Turuvekere Hoysala temples...

I visited few couple of unique temples at Turuvekere a town in Tumkur district; Rajesh Naik made efficient heritage trip headed our small team to Channigaraya Temple situated in western periphery of the town. When we were reach the temple, the temple was closed so we couldn’t able to see the inner part of the temple.

This Ekakootachala temple was built in 1260 A.D during the reign of Narasimha III by Soma-Dandanayaka. The temple, which faces east is built in potstone and raised on a stellate three-foot high parapet. A stone superstructure with five stories surrounds the sanctum, which is a stellate plan, and the final Kalasa is made of stone. The vestibule and the hall are square in form.

 

Channigaraya Temple

The temple of Chennigaraya is a rather compact, less exuberant structure on a platform. The outer walls are well cut, but without images. However, I heard the image of Channakeshava in the sanctum is very beautiful and similar to the one in Belur but we couldn’t able to sight it. Later we visited to Gangadaresvara temple near by this.

Moole Shankara temple

Another Hoysala temple at Turuvekere that is contemporary to the Channakeshava temple is the Moole Shankara temple. This clearly brings out the religious harmony that existed during the Hoysala reign, both the Vishnu and Shiva shrines built close to each other at pretty much the same period. "Moole" in Kannada means "corner", and the temple, as with many other Hoysala temples, is at a corner of the Turuvekere town.

Photos by -Ashok hebbar & Myself