Lakshmi Devi temple, Doddagaddavalli

The Lakshimi Devi temple is located in Doddagaddavalli, a village in Hassan District of Karnataka state, India. It is located 16 km from Hassan and lies on the route to the famous temple town, Belur. The town's main attraction, the Lakshmi Devi temple, was built by the Hoysalas in the year 1114 CE during the rule of king Vishnuvardhana. The temple is situated amidst pristine coconut plantations and has a lake at its rear which adds to the scenic beauty.

Lakshmi Devi temple

It is one of the earliest known temples built in Hoysala style and is built with Chloritic schist or Soapstone.An idiom common to Western Chalukyas as well, Dr. S.U.Kamath, A Concise History of Karnataka, pp 136. The Western Chalukya carvings were done on green schist (Soapstone). This technique was adopted by the Hoysalas too, Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent, Takeo Kamiya] The temple does not stand on a "jagati" (platform) which became popular in later Hoysala temples.The "jagati" is a Hoysala innovation, cite web|title=History of Karnataka-Religion, Literature, Art and Architecture in Hoysala Empire|url=http://www.ourkarnataka.com/history.htm|author=Arthikaje, Mangalore|publisher=© 1998-00 OurKarnataka.Com, Inc|work=|accessdate=2006-11-13] The temple is said to have been built by a merchant called Kullahana Rahuta and his wife Sahaja Devi. The temple is a "chatuskuta" construction (four towers)Most Hoysala temples are "ekakuta" (one tower), "dvikuta" (2 towers) or "trikuta" (3 towers), "A complete guide to Hoysala temples", Gerard Foekema, pp 25] built inside 7 ft tall stone enclosure with the entrance through a porch which is supported by circular lathe turned pillars.] Three of the "vimanas" (shrines) have a common square "mantapa" (hall) with 9 bays.A bay is a square or rectangular compartment in the hall, Gerard Foekema, "A Complete Guide to Hoysala Temples" pp 93] The fourth "vimana" is connected to the "mantapa" via an oblong extension consisting of 2 bays. The extension also has two lateral entrances into the temple. All the "vimana" have their original tower (superstructure) intact. The towers are in Kadamba "nagara" style.The most prominent feature of the Kadamba architecture is their Shikhara called Kadamba Shikhara. The Shikhara is pyramid shaped and rises in steps without any decoration with a "stupika" or "kalasa" at the top, "A Concise History of Karnataka", pp 38 Dr. S.U. Kamath. This type of tower is common through out Karnataka and is also called a "Pamasana", Gerard Foekema, "A Complete Guide To Hoysala Temples" pp 58] Each "vimana" has a vestibule connecting it to the central "mantapa". On top of the vestibule is its own tower called "sukanasi" (or nose which looks like low extension of the main tower over the shrine). The "sukanasi" is a tier lower than the main tower over the shrine. All the four "sukanasi" are intact and so are the "kalasa" of the main towers. The "kalasa" is a water pot like structure that forms the highest point of the tower, Gerard Foekema, A Complete Guide to Hoysala Temples pp 27] The "sukanasi" holds the Hoysala emblem of Sala fighting the tiger. Of the four towers, three are undecorated and they look stepped pyramidal with a pile of dented horizontal mouldings with the "kalasa" on top. The fourth tower is very well decorated which is typical of Hoysala designs and is the tower of the main shrine that houses the Lakshmi Devi image.The "mantapa" is open and square. The reason for the square plan is the presence of shrines on all four sides of the "mantapa" with no side open for staggering.The open "mantapa" of Hoysala temples are generally in a staggered square pan, called a cross in square plan, Gerard Foekema, "A Complete Guide To Hoysala Temples" pp 22] There is a separate fifth shrine of Bhairava, an avatar of Lord Shiva. The shrine is complete with its own "vimana" and tower with a "kalasa" on top, a nose and Hoysala emblem on the it. Another unusual feature of the temple is the existence of four more shrines at each corner of the temple complex with two sides of each shrine attached to the courtyard wall. Each of these minor shrines has its own tower, "kalasa" and Hoysala emblem.The Hoysala emblem depicts Sala, the mythical founder of the empire fighting a Tiger, according to historians C. Hayavadhana Rao, J. D. M. Derrett, B. R Joshi, Sala was a mythical founder of the empire, "A Concise history of Karnataka" pp 123, Dr. S.U. Kamath, cite web|title=History of Karnataka-Hoysalas and their contributions|url=http://www.ourkarnataka.com/history.htm|author=Arthikaje, Mangalore|publisher=© 1998-00 OurKarnataka.Com, Inc|work=|accessdate=2006-11-27] On the whole the temple complex has nine towers which is unusual for a Hoysala temple.

Overall the temple has the older Hoysala style where there is only one eaves running round the temple where the main towers meet the wall of the shrine.An eaves is a projecting roof overhanging the wall, Gerard Foekema, "A Complete Guide to Hoysala Temples" pp 93] At the base of the wall of the shrines are 5 mouldings and between the mouldings and the eaves, the usual panels of Hoysala sculptures depicting Hindu gods, goddesses and their attendants is missing. Instead, the whole space is taken up by decorative miniature towers on pilasters. The ceiling of the main hall is supported by 18 lathe turned pillars. Inside there are two sculptures of large demonic living corpses called "betala". The main shrine facing east has a 3 ft tall image of goddess Lakshmi with an attendant on either side. In her four hands, the image holds a conch in the upper right hand, a "chakra" (discuss) in the upper left, a rosary in the lower right and a mace in the lower left. In the shrines facing north, south and west are the idols of Kali, Vishnu, and "Boothanatha" Linga (the universal symbol of Shiva). A sculpture of "Tandaveswara" (dancing Shiva) exists in the circular panel at the center of the ceiling of the "mantapa". Other important sculptures are those of "Gajalakshmi" (form of Lakshmi), "Thandaveshwara" and "Yoganarasimha" (form of Vishnu) found on the doorway of the temple.

Notes

References

* Gerard Foekema, A Complete Guide To Hoysala Temples, 1996, Abhinav, ISBN 978-81-7017-345-8
* Dr. Suryanath U. Kamath, A Concise history of Karnataka from pre-historic times to the present, Jupiter books, 2001, MCC, Bangalore (Reprinted 2002)
*
*
*

External links

* [http://hassan.nic.in More information]