We honored the Good Friday holiday (it is a day off in India) by visiting two famous and ancient Hindu temples, perhaps the most famous in the state of Karnataka. The temple of Hoysaleswara in Halebidu (Halebid) dates from the 12th century CE, and was built in a mere thirty years. What’s remarkable is the quality of carving, and the fact that the stone was black basalt—very hard to work. It’s in remarkable shape and is dedicated to the god Shiva.
The Chennakesava Temple, 35 km away, dates to the same era, and is dedicated to a form of the god Vishnu. The linked Wikipedia articles should be consulted for more photos, detail, and history. Here are a few pictures I took:
These are low, star-shaped temples with inner sanctums containing effigies of the gods (and Shiva’s lingam at the Halebidu Temple, shown below):
Closer inspection reveals some of the finest and best-preserved temple carvings I’ve seen, especially because they’re almost a millennium old.
A lintel above the main door:
Nandi the bull, Shiva’s mount:
Narasimha (lion man): an avatar of Vishnu:
A mythical but oft-seen animal that appears to be an amalgam of an elephant, a crocodile, and a horse:
A group of colorfully dressed ladies admiring the sculpture:
A corner of the temple:
It’s bloody hot here, and people took refuge from the sun where they could:
The ladies of Karnataka are famous for wearing flowers in their hair:
A green-coconut stall was doing a land office business in the heat. They chop off the top and you drink the sterile and refreshing coconut water:
The Chennakesava Temple at Belur:
The carving is equally intricate, but has become more eroded and effaced than that at the Halebid temple:
The lion-man incarnation of Vishnu:
A beautiful dancing apsara, one of the finest I’ve seen in India. Remember, these sculptures are almost a thousand years old:
Arjuna the archer, whom you’ll have encountered as the confidante of Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita (one scripture that I really enjoy reading):
Krishna lifting the Govardhana mountain:
A priest of the Belur temple. The string looped around his shoulder indicates he’s a Brahmin, a requirement for priesthood:
I encountered my first Indian toll roads on the drive to the temples; here’s one of the local toll-takers
And finally home to dinner, where Goonda (“rowdy”), Mr. Das’s favorite cat, occupied his privileged position in the kitchen. Goonda is about 8 or 9, and came to Mr. Das from a rescue organization several years ago. At that time he’d lost one eye, presumably in a cat fight.
Is the mythical animal (photo 8) possibly based on a rhinoceros? At first I thought maybe hippo, but if I recall there are rhinos in Asia but not hippos.
Th clarity of the carvings at Halebid is remarkable – it’s hard to imagine a softer stone surviving that long.
It’s hard to see why a rhinoceros would be ‘mythologised’ in India; while the artist might not have seen them first-hand (the historic range of the Great Indian Rhino doesn’t extend to Karnataka), it’s very likely they would have seen accurate representations and talked to people who knew they were accurate. I think hippo is a more likely main source because the sculpture is less realistic (i.e. an animal less likely to have been seen alive) but a good match in terms of description (very large head and gape, bulbous snout, tusks, feet with more prominent toes and claws than an elephant, etc.). Also notice that the cheek teeth are distinctly dilophodont (two transverse crests on each) which matches hippo but not rhino; I guess the artist may have had access to a skull.//
Just googled and found the hippo ID has been made previously: http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ic/id/8382
Thank you for sharing these exceptional temple
and people photos. What extraordinary detail in the carvings. Reminds me of some of the carvings in Mexico, Central and South America. I may have to hunt for my copy of the Bhagavad Gita to find out what the lion-man incarnation of Vishnu is doing to that poor woman. Looks pretty drastic!
It isn’t the Gita, but if I recall right, in the Puranas, which are “texts” containing mythological stories and allegory. So coming to this sculpture, it is the story of Hiranyakashipu. My recollection: Basically he is a “demon” who gains enough powers through penance and war to be indestructible: by no weapons, by day nor night, by no humans, or animal, by no weapons, neither on land nor water, inside or outside a building. In arrogance, he behaves like the ultimate being. Unfortunately, Hiranyakashipu’s little son is a devotee of Vishnu and refuses to accept his father’s supreme divinity. To work around the invincibility conditions, Vishnu appears during twilight (day/night) as neither man nor animal: but a half-human half-lion, slays him on his lap (not land), at the door threshold (out/in), using his nails (no weapon), by disemboweling his entrails.
I forgot to mention, Hiranyakashipu also tries to kill his son repeatedly but fails each time due to intervention of Vishnu.
Isn’t it noteworthy how these ‘invincibility’ legends always have some loophole in them? Though admittedly in this case Vishnu had to work pretty hard to find it.
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The “invincibility with a loophole” trope is quite common in Indian mythology, but somehow the stories still manage to maintain a freshness in its execution. Two other major examples of this trope are Rāvaṅa (who is arrogant enough to leave out humans from the class of beings that can kill him) and Mahiṣāsura (who, in a fit of chauvinism, leaves out women). The Hiraṅyakaśipu stroy however takes the cake for its attempt at diagonalization.
The Bhāgvadgitā is largely concerned with philosophy (and a little bit of theology). It does not have much mythology in it. (It happens to be, however, merely a chapter in what is perhaps the greatest specimen of Indian mythology, the Mahābhārata).
If you are interested in Hindu temples, then during your projected visit to Bali you might consider diverting for a couple of days to Yogyakarta on Java. This is the ancient cultural centre of Java. Close by is the Hindu temple complex of Prambanam.
I was there several decades ago, and I do not know how much of what I saw then has been suppressed by the burgeoning islamification of Indonesia, but some things might still exist. There used to be a four day cycle of a performance of the Ramayana on a small stage behind the central bus station. On certain days you could watch classical dancers in training at the palace. Yogyakarta claims to be where batik was invented, and you can go on guided tours of a factory where the manufacture of various quality levels of batik is demonstrated. Also nearby is the spectacular Buddhist temple of Borobudur. The whole city is overlooked by the active and permanently smoking volcano of Mount Merapi.
Agreed about worth visiting these. Prambanan and Borobudur are both a thousand years old, are World Heritage Sites, and are in beautiful settings.
Recall you saying the temp is a bit warm. And it is winter time almost. What will it be like in July?
I think the Himalayas allows for further warming in India…
South Indian (and in general, Indian) weather patterns are a little different from the standard US/Western European four seasons. Indian seasons in order are: Winter – Spring – Summer – Monsoon – Winter. In South Indian regions of moderate climate (everything except the coasts of Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, and Indian Ocean), the temperature peaks in April-May and then the monsoon rains start, cooling it down for June and July. By August, autumn sets in and so on. However, the coastal cities are notably hotter and more humid, people joke about how there are only three seasons: hot summer, hotter summer, and torrential monsoons.
Here is Mark Twain on this last phenomenon (his first stop in India happened to be Mumbai, which probably explains a lot):
The classical division of seasons in India is into six ṛtu, which roughly translate to Spring, Summer, Rain, Autumn, Not-so-cold winter (Hemanta) and finally, Winter.
Amazing temple photos, thanks for sharing ’em.
Isn’t this Mr. Rowdy’s story touching? :)Have fun, professor!
Beautiful Temples and Carvings and Beautiful People.
Thanks for the wonderful photos. The statues and temples are stunning. I’m intrigued by the huge tree, and I can’t make out the flowers. 🙁 I’m wondering if it could be poinciana or cannonball tree, or what?!
After much searching, I’m now wondering if the huge tree is Erythrina indica or Indian Coral Tree.
Which translation of the Bhagavad Gita do you like the best ? I prefer the Winthrop Sargeant translation …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita_(Sargeant)
Thank you for sharing! I love Indian art.