Rameshvara Temple, Koodli

Rameshvara Temple

Rameshvara temple (12th century AD) at Koodli in Shimoga district
Rameshvara Temple
Location in Karnataka, India
Geography
Coordinates 14°00′25″N 75°40′29″E / 14.0070°N 75.6746°E / 14.0070; 75.6746Coordinates: 14°00′25″N 75°40′29″E / 14.0070°N 75.6746°E / 14.0070; 75.6746
Country  India
State/province Karnataka
District Shimoga District
Locale Koodli (577201)

The Rameshvara temple at Koodli (also spelt "Rameshwara" or "Ramesvara", Koodli is also spelt "Kudli" or "Kudali" and literally means "confluence") in the Shimoga district of Karnataka state is a Hoysala construction of the non-ornate variety and is dated to the 12th century.[1] Koodli is a town of great antiquity and is located about 9 km north-east of Shimoga city, the district headquarters. The town gets its name because it is situated at the confluence of the Tunga and Bhadra tributaries that form the Tungabhadra river.[2] According to art historian Adam Hardy, the temple is a single vimana (shrine and superstructure) with an open mantapa (hall) built with Soap stone.[3] The temple is protected as a monument of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India.[4]

History of Koodli

Archaeological surveys have unearthed tools and other artifacts which indicate that the region in the vicinity of Koodli (and along the nearby banks of the Tunga and Bhadra rivers) had been under habitation during the Paleolithic, the Neolithic and the Megalithic periods. Written epigraphs such as the Malavalli pillar inscription is available from the period of the Chutu dynasty, a 2nd-century AD vassal of the Shatavahana empire. They were succeeded by the Kadambas of Banavasi in the 4th century, and the Chalukyas of Badami in the 6th century. The Rashtrakutas and the Kalyani Chalukyas gained power in the region in the succeeding centuries. The Hoysala empire made their presence felt in the region from about the 11th century AD. They were followed by the 14th-century Vijayanagara Empire. In the 16th century, the Keladi Nayaka, a Vijayanagara vassal gained independence after the fall of the empire.[1]

Temple plan

The shrine is an ekakuta construction (single shrine and tower).[5] The material used is Soap stone, a standard in Hoysala constructions.[6] It is built on an east-west axial plan and comprises a sanctum (garbhagriha) which has a vesara style superstructure (Shikhara), and a vestibule (sukanasi) that connects the closed hall (mantapa) to the sanctum. The vestibule also exhibits a tower which from the outside looks like a low protrusion of the main tower over the shrine. Art historian Gerard Foekema calls it the "nose" of the main tower.[7]

The entrance to the hall is via three porches; at the north, south and east, each of which is supported by four lathe turned polished pillars, a standard feature in Hoysala temples according to art historian Percy Brown.[8][9] Inside the temple and facing the sanctum is a platform on which is mounted an sculptured image of Nandi the bull (a companion to the god Shiva). The sanctum houses a linga, the universal symbol of the god Shiva.[10]

The platform on which the temple stands, the jagati, comprises five plain moldings (without friezes). The outer walls of the shrine are plain but for regularly spaced slender pilasters. The tower of the shrine has an finial called the kalasha (decorative water-pot like structure). Below the finial is a heavy dome like structure. This is the largest sculptural piece in the temple with a ground surface area of about 2x2 meters and is called the "helmet" or amalaka. Its shape usually follows that of the shrine (square or star shape). Below the dome the tower comprises three tiers, each descending tier increasing in height.[11][12] On the protruding tower of the vestibule is the royal Hoysala emblem; a warrior stabbing a lion.[1][13]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 "Rameshvara Temple". Archaeological Survey of India, Bengaluru Circle. ASI Bengaluru Circle. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  2. ↑ B.L. Rice (1887), p.459
  3. ↑ Hardy (1995), p.354
  4. ↑ "Alphabetical List of Monuments - Karnataka -Bangalore, Bangalore Circle, Karnataka". Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India. Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  5. ↑ Foekema (1996), p.25
  6. ↑ Kamath (2001), p.136. Quote:"The Western Chalukya carvings were done on green schist (Soapstone). This technique was adopted by the Hoysalas too."
  7. ↑ Foekema (1996), p.22
  8. ↑ Kamath (2001), p.117
  9. ↑ Brown in Kamath (2001), p.134
  10. ↑ Foekema (1996), p.19
  11. ↑ Foekema (2001), p.27
  12. ↑ Percy Brown in Kamath (2001), p.135
  13. ↑ Foekema (1996), p.22, p.27

References

  • Gerard Foekema, A Complete Guide to Hoysala Temples, Abhinav, 1996 ISBN 81-7017-345-0
  • Kamath, Suryanath U. (2001) [1980]. A concise history of Karnataka: from pre-historic times to the present. Bangalore: Jupiter books. LCCN 80905179. OCLC 7796041. 
  • Rice, Benjamin Lewis (1887). "Shimoga district". Mysore, a Gazetteer Complied for Government, Vol II. Delhi: Asian Educational Services. ISBN 81-206-0977-8. 
  • Adam Hardy, Indian Temple Architecture: Form and Transformation : the Karṇāṭa Drāviḍa Tradition, 7th to 13th Centuries, Abhinav, 1995 ISBN 81-7017-312-4.
  • "Alphabetical List of Monuments - Karnataka -Bangalore, Bangalore Circle, Karnataka". Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India. Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts. Retrieved 12 July 2012. 
  • "Rameshvara Temple". Archaeological Survey of India, Bengaluru Circle. ASI Bengaluru Circle. Retrieved 1 April 2013. 
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