The Shankareshvara temple (also spelt "Shankareshwara" or "Sankaresvara"), dedicated to the Hindu god

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

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 List of districts of Karnataka, administrative district in the state of Karnataka in India. It is the second largest district in Karnataka by land area with an area of 10,598 km2, and fourth largest by Population. It is ...

, Karnataka state, India. Turuvekere, founded as an

Agraharam An ''Agraharam'' (Sanskrit IAST: agrahāram) or ''Agrahara'' (Sanskrit IAST: agrahāra) 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 maint ...

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

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. The temple was built around 1260 A.D. during the rule of the

Hoysala Empire The Hoysala Kingdom was a kingdom originating from the Indian subcontinent that ruled most of what is now Karnataka, India, Karnataka, parts of Tamilnadu and South-Western Telangana between the 11th and the 14th centuries Common Era, CE. The c ...

King

Narasimha III Narasimha III (r. 12631292) was the ruler of the Hoysala Empire from 1263 to 1292. During his reign, an internal feud with his brother and the ruler of Kannanur, Ramanatha came to the forefront. Narasimha also had to face invasions from the ...

.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 Alexander ...

Temple plan

Profile of Moole Shankara temple at Turuvekere

According to the art historian Adam Hardy, the temple plan is a ''

Bhumija Bhumija is a variety of north Indian temple architecture marked by how the rotating square-circle principle is applied to construct the ''shikhara'' (superstructure or spire) on top of the sanctum. Invented about the 10th-century in the Malwa regi ...

Nagara'' style (north Indian) on a semi-stellate base (called ''mula-prasada''). The building material is the standard Soap stone and the hall ('' mantapa'') is a closed one. The temple has all the basic elements of a standard Hoysala temple and comprises a sanctum (''

garbhagriha A ''garbhagriha'' () is the innermost sanctuary of Hindu and Jain temples, often referred to as the "holy of holies" or " sanctum sanctorum". The term ''garbhagriha'' (literally, "womb chamber") comes from the Sanskrit words ''garbha'' for ...

'') which is connected to a closed hall by a square vestibule (''sukhanasi''). The entrance into the hall from the outside is through a

porch A porch (; , ) is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance to a building. A porch is placed in front of the façade of a building it commands, and forms a low front. Alternatively, it may be a vestibule (architecture), vestibule (a s ...

(''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 fiber, acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tight ...

supported by two decorative half pillars with two

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

s on both sides. The shrine has a tower (''

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'' chamber ...

''). The vestibule has its own tower (also called ''sukhanasi'') which appears like a low extension of the main tower over the shrine. For its appearance, 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. This is a norm in all Hoysala temples. These pillars divide the ceiling into nine highly decorated bays. The porch with its half pillars also serves the purpose of an open hall with a single bay ceiling. The outer wall of the hall and shrine are articulated with full pilasters. Between full pilasters, turrets and miniature towers on half-pilasters (

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

) provide a decorative look. Below these, forming the base of the temple, are the six horizontal moldings.Foekema (1996), p28

Other prominent Examples of Bhumija architecture

* Shiv Mandir, Ambarnath * Ramappa Temple, Telangana * Arang Jain temples * Galateshwar Temple, Gujarat (rare ''Bhumija'' temple with Gujarati

Chaulukya The Chaulukya dynasty (), also Solanki dynasty, was a dynasty that ruled parts of what are now Gujarat and Rajasthan in north-western India, between and . Their capital was located at Anahilavada (modern Patan). At times, their rule extended ...

influence) * Tryambakeshwar Temple

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 Tumakuru district Shiva temples in Karnataka