Kalleshwara Temple, Hire Hadagali

The Kalleshwara temple (also spelt Kalleshvara or Kallesvara) is located in the town of Hire Hadagali of the

The temple was constructed by Demarasa, prime minister (or mahamatya) to Western Chalukya Empire King Someshvara I (who had the honorific Trailokya Malladeva or "Lord of three worlds"), who reigned from 1042–1068 CE.^[1] Art historian Adam Hardy refers to the temple as Kattesvara and classifies it as a "close to mainstream" Western Chalukya architecture (also called Later or Kalyani Chalukya), with the tower over the shrine being a later day re-construction. The basic material used for the original construction is soapstone.^[2]

According to art historian Ajay Sinha, an old Kannada inscription (c. 1057) at the temple calls it Bhimesvara-Demesvara. The inscription gives information about the genealogy of the Chalukya dynasty and refers to Vikramaditya VI as a kumara (prince). Another old Kannada inscription (c. 1108) from the rule of Vikramaditya VI gives further details about the consecration of the temple by Udayaditya under the orders of Demarasa.^[3][4] A third poetic Kannada inscription (c. 1212) on the premises belongs to the rule of Hoysala King Veera Ballala II.^[5] The temple is protected as a monument of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India.^[6]

Temple plan

The temple is two shrined (dvikuta, though only one shrine has a superstructure or

The decorativeness of the outer walls of the main shrine and its closed hall exemplify Chalukyan art. Projections and recesses with niches have been created and used skillfully to accommodate

Manmatha. The door lintel (lalata) has an image of Gajalakshmi (Lakshmi flanked by elephants on either side). The eaves over the door has fine images of the Hindu deities Brahma, Keshava (a form of Vishnu) and Shiva.^[1] According to Sinha, the exuberance of sculptural articulation seen here is actually a southern Karnataka Hoysala influence on Chalukyan architecture.^[3]

See also

• Kalleshvara Temple, Ambali
• Kalleshvara Temple, Bagali

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Kalleswara Swamy Temple". Archaeological Survey of India, Bengaluru Circle. ASI Bengaluru Circle. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
2. ^ Hardy (1995), p331
3. ^ ^{a b} Sinha (2000), p163
4. ^ Sastry & Rao, Shama & Lakshminarayan. "Miscellaneous Inscriptions, Part 1, Chalukyas of Kalyani, no. 118". South Indian Inscription, Volume IX: Kannada Inscriptions from Madras Presidency. New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
5. ^ Sastry & Rao, Shama & Lakshminarayan. "Miscellaneous Inscriptions, Part1, Hoysalas, no. 330". South Indian Inscription, Volume IX: Kannada Inscriptions from Madras Presidency. New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
6. ^ "Alphabetical List of Monuments - Karnataka -Bangalore, Bangalore Circle, Karnataka". Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India. Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
7. ^ Foekema (1996), p25

Gallery

• 
  Navaranga (closed mantapa or hall) facing a shrine in Kalleshwara temple, Hire Hadagali
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  Vesara tower in Kalleshwara temple at Hire Hadagali
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  Profile of shrine, and porch with decorative half pillar in Kalleshwara temple, Hire Hadagali
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  Shrine wall relief carvings in Kalleshwara temple, Hire Hadagali
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  A sculpture of Hindu deity Ganesha in Kalleshwara temple, Hire Hadagali
• 
  Old Kannada inscription dated 1108 A.D. from the rule of Vikramaditya VI gives details about the construction of the temple
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  Old Kannada inscription (1212 A.D) of Hoysala King Veera Ballala II at Kalleshvara temple
• 
  Nandimantapa (hall for Nandi the bull) in Kalleshvara temple at Hire Hadagali

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kalleshwara Temple, Hire Hadagali.

• "Kalleswara Swamy Temple". Archaeological Survey of India, Bengaluru Circle. ASI Bengaluru Circle. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
• Gerard Foekema, A Complete Guide to Hoysala Temples, Abhinav, 1996
  ISBN 81-7017-345-0
• Adam Hardy, Indian Temple Architecture: Form and Transformation : the Karṇāṭa Drāviḍa Tradition, 7th to 13th Centuries, Abhinav, 1995, New Delhi,
  ISBN 81-7017-312-4
  .
• Ajay J Sinha, Imagining architects: creativity in the religious monuments of India,University of Delaware Press, 2000, Cranbury, New Jersey,
  ISBN 978-0-87413-684-5