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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox religious building
| religious_affiliation = [[Hinduism]]
| name = Lakshminarasimha temple, Bhadravathi
| image = Stellate plan of the shrine in Lakshmi Narasimha temple at Bhadravati.JPG
| alt = 13th-century Hoysala temple with three sanctums
| coordinates = {{coord|13|50|54.7|N|75|42|01.3|E|type:landmark_region:IN|display=inline,title}}
| map_type = India#India Karnataka
| map_relief = yes
| state = [[Karnataka]]
| country = [[India]]
| district = [[Shivamogga District]]
| locale = [[Bhadravati, Karnataka|Bhadravati]]
| deity = [[Vishnu]]
| architecture = Hoysala
| year_completed = c. 1250 CE
}}

'''Lakshmi Narasimha Temple''', also referred to as '''Lakshminarasimha temple of Bhadravati''', is a 13th-century Hindu temple dedicated to [[Vishnu]], built by the [[Hoysalas]].{{refn|group=note|This should not be confused with numerous other Lakshmi Narasimha temples in India.}} It is located in [[Bhadravati, Karnataka|Bhadravati]], [[Shimoga District]] of [[Karnataka]] state, [[India]]. The temple opens to the east and has three sanctums, one each dedicated to Venogopala, Lakshminarasimha and Vishnu-Puroshottama. It is notable for its [[Vesara]] architecture, with artwork that includes legends and deities of [[Vaishnavism]], as well as those of [[Shaivism]], [[Shaktism]] and Vedic deities. Important reliefs include those of Ganesha, Dakshinamurti, Bhairava, Sarasvati, Brahma, Surya, Harihara (half Shiva, half Vishnu), and others. The temple's original ''shikaras'' were ruined, and have been restored with a conical structure. According to Adam Hardy – a scholar of Indian temple architecture, this temple has two "exceptional" stellate structures highlighting the architectural sophistication of the Hoysalas.<ref name=dhaky>{{cite book| author1=Madhusudan A. Dhaky|author2=Michael Meister|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture, Volume 1 Part 3 South India Text & Plates|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=a1VJAQAAIAAJ | year=1996|publisher= American Institute of Indian Studies|isbn= 978-81-86526-00-2|pages = 375–376 }}</ref><ref name="stone">Hardy (1995), p.325</ref>

The monument is protected by the Karnataka state division of [[Archaeological Survey of India]].<ref name="protect">{{cite web |url=http://asi.nic.in/asi_protected_monu_karnataka.asp|title=Alphabetical List of Protected Monuments-List of State Protected|work=Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India|publisher=Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts|access-date=14 November 2014}}</ref>

==Location==
Bhadravati is a historic city and in the contemporary era, it is a steel producing center in west-central Karnataka. It is about {{Convert|20|km|mi|0}} southeast from [[Shimoga]] (Shivamogga, NH 69), and about {{Convert|255|km|mi|0}} northwest from the state capital Bengaluru (Bangalore). The Lakshminarasimha temple is located to the north of the town and the east bank of the Bhadra river.

==Architecture==
[[File:Lakshminarasimha temple, Bhadravati Karnataka.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.25|The floor plan of the Lakshminarasimha temple, Bhadravati]]
The temple illustrates a complex ''trikuta'' (three sanctum) temple built from soapstone, with a square plan and Vesara vimana. It stands on a ''[[Jagati (temple)|jagati]]'' and the outer wall exhibits a two tier decorative plan. The jagati extends around the temple and serves the purpose of ''pradakshinapatha'' (circumambulation).<ref name=dhaky/><ref name="platform">Kamath (2001), p.135</ref>

The entrance to the temple is through an open pillared hall or porch (''mukhamantapa'') followed by a closed hall (''[[mantapa]]'' or ''navaranga'').<ref name="taste">Foekema (1996), p.25</ref> The porch consists of an [[awning]] supported by lathe turned half pillars and [[parapet]]s on either side.<ref name="pillar">Foekema (1996), p.24</ref> The inner wall of the shrine is square and plain where as the outer wall is stellate (star shaped) with numerous recesses and projections that are used for decorative relief. These include a large number of Vaishnava legends and images, but also include a significant number of legends and images from Shaivism, Shaktism and of Vedic deities. Examples include exquisite artwork of Ganesha, Chandika, Bhairava, Harihara, Dakshinamurti, Nataraja with ''khatvanga'', dancing Durga, Durga Mahisasuramardini, Rati and Kamadeva, Saraswati, Brahma, multiple panels of Surya, and others. The Surya image signed by ''shilpin'' Maba is particularly notable.<ref name=dhaky/>

The closed central hall connects to the three sanctum via a [[Vestibule (architecture)|vestibule]] (called ''sukhanasi''). The vestibule also as a tower (also called ''sukhanasi'') which looks like a low protrusion of the main tower over the shrine. The outer wall of the vestibule is decorative but inconspicuous because it appears like a short continuation of the shrine outer wall.<ref name="wall">Foekema (1996), pp.21-22</ref>

With regards to outer wall decoration, what Hardy calls "two tier", the art historian Gerard Foekema designates as the "old style" with two sets of eves: one eaves runs around the temple where the superstructure meets the outer wall of the shrines, below which are miniature decorative towers on pilasters (called [[aedicula]]). Below this is a second eves followed by a panel of Hindu deities in relief and finally a set of moldings at the base.<ref name="eave">Foekema (1996), p93</ref> The design of the tower, according to art historian Percy Brown, is a characteristic feature to the Hoysala art. According to Brown, the stellate form of the base of the shrine with its projections and recesses is carried through the tower giving it a "fluted effect". The tower is divided into tiers with each tier diminishing in height and culminating in an umbrella like structure.<ref name="brown">Brown in Kamath (1980), pp.134-135</ref>

The ceiling of the closed hall is supported by lathe turned pillars.<ref name="wall">Foekema (1996), pp.21-22</ref> Brown states that these lathe turned pillars with four brackets above are a signature style of the 11th-13th century Chalukya-Hoysala architectural idiom.<ref name="sign">Brown in Kamath (1980), p.134</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Lakshmi Narasimha temple at Bhadravati.JPG|Entrance with stambha
SriLakshmiNarasimhaTemple Bhadravathi 0982.JPG|Lakshmi Narasimha Temple in Bhadravati
Deity images, half pilasters and aedicules in relief below eves in the Lakshmi Narasimha temple at Bhadravati.JPG|Reliefs, pilasters and aedicules on the temple
Deity images and aedicules in relief below eves in the Lakshmi Narasimha temple at Bhadravati.JPG|Hindu deities and decorative miniature towers (aedicules)
</gallery>

==Note==
{{reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{Commons category|Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, Bhadravati}}
* Gerard Foekema, A Complete Guide to Hoysala Temples, Abhinav, 1996, New Delhi, {{ISBN|81-7017-345-0}}
* {{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}}
* Adam Hardy, Indian Temple Architecture: Form and Transformation : the Karṇāṭa Drāviḍa Tradition, 7th to 13th Centuries, Abhinav, 1995, New Delhi, {{ISBN|81-7017-312-4}}.

{{Commons category|Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, Bhadravati}}
{{Hindu temples in Karnataka}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lakshmi Narasimha Temple At Bhadravati}}
[[Category:Vishnu temples]]

Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, Bhadravati - Revision history

imported>Ms Sarah Welch: disamb