Skip to main content

Hoysaleshwara temple Nandi Mandapa’s and the Temple complex

Hoysaleshwara temple Nandi Mandapa’s and the Temple complex:



Nandi Mandapa's:
To the other side of the temple to the east are two more entrances facing to the Dwara Samudra Lake and to both of these east doors are the Nandi Mandapa's built with huge Nandi (the Bull, an attendant of Lord Shiva) statues inside it, being majestic in appearance and beautiful in composition. The walls on this side are more or less plain with less number of sculptures and pillars holding the roof structure and pierced perforated window structures are placed similar to that of the Belur temple.
Nandi Mantapa 1
Nandi Mantapa 1
The first Nandi statue from the north is of more importance and is more beautifully carved than the other. It has a plain mantapa with pillars and open to air without any walls, it doesn’t have a garbhagriha, but has model shrines on either sides of the Nandi mantapa.
Friezes on the base of the Nandi Mantapa 1, beside it is the Nandi Mantapa 2
Friezes on the base of the Nandi Mantapa 1, beside it is the Nandi Mantapa 2
Side view of the Nandi Mantapa 1
Side view of the Nandi Mantapa 1
Pillars of the Nandi Mantapa 1
Pillars of the Nandi Mantapa 1
The more beautiful and ornate of the two Nandi statues at the Nandi Mantapa 1
The more beautiful and ornate of the two Nandi statues at the Nandi Mantapa 1
The second Nandi mantapa is larger than the first one, similar to the first one it also has two model shrines on wither sides of the entrance and stands on a number of pillars with open structure, the only difference is this has a garbhagriha (sanctuary) with a beautiful Surya (Sun god) idol, carved out of black stone. The image of the Sun god Surya stands 7 ft. (2.1 m) tall.
Nandi Mantapa 2 with a shrine of Sun God behind Nandi statue
Nandi Mantapa 2 with a shrine of Sun God behind Nandi statue
Pillars of Nandi Mantapa 2
Pillars of Nandi Mantapa 2
Nandi statue at Nandi Mantapa 2, this was larger than the first one
Nandi statue at Nandi Mantapa 2, this was larger than the first one
Sun God statue Beautifully carved from black stone, it was totally dark inside the shrine
Sun God statue Beautifully carved from black stone, it was totally dark inside the shrine
An 8 feet tall sculpture of Ganesha including the platform rests at the south entrance, away from the temple platform.
Ganesha statue
Ganesha statue
Archaeological Museum of Halebid:
The museum was established in the early part of 1970’s. This museum has more than 1500 sculptures, architectural members; inscriptions of historical significance retrieve in and around Halebidu. The collection is displayed in a closed sculpture gallery as well as in an open air museum with a large reserve collection. It also display 18 ft. Tirthankara image from the ruined tank of one of the Jaina basadis.
Tall Jain sculpture at the museum
Tall Jain sculpture at the museum
The open air museum has in its display many sculptures of importance like Govardhana giridhari Krishna, dancing Shiva, Nataraja and Veena Saraswati, dancing Ganesha, elegant couchant Nandi to name a few. The Sculptures of Brahma-Saraswati, Nagna Kala Bhairava, Mother and Child, wooden carvings and a bronze statue of a Tirthankara have been the important display in the sculpture gallery. The master pieces of this museum have represented Indian art in the various exhibitions held at France, Japan and other countries.

Opening Hours: 10.00 am to 5.00 pm
Closed on – Friday
Entrance Fee: Rs 5/- per head (Children up to 15 years free)

******************************************************************************** 

After visiting this temple one would have to imagine, how would have this temple be 800 years ago when it was constructed with its twin towers on top of the roof, it must be surely a marvelous structure, making it feel jealous for the foreigners to invade it twice, and many sculptures of the temple have been stolen and few of them taken to western countries, making it incomplete as its whole, otherwise the glory of the temple would have been enormous.


Though the temple was repeatedly ruined by the enemy kings of those days, I liked the whole temple being protected today by the government (or the Archeological survey of India), there were about 50 labors being employed for safe guarding the temple, and also they won’t even allow you to touch the walls of the temples, which should be pretty must appreciated. I personally feel they are the rare history of humankind and must be protected for generations to come; best way is to grant it as a UNESCO world heritage site for its rarest kind of man made marvels. If building huge structures is one kind of man made marvel then building a cutting edge quality structures carved entirely out of stones and lasting about 900years even after ruined by so many rivals, is another kind of man made marvel, some of them are so intricate that even with the present day machines it is pretty much difficult to even attempt to construct these kind of sculptures. Instead of granting world heritage sites for less meaningful and recently constructed structures, UNESCO should more concentrate on protecting the ancient structures in the process of protecting the history of mankind.


Kedareshwara temple and Parshwanatha Jain Basadi...To be continued...



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Micromax Canvas 2 A110 Hands on Review

Micromax Superfone Canvas 2 A110(Jet Black/Calm White): After using it for a week, I felt pretty good about my decision for going with a new brand like Micromax over the mighty Samsung Galaxy S Duos and Sony Tipo Dual. Particularly not sure about its reliability but the build quality looks pretty decent. Below are my ratings for the phone aka Phablet. Build Quality (8/10): The build quality was above my expectations keeping in mind of the price tag, from front it looks just like a Galaxy high end smartphone like SIII or Note II. It has a matte finished back cover which is good for protection towards scratches and there is a metal casing all around the phone, which adds up the beauty of the phone. One more advantage of this phone is it has a touch home button instead of a hard button as seen in iPhone and Galaxy phones. Camera (5/10): [8MP autofocus (Tap to Focus), dual flash, supports up to 3264x2448 pixels, Panorama] Don't fall for the specs as it is said...

Interiors of Chennakeshava temple, Belur

Interiors of Belur Chennakeshava temple: Originally the interior received much daylight, but the added screens make it dark and mysterious. The interior of the temple consisting of a garbhagriha, Sukhanasi, navaranga and a mandapa takes us to a new world of sculptures with lathe turned pillars of various designs. The central square of the navaranga has four pillars decorated with bracket figures atop. These bracket figures are remarkably of superior workmanship in conception and execution. The Navaranga has raised verandah's on both sides of the three entrances. Sufficient space has been left out in the central hall (Navaranga) for musical performances and Puja (worship) ceremonies by large numbers of devotees and others. Sculptures on the entrance of Garbhagriha Pillars: There are a total of 48 pillars, while the four central pillars have been hand churned, the others had been lathe turned.  One of the four Pillar's at the central square of the ...

Madanikas of Belur Chennakeshava temple

Madanikas of Belur Chennakeshava temple: Most popular feature of Belur is its Shilabalike’s or the Bracket figures of different dance forms. Various poses of Madanika's at the Belur Chennakeshava temple. There are 42 Madanikas or Bracket figures on the corner out of which 38 are outside the temple and four are inside the temple. Each figure attracts on its own merits. They represent beautiful damsels in various moods representing feminine charm and grace, this perhaps are one of the best creations of the Hoysala sculptors of the Belur temple. There are a total of 40 pillars on the outer walls, each with a bracket figure of dancing girls (38 in total on outer walls). These sculptures are finely proportioned and exceedingly ornamented. Actual placement of the Madanika's op top of the columns Out of the 38 Madanikas on the outer walls, I've written a photologue on 25 and all the 4 interior Madanikas. Each one of these Madaniks are given a number to r...

How to update Micromax canvas 2 A110 with official Jelly Bean V3 - detailed steps

How to update Micromax A110 Canvas 2 to V3 ROM: I've just updated my canvas 2 to Jelly Bean official update from Micromax. Before you proceed I would like to make sure that this site is nowhere guaranteed for your successful upgrade and we are nowhere responsible for any claims. This is just a tried and tested genuine way to upgrade to Jellybean only for Micromax Canvas 2 A110 users. Software release notes (from Micromax ftp site): 1. Operating system is upgraded from ICS to Jelly bean. 2. M! Store is removed. 3. New wallpapers are integrated. 4. Software is backward compatible with old TP available (BYD Make). Here is what you can do by yourself and it is simple too. First of all take a complete backup of your data, you can use the following tools from the play.google.com 1. App Backup & Restore: to backup all your apps as apk files which will store them on mnt\sdcard2\ app_backup_restore 2. G Cloud Backup from GENIE9: It c...

Aurangabad - II: Ajanta - Paintings of Cave 16 & 17

Aurangabad - II: Ajanta - Paintings of Cave 16, 17 Stunning paintings on the verandah ceiling of Cave 17 Cave 15: Mahayana Buddhist cave standing without pillars, this is currently used as a shop. Cave 15 Cave 16: According to an inscription found here, the excavation of this cave was caused by Varahadeva, the minister of Vakataka king Harishena (circa A.D. 475-500). The cave (19.5 X 22.25 X 4.6 m) which is a monastery consists of a central hall supported by 20 pillars, surrounded by 14 cells on three sides, vestibule and a sanctum for Buddha image.  path to cave 16 sculpture at cave 16 The important painted themes depicted are the conversion of Nanda; death of princess, Miracle of Sravasti; Maya’s dream; and certain incidents from the life of Buddha. The Jataka stories depicted are Hasti, Maha-ummagga, Maha-sutasoma. Painted inscriptions can also be noted inside the caves. Leftover paintings at cave 16 Cave 17: This cave is famous for i...