Amrutesvara Temple, Amruthapura

{{Short description|Temple in Karnataka, India}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}} {{Use Indian English|date=December 2019}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Amrutesvara Temple, Amruthapura | native_name = | native_name_lang = | other_name = | nickname = | settlement_type = village | image_skyline = Amrutesvara temple at Amruthapura in Chikkamagaluru district.JPG | image_alt = | image_caption = ''Ekakuta'' (singly shrined), Amruteshvara temple, 1196, Chikkamagaluru district | pushpin_map = India Karnataka | pushpin_label_position = right | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Karnataka, India | coordinates = {{coord|13.741|N|75.854|E|display=inline,title}} | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{flag|India}} | subdivision_type1 = State | subdivision_name1 = Karnataka | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Chikkamagaluru District | established_title =  | established_date = 1196 CE | founder = | named_for = | government_type = | governing_body = | unit_pref = Metric | area_footnotes = | area_rank = | area_total_km2 = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | population_total = | population_as_of = | population_rank = | population_density_km2 = auto | population_demonym = | population_footnotes = | demographics_type1 = Languages | demographics1_title1 = Official | demographics1_info1 = Kannada | timezone1 = IST | utc_offset1 = +5:30 | postal_code_type =  | postal_code = | registration_plate = | website = | footnotes = }}

The '''Amruteshvara temple''' also spelt "Amrutesvara" or "Amruteshwara", is located in the village of Amruthapura, 67 km north of Chikmagalur town in the Chikkamagaluru district of the Karnataka state, India. Located 110 km from Hassan and 50 km from Shimoga on NH 206, Amruthapura is known for the Amruteshvara temple. The temple was built in 1196 CE by Amrutheshwara ''Dandanayaka'' (''lit'', "commander") under Hoysala King Veera Ballala II.<ref name="ASI"/>

==Amrutesvara temple== thumb|left|Profile, Amrutesvara temple (1196 CE) left|thumb|upright|Open ''mantapa'' (hall) with shining, lathe-turned pillars in Amrutesvara temple at Amruthapura [[File:Kirtimukha sculptures on shikhara (tower) of Amrutesvara temple at Amruthapura.jpg|right|thumb|upright|''Kirtimukha'' decoration (demon faces) on ''Shikhara'' (tower) at Amruthapura]] thumb|right|upright|Old Kannada inscription (1196 CE) in the Amrutesvara temple at Amruthapura The temple is a built according to Hoysala architecture with a wide open ''mantapa'' (hall).<ref name="hall">Foekema (1996), p37</ref> The temple has an original outer wall with unique equally spaced circular carvings. The temple has one ''vimana'' (shrine and tower) and therefore is a ''ekakuta'' design,<ref name="kuta">Quote:"Depending on the number of towers, temples are classified as ''ekakuta'' (one), ''dvikuta'' (two), ''trikuta'' (three), ''chatushkuta'' (four) and ''panchakuta'' (five). The last two types are rare. Sometimes a ''trikuta'' temple is literally not ''trikuta'' as only the central of three shrines may have a superstructure", Foekema (1996), p25</ref> and has a closed ''mantapa'' (hall) that connects the sanctum to the large open ''mantapa''.

It is medium-sized Hoysala temple with certain vastu features similar to the Veera Narayana Temple, Belavadi in ''mantapa'' structure and size. The open ''mantapa'' has twenty nine bays,<ref name="bay">Quote:"A bay is a square or rectangular compartment in the hall", Foekema (1996) p36, p93</ref> and the closed ''mantapa'' has nine bays with a side porch that leads to a separate shrine on the south side. The shrine is square in shape has the original superstructure (''shikhara'') which is adorned with sculptures of ''Kirtimukhas'' (demon faces), miniature decorative towers (aedicule). Below the superstructure, the usually seen panel of Hindu deities is absent. The base of the wall has five mouldings which according to art critic Foekema is an "older Hoysala style".<ref name="mould">Quote:"In a typical "older style" that was popular throughout most of the 12th century Hoysala temples, there is one set of eaves where the tower meets the wall of the shrine. The eaves runs all around the temple. Eaves is a projecting roof overhanging the temple wall. Below the eaves are decorated miniature towers on pilasters. Below these towers are the wall panels of Hindu Gods, Goddesses and their attendants. Below these panels are the five mouldings", Foekema (1996), p28</ref> The ''sukanasi'', the tower on top of the vestibule that connects the sanctum to the closed ''mantapa'' (the ''Sukanasi'' appears like the nose of the superstructure),<ref name="nose">Foekema(1996), p22</ref> has the original Hoysala emblem of "Sala" fighting the lion.<ref name="lion">Foekema (1996), p22</ref><ref name="sala">According to Kamath, Sala fights a tiger. According to historians such as C. Hayavadhana Rao, J. D. M. Derrett and B. R Joshi, "Sala" was the mythical founder of the empire, Kamath (2001), p123</ref>

The rows of shining lathe turned pillars that support the ceiling of the ''mantapa'' is a Hoysala-Chalukya decorative idiom.<ref name="lathe">Quote:"a common feature of Western Chalukya-Hoysala temples", Kamath (2001), p117</ref> The ''mantapa'' has many deeply domed inner ceiling structures adorned with floral designs. The outer parapet wall of the open ''mantapa'' has a total of hundred and forty panel sculptures with depictions from the Hindu epics. Unlike many Hoysala temples where the panels are small and carvings in miniature, these panels are comparatively larger. The Ramayana is sculpted on the south side wall on seventy panels, with the story proceeding quite unusually, in anti-clockwise direction. On the north side wall, all depictions are clockwise, a norm in Hoysala architectural articulation. Twenty five panels depict the life of the Hindu god Krishna and the remaining forty five panels depict scenes from the epic Mahabharata.<ref name="lathe"/>

Ruvari Mallitamma, the well known sculptor and architect is known to have started his career here working on the domed ceilings in the main ''mantapa''.<ref name="mailtamma">''Architectural marvel'' by P.B.Premkumar, ''Spectrum'', Tuesday, 20 January 2004 {{cite web|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jan202004/spt6.asp |title=Architectural marvel - Deccan Herald |access-date=2006-11-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060530075405/http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jan202004/spt6.asp |archive-date=2006-05-30 }}</ref>

The large stone inscription near the porch contains poems composed by medieval Kannada poet Janna who had the honorific ''Kavichakravarti'' (''lit'', "emperor among poets").<ref name="ASI">{{cite web|url=http://asibengalurucircle.in/amritesvara-temple-amruthapura |title=Amritesvara Temple |work=Archaeological Survey of India, Bengaluru Circle |publisher=ASI Bengaluru Circle |access-date=26 July 2021 }}</ref>

== Gallery == <gallery widths=105> File:Profile of shrine in Amrutesvara temple at Amruthapura.JPG|Profile of shrine outer wall with ''Shikara'' (tower) at Amrutesvara temple, Amruthapura File:Mantapa outer wall articulation in Amrutesvara temple at Amruthapura.JPG|Close up of mantapa wall with miniature decorative towers, swirls and flourish in relief at Amrutesvara temple, Amruthapura File:Shrine wall relief at Amruteshvara temple in Amruthapura, Chikkamagaluru district.JPG|Mantapa wall with miniature decorative towers (aedicule) in relief at Amrutesvara temple, Amruthapura File:Outer wall relief at Amruteshvara temple in Amruthapura, Chikkamagaluru district.JPG|Wall relief at Amrutesvara temple, Amruthapura File:Wall decoration in relief in Amrutesvara temple at Amruthapura.JPG|Wall relief at Amrutesvara temple, Amruthapura File:Close up of outer wall relief at Amruteshvara temple in Amruthapura, Chikkamagaluru district.JPG|Close up of wall relief at Amrutesvara temple, Amruthapura Image:Wall Carving at Amrutesvara Temple in Chikkamagaluru district.jpg|Wall relief sculpture of the Amrutesvara temple Image:Battle scene in relief in Amruthesvara Temple at Amruthapura in Chikkamagaluru district.jpg|Wall relief sculpture at the Amrutesvara temple, Amruthapura File:Mythological scene from the Hindu legend in relief in the Amrutesvara temple at Amruthapura.JPG|Wall relief sculpture at Amrutesvara temple, Amruthapura File:Scene from the Hindu legend in relief in the Amrutesvara temple at Amruthapura.JPG|Wall relief sculpture at Amrutesvara temple, Amruthapura File:Perforated window art at mantapa entrance in Amrutesvara temple at Amruthapura.JPG|Perforated window art at Amrutesvara temple, Amruthapura File:Hindu deity sculpture in the Amrutesvara temple at Amruthapura 1.JPG|Hindu deity sculpture at Amrutesvara temple, Amruthapura File:Domical ceiling art in Amrutesvara temple at Amruthapura.JPG|Domical ceiling art at Amrutesvara temple, Amruthapura File:Domical ceiling art in Amrutesvara temple at Amruthapura 1.JPG|Domical ceiling art at Amrutesvara temple, Amruthapura File:Domical ceiling art in Amrutesvara temple at Amruthapura 6.JPG|Domical ceiling art at Amrutesvara temple, Amruthapura Image:Wall Sculpture at Amrutesvara Temple in Chikkamagaluru district.jpg|Wall relief sculpture, Amrutesvara temple File:Decorative swirls on mantapa wall at Amruteshvara temple in Amruthapura, Chikkamagaluru district.JPG|Decorative swirls in bas-relief on mantapa outer wall at Amrutesvara temple, Amruthapura </gallery>

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==References== * Gerard Foekema, A Complete Guide to Hoysala Temples, Abhinav, 1996 {{ISBN|978-81-7017-345-8}} * Suryanath U. Kamath, A Concise history of Karnataka from pre-historic times to the present, Jupiter books, 2001, MCC, Bangalore (Reprinted 2002) {{LCCN|809051799}}, {{OCLC|7796041}}.

==External links== {{Commons category|Amrutesvara Temple, Amruthapura}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060530075405/http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jan202004/spt6.asp Architectural marvel]

Category:12th-century Hindu temples Category:Hindu temples in Chikmagalur district