information.

Andrea @ From The Sol

Unknown said...

Great sculptures, hats off for capturing those vividly and thanks for sharing it widely :)

Gattina said...

What a stunning artwork !
Gattina
ABC Team

Lmkazmierczak said...

Deep history to that building...makes me realize how young the USA is♪ http://lauriekazmierczak.com/bumblebee-5/

fredamans said...

Such an intricately carved temple. Beautiful architecture!

Anonymous said...

Such an intricate architecture. I just wonder how will the lack of tools back then they would have done all this.
Beautiful pictures!

Kokila gupta said...

Exquisite! Beautiful shots Rajesh.

Moon said...

Splendid captures!

Arun Muthusamy said...

Beautiful temple. Amazing architecture. My visit here -
http://aruntravelpics.blogspot.in/2014/11/hoysala-temples-2-basaralu.html

Abhijit Ray said...

Wonderfully detailed commentary on architecture of temple. Felt i was there. Great!

Anonymous said...

stunning pics :)