Imagine being transported back in time to witness the grandeur and magnificence of temple and basadi architecture in the region of Karnataka, India. This is the essence of the Hoysala Art Basadi in Channarayapattana.
Let us explore a few examples of Hoysala architecture in the region of Channarayapattana.
5 Hoysala Art Basadi In Channarayapattana
Suparshvanatha Basadi
Parshvanath is the 23rd Tirthankara and Suparshvanatha is the 7th Tirthankara.The Jain scholar Sri Begur Virendra for clarification as there was only a difference in the letter Su in the name of these two Tirthankaras. The clarification received from them is unmistakably accurate. According to him, just as the Jain emblem swastika belongs to Suparshvanath, so the symbol of Parshwanath belongs to serpent. Generally, there is a five-headed serpent on the head of the suparshvara.
Parshvanath can be seen to have five, or more serpentine heads. Yaksha and Yakshi are different. There are separate basadi for both of them in Chandragiri. It is not known who established this basadi of Suparshvanatha sitting here in Padmasana posture. It is located in Chandragiri and is situated in the north-west of Chandraprabha Basadi. Its topography is similar to that of Shantinath Basadi. There are two male chamaradharis next to Suparshvanatha, who is adorned with the serpents of the five phanas.
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Mahanavami Mantapas
Just as there is a Mahanavami mound in Hampi, there are Mahanavami mantapas on a small hill in Shravanabelagola. Many inscriptions are preserved here. The twin mandapas to the east of the idol of Bharata, which is buried up to the mandi, are called mahanavami mantapas. Ignoring their historical significance, glass enclosures have been created and preserved around the inscriptions. This is a model conservation method. It is learnt that these mandapas were established in the year 1163 and 1176 respectively. Inscriptions state that these mandapas were built by Bhandari Hulla, an officer of King Narasimha I, in memory of the Jain sages Devakirti and Nayakeerti.
In the year 1313, another Nishidi monument was added to it for the sage spiritual Shubhashchandra Deva Sallekhana Vrata. These inscriptions, which are placed on a 5 feet high adhishthana, are very attractive to look at. The little information about the idol of Bharata here is that there is an inscription next to it. It says siddham made by Arishtanemi. But it is not clear whether this is compatible with Bharata. The name Arishtanemi is prevalent among Jain saints, but it is not known about this sculptor. The feet of bharata are not completely cut off. Its height is 12 feet and it is also important to know if there is any measure of the height of Baahubali.
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Savati Gandhavarana Basadi
It is also called Gandhavarana Basadi without adding the epithet Savati. Situated on the right side of the two-katte basadi at Chikkabetta in Shravanabelagola, this basadi has the structure of garbhagriha, sukhanasi and navaranga. It is 60 feet long and 35 feet wide. It is a basadi named after Vishnuvardhana’s Piriyarasi Shantale. Just as Shantale’s father Marasingamayya was a Shaivite, her mother Machikabbe was a Jain. Their daughter Shantale built this basadi at Shravanabelagola in 1123, just as she built a Vishnu temple at Belur.
Gandhavarana means elephant. Among the many queens of King Vishnuvardhana, she is used to mean an elephant. The five-feet-tall, 16th Tirthankara Shantinath idol here has a beautiful aura. Side by side are male idols holding chamaras. In the next Sukanasi, along with the idols of Kimpurusha and Mahamanasi, jina yakshas and yaksis can be seen. The navaranga pillars with eight-striped and sixteen stripes are attractive. From the inscription at the entrance, it can be seen that it was a basadi built by Shantale. The idols in this basadi, built by the chief hoysala king, have a Hoysala touch and are important for this series.
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Suttalaya Basadi
The view of Gommatesha at Shravanabelagola is visible from any of the roads passing through it. The upper image from the chest is visible from a distance. It was built keeping this aspect in mind while constructing it. But starting from the foot of the hill and moving in front of the Odegal Basadi above, you will not get a glimpse of Baahubali. You can see it only when you cross the Vijayanagara-era mandapa in front of it. Baahubali was built in 982. The suttalaya was built between 1115 and 1118. Gangaraja built a mandapa around Bahubali in a span of 113 years.
In fact, though there are no signs of a temple here, the complex of idols around the idol of Gommata is called Suttalaya. Though not all the idols here were built and installed at the same time and converted into a temple, they are now known as Suttalaya. The inscription mentions that between 1180 and 1200, Basavisettiyembata, a powerful merchant and donor of the time, made 24 idols of Tirthankaras. Similarly, there is evidence from inscriptions that others also made jinn images during approximately the same period. Together, 43 idols of Tirthankaras, including two Kushmandini and one Bahubali idol, were installed around the back of the gommata. It can be inferred that these idols, which did not exist during the time of Gangaraja, may have been installed for different reasons during the subsequent half-century.
It is to be noted that most of the idols were installed between 1180 and 1200. Some of the idols are also seen repeated. This seems to be due to the fact that the fans of the respective Tirthankaras have built it over different periods of time. It is understood that basavasetti made the wall of the surrounding temple and the next jalandras were made by his sons. Apart from the statues of Tirthankaras in Suttalaya, there are two beautiful Hoysala-made statues at the feet of Bahubali. If the magnificence of the 57-feet-tall Bahubali weighs one, this contribution of the Hoysalas is another weight. Since all eyes are generally focused on the 57-feet-tall Bahubali, these five-foot-tall statues are hardly grasped.
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Akkana Basadi
Akka’s Basadi is situated at the foot of Chandragiri Hill on the way to Jinanathapura If you ask why another important basadi at Shravanabelagola got its name akkana basadi, it was built in 1181 during the reign of Veera Ballala II by a Jain devotee named Achiyakka or Achaladevi. The inscription at Basadi and the inscriptions on the peeta of Parshvanatha Swamy show that Achiyakka made abundant donations. Her husband, Chandramouli, a Brahmin, was a minister in the Hoysala court. The main deity of this temple is the 23rd Jain Tirthankara, whose name is Parshvanatha.
The temple is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India. According to historian Adam Hardy, this is a monolithic basadi. Parshvanatha, who has a seven-headed serpent on his head, is the presiding deity. There is also a protruding sukanasi. The spindle-pillared structures and porch-mandapas found here are found in all the Hoysala temples. The same stones are used here. It is speculated that the inspiration for this was the Western Chalukyas. There are 9 vithanas here. They are composed of 9 vithanas two feet deep. Though the temple is facing east, the temple has a large outer prakara. The temple is accessible from the south. As the outer wall in this direction was collapsing, a reclining wall was constructed and preserved. If the basadi has a serious look, it is because its outer wall is flat and there is no art exhibition. The adhishthana rests on five strips. The peak of the temple is flat. In the east-facing relief, a yogi with two auxiliary yakshas is shown on the other side of Kirtimukha.
There are three shrunken stages on the summit, on which the amalaka is placed on a two-foot square. Idols of Dharanendra and Padmavati can also be seen. There are jalatras in the doorway with stripes below. There are beautiful Bhuvaneswaris in the nine divisions of the Navaranga adjacent to it. There is also a huge inscription of Old Kannada given by King Veeraballala for the construction of the temple. The main attraction of akka’s basadi is the huge pillars decorated with beads found there.
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Also Read;
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