Chennakeshava – quite a mouthful!
Hey guys,
Last year, my family and I toured the countryside in Karnataka, India. And we were basically catching bus after bus trying to get to this place we had only heard of. The local buses were grungy, bumpy, and I’m not going to lie, smelly. I guess you sometimes can’t help it if you take public transportation. I heard there was an airplane which would have dropped us off at an airstrip couple of miles away from the temple. That wasn’t even an option, unfortunately. So here we were, sweaty, smelly and on the verge of giving up. None of us had even seen photos of this place and the only thing guiding us was my mother’s intuition. :P
Although our heads were pounding from the 5-hour bumpy ride from Bangalore (one of the metro-cities of India), we couldn’t help loving this tiny, quaint little village in the middle of nowhere. Our first stop was the main attraction, of course: The Chennakeshava Temple. And it was, without doubt, one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. Let the photos speak for themselves;
This is called “Gopuram” or the “Temple Tower”…this the entrance to the temple. This construction has remained standing for over 1000 years and the wear can be clearly seen on the stone carvings (oh yeah, its completely made from stone, did I mention?) however, it has retained its monumental beauty over the years.
This is an overview of the complete temple. Notice the sharp, angular corners and the symmetry? It was the trademark of the Hoysala artists who designed this temple.
One of many close-ups :) See the intricate detail in the stone carving and the contrast between the jagged corners and the soft-edged, rounded fittings in the stone?
The statues are of different gods from Hindu mythology.
Closer-up :D
A view from below showing the beautiful jagged lines and angles from a corner of the temple. I am loving the symmetry. Mind you, this was about a 1000 years ago. A pretty damn impressive architectural feat, I would say.
17th century windows!
One of the side sub-temples sorta thingy. Anyways, I guess people used to relax here in these grounds. But I know weddings used to take place under that roof we see now. The effect created by the sun feels surreal to me.
This figurine is called an “apsara” or a “celestial goddess” (yup, they have fancy names like that) and what she is doing is left to your interpretation…I, for one, have no ideas. Is that a monkey I see in the corner?
I dunno, but can I compare Hoysala architecture to Baroque architecture? Just a thought…
I can’t see anything but miles and miles of beautiful, grey stone. Interesting fact: they did not have cement in those days to stick the stones together. Instead they used a secret mixture of jaggery, clay and a combination of ingredients that remains unknown even today. Architects today still wonder what this magic mixture that has sustained constructions for many centuries was.
Each one of the cubicles (as I like to call it) has an apsara in different dance postures.
Each one of the pillars inside the sanctum is unique. One of them is even rotatable around its hinge, how cool is that? Imagine a 400-500 kilo stone pillar being able to go round and round about a small pivot!
That’s the ceiling of the inner sanctum.
I was told that her face was exactly 1/7th of the entire body – accurate to the point. I even tested that hypothesis and it turned out to be true. Or was it just my head willing it to be true? – I wonder.
A view over the whole grounds of the temple. I was surprised not to find this beautiful place crowded with tourists. Yes, it is quite a feat to actually find your way to this little village, but in my opinion, it was totally worth it. So if you ever get a chance to go to Bangalore (Bengaluru – the new name), jump at any opportunity to see this absolutely incredible place. If you’re a photographer, lyricist, poet, artist, or just someone trying to figure out answers to some pretty big questions, then this place is a start. It’ll inspire you, I promise.
Hope you enjoyed this post! :)
Shivani
