The Chennakeshava temple (also spelt "Chennakesava" or called "Chennigaraya"), dedicated to the Hindu god

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

is located in

Turuvekere Turuvekere is a panchayat town and Taluk in Tumakuru district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Karnataka. Geography Turuvekere is located at , about 12 km, South of the Banasandra railway station. It has an average e ...

, a small town in the

Tumkur district Tumakuru District is an administrative district in the state of Karnataka in India. It is the third largest district in Karnataka by land area with an area of 10,598 km2, and fourth largest by Population. It is a one-and-a-half-hour drive from ...

, Karnataka state, India. Turuvekere, founded as an

Agraharam An ''Agraharam'' or ''Agrahara'' was a grant of land and royal income from it, typically by a king or a noble family in India, for religious purposes, particularly to Brahmins to maintain temples in that land or a pilgrimage site and to susta ...

town (a place of learning) in the 13th century is located about 77 miles from the state capital

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

. The temple was built around 1263 A.D. during the rule of the Hoysala Empire King

Narasimha III Narasimha III (r. 12631292). During his rule over the Hoysala Empire, internal feud between the king and his brother Ramanatha ruling from Kannanur came to the forefront. He also had to face invasions from the Seuna who attacked his regal capit ...

.Hardy (1995), p347 This temple is a protected monument under the Karnataka state division of the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexand ...

Temple plan

Mantapa in Chennakeshava temple at Turuvekere

Miniature decorative towers in relief at Chennakeshava temple in Turuvekere

According to the art historian Adam Hardy, the temple plan is a distinctive ''dravida'' (south Indian) single ''vimana'' (one sanctum and superstructure over it, called ''ekakuta'') structure built on a semi-stellate base (semi-star shape). The building material is the standard Soap stone and the hall (''

mantapa A mandapa or mantapa () is a pillared hall or pavilion for public rituals in Indian architecture, especially featured in Hindu temple architecture. Mandapas are described as "open" or "closed" depending on whether they have walls. In temples, ...

'') is a closed one. The temple has all the basic elements of a standard Hoysala temple and comprises a sanctum which is connected to a closed hall by a square vestibule (''sukhanasi''). The entrance into the hall from the outside is through a porch (''mukhamantapa''). Typically, a closed hall in a Hoysala temple has no windows. The porch consists of an

awning An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas woven of acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tightly over a li ...

supported by two decorative half pillars with two parapets on both sides. The shrine has a tower (called ''

shikhara ''Shikhara'' ( IAST: '), a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India, and also often used in Jain temples. A ''shikhara'' over the ''garbhagriha'' chambe ...

''). The vestibule has its own tower (also called ''sukhanasi'') which appears like a low extension of the main tower over the shrine. Art critic Gerard Foekema calls it the "nose" of the main tower. From the outside, the walls of the vestibule are inconspicuous and appear like a short extension of the shrine wall.Foekema (1996), p21Foekema (1996), p22Foekema (1996), p24 The ceiling of the closed hall is supported by four lathe turned pillars. These pillars divide the ceiling into nine highly decorated bays. Between full pilasters, the outer walls of the hall and shrine are decorated with

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

s and miniature towers on half-pilasters (

aedicula In ancient Roman religion, an ''aedicula'' (plural ''aediculae'') is a small shrine, and in classical architecture refers to a niche covered by a pediment or entablature supported by a pair of columns and typically framing a statue,"aedicula, ...

). Below these, forming the base of the temple, are the five horizontal moldings.Foekema (1996), p28

Notes

References

* Gerard Foekema, A Complete Guide to Hoysala Temples, Abhinav, 1996 * *Adam Hardy, Indian Temple Architecture: Form and Transformation : the Karṇāṭa Drāviḍa Tradition, 7th to 13th Centuries, Abhinav, 1995, New Delhi, . {{coord missing, Karnataka Hindu temples in Tumkur district 13th-century Hindu temples