>Hugo999: removed Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1220; added Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in 1220 using HotCat

2021-02-07T01:12:20Z

removed Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1220; added Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in 1220 using HotCat

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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2020}}
[[File:Frontal view of Ishvara temple at Arasikere.JPG|thumb|250px|right|upright|Ishvara temple at [[Arsikere|Arasikere]] with an unusual 16-pointed stellate (star-shaped) ''[[mantapa]]'' (hall) plan]]
The '''Ishvara Temple''' (also spelt '''Ishwara''' or '''Isvara''') in [[Arsikere|Arasikere]] town of the [[Hassan district]] in [[Karnataka]] state, [[India]], dates to c. 1220 CE rule of [[Hoysala Empire]].<ref name="complex"/> Arasikere (''lit'' "Queens tank"; ''Arasi'' means "queen" or "princess" and ''kere'' means "tank" in the [[Kannada language]]) is located 140 km north of the historic city of [[Mysore]] and 41 km east of [[Hassan, India|Hassan]] city.<ref name="mysore">Gowda (2006), p. 19</ref> The temple, which is dedicated to the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] God [[Shiva]], though modest in size and figure sculpture, is considered the most complex one in architecture among surviving [[Hoysala architecture|Hoysala monuments]] because of its ground plan: a 16-point star-shaped ''[[mantapa]]'' (hall), in addition to an asymmetrical star-shaped shrine, whose star points are of three different types.<ref name="complex">Foekema (1996), p. 41–42</ref>

==Temple plan==
[[File:Rear view of the Ishvara temple at Arasikere.JPG|thumb|200px|left|upright|Rear view of the Ishvara temple at Arasikere]]
The temple faces east as in all Hoysala constructions, uses [[soapstone]] (also known as steatite or soaprock) as its basic building material,<ref name="material">Kamath (2001), p. 136</ref> and is a ''ekakuta'' shrine (single shrine or cella) with two ''mantapas'' (hall), one open and one closed.<ref name="mantapa">Foekema (1966), p. 42</ref> All three units are connected to form a unity.<ref name="unity">Foekema (1996), p. 21</ref> The sanctum (''[[garbhagriha]]'') enshrines a ''[[linga]]'', the universal symbol of the Hindu god Shiva. The ''mantapa'' is where the devotees gather. The closed ''mantapa'' does not have any windows. The ceiling in the closed ''mantapa'' is divided into nine compartments or "bays" by the four lathe turned pillars that support the ceiling.<ref name="tower"/> The unusual stellate design of the open ''mantapa'' is a deviation from the "staggered square"–a standard in Hoysala constructions,<ref name="stellate">Quote:"In staggered square halls, the wall forms many projections and recesses, each projection bearing a complete architectural [[articulation (architecture)|articulation]] with many decorations", (Foekema 1996, p. 21)</ref> and offers no opening for devotees to enter the temple. The entrance is through a "bay"<ref name="bay">Quote:"A square compartment of a hall", (Foekema 1996, p. 93)</ref> between the two ''mantapas''.<ref name="mantapa"/>
[[File:Rear view of stellate shrine in the Ishvara temple at Arasikere.JPG|thumb|right|upright|Star-shaped shrine with wall panel images and ''[[shikhara]]'' (superstructure) at the Ishvara temple]]
The shrine has a tower (superstructure or ''[[Shikhara]]'') which is intact, though the [[finial]] (a decorative water pot like structure called ''[[Kalasha]]'') is a recent replacement.<ref name="mantapa"/> The [[Vestibule (architecture)|vestibule]] connects the shrine to the closed ''mantapa'' and has its own tower called ''Sukanasi''. The term "nose" is sometimes used to describe this tower because it is a low protrusion of the main tower (tower over the shrine). On this "nose" is an image of a bull ([[Nandi (bull)|Nandi]]), which may be a more recent addition because this is the place where Hoysala temples normally exhibit the Hoysala royal emblem, the legendary warrior "Sala" fighting a lion.<ref name="tower">Foekema (1996), p. 22</ref>

The outer wall of the vestibule shares the same decoration as the outer wall of the shrine, but is inconspicuous because it forms a short continuation between the wall of the shrine and that of closed ''mantapa''.<ref name="tower"/> The outer wall of the shrine is [[wikt:stellate|stellate]], but the star points are not identical, rather they form three different kinds of star points, making the design complicated and unusual.<ref name="mantapa"/> The lower half of the outer wall of the shrine and the outer wall of the closed ''mantapa'' share the same architectural [[articulation (architecture)|articulation]]. The open hall, with its 16-pointed star plan is most unusual design built by Hoysala architects. The central ceiling in the closed ''mantapa'' and the vestibule are decorated elaborately.<ref name="mantapa"/>

Both the interior and exterior of the temple shows interesting workmanship. The elegantly decorated ceilings, the domical ceiling of the open ''mantapa'', the sculptures of [[Dvarapala|Dwarapalaka]]s (door keepers) in the closed ''mantapa'' (also called ''navaranga''), the wall panel images numbering a hundred and twenty (on [[pilaster]]s between the [[aedicule]]s–miniature decorative towers) carved on the outer walls are noteworthy.<ref name="mysore"/>

<gallery>
Profile of Ishvara temple at Arasikere.JPG|Front profile of Ishvara temple at Arasikere
Stellate plan of open navaranga mantapa with half pillars in the Ishvara temple at Arasikere.JPG|Stellate Navaranga mantapa with domical ceiling in Ishvara temple at Arasikere
Stellate plan and articulation of shrine outer wall in Ishvara temple at Arasikere.JPG|Relief articulation on outer wall of shrine in Ishvara temple at Arasikere
Image:Hero Stone with old-Kannada inscription at Arasikere.jpg|13th century [[hero stone]] with old-Kannada inscription at Ishvara temple
Old-Kannada inscription at Arasikere Ishwara temple.jpg|Old Kannada inscription (c. 1220 CE) in Ishvara temple at Arasikere
Old Kannada inscription (1220 AD) at Ishvara temple (Shivalaya) in Arasikere.JPG| Old Kannada inscription of c. 1220 CE in Ishvara temple at Arasikere
</gallery>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
{{commons category}}
* {{cite book|last=Foekema|first=Gerard|title=Complete Guide to Hoysala Temples|publisher=Abhinav|location=New Delhi|isbn=81-7017-345-0|year=1996}}
* {{cite book|last=Gowda|first=Aswathanarayana|title=Blazing trail of Golden Era-Tourism guide of Hassan district|publisher=District Tourism Council, Government of Karnataka|location=Hassan|year=2006}}
* {{cite web|author=Settar S |title=Hoysala heritage |url=http://www.flonnet.com/fl2008/stories/20030425000206700.htm |publisher=Frontline |work=history and craftsmanship of Belur and Halebid temples |access-date=2006-11-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060701065442/http://www.flonnet.com/fl2008/stories/20030425000206700.htm |archive-date=2006-07-01 }}
* {{cite book |last=Hardy|first=Adam |title=Indian Temple Architecture: Form and Transformation-The Karnata Dravida Tradition 7th to 13th Centuries|orig-year=1995|year=1995|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn= 81-7017-312-4}}
* {{cite book |last= Kamath|first= Suryanath U.|title= A concise history of Karnataka : from pre-historic times to the present|orig-year=1980|year= 2001|publisher= Jupiter books|location= Bangalore|oclc= 7796041 |lccn= 80905179}}

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{{Hindu temples in Karnataka}}

[[Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in 1220]]
[[Category:13th-century Hindu temples]]
[[Category:Hindu temples in Hassan district]]

Ishvara Temple, Arasikere - Revision history

>Hugo999: removed Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1220; added Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in 1220 using HotCat