Indian History Chronicles: The Hoysala Splendour

Of the many impactful kingdoms of south India, the Hoysalas stand out in their own niche. Like much other non-Delhi empires, the Hoysalas are relatively lesser known or completely unknown, outside of Karnataka. Nevertheless, the Hoysala influence on the present day culture and worldview of Karnataka, continues to be strong. 

Extent of the Hoysala Empire. Image Source: Wikipedia

The Hoysalas were a relatively small empire who ruled between the 10th and 14th century CE, from their capital city Belur, which was later shifted to.a new town called Dwarasamudra, which is presently called Halebidu. The term Halebidu literally means "old/destroyed town", which was the name given to the Hoysala capital after it was destroyed by multiple invasions from Malik Kafur, sent by the Sultan of Delhi, in the 14th century. 

Police patrol vehicles in present-day Karnataka are called "Hoysalas". This comes from the legend of the extraordinary bravery of the kings who ruled this empire. There is a legend of a boy named Sala who fought and killed a rampaging tiger. This motif is carved in stone in just about every Hoysala monument, and is a signature of the Hoysala influence on that monument. 

Hoysala signature motif found in most Hoysala temples. Image source: karnataka.com

The Hoysalas were a great patron of arts, culture and architecture. Hoysala temples are famous for their very intricate carvings, depicting lots of stories and information about their times. The picture below shows just a small part of an entrance door to one of the smaller Hoysala temples in Somanathapura in Mysore district. 

A small part of an entrance door of a Hoysala temple, adorned with intricate sculpture. Photo taken by author.

A characteristic feature of Hoysala temples is the use of soapstone rather than more widely available granite, for their carvings. Soapstone is more amenable for intricate carvings, unlike the much harder granite. 

The Hoysalas were also the inventors of the lathe machine. A characteristic feature of Hoysala temples is the round shaped pillars that were shaped using a hand-turned lathe. 

Lathe turned rounded pillars at a Hoysala temple. Image source: https://heythatseemscool.wordpress.com/

The figure below shows a graphical reconstruction of the main temple at Halebidu, of which only a small part stands intact today, following invasions from the Delhi Sultanate. 

Graphical reconstruction of the Halebidu temple. Image source: Facebook group on Temples of India

Of the many kings who ruled in the Hoysala dynasty, the most well known is king Vishnuvardhana who ruled between 1108 and 1152 CE. His queen Shantaladevi was an acclaimed mathematician, musician and a dancer. She was a great patron of arts, literature and science. She is depicted in several carvings in many of the Hoysala temple. Her own personal life however, was far from peaceful. And she is said to have ended her life, by jumping off a cliff at Shiva Gange hills near Bengaluru. 

Sculpture of queen Shantaladevi. Image source: Google image search 

Under king Vishnuvardhana, the acclaimed Vaishnava philosopher Ramanucharya was invited from his hometown in Sri Perumbudur, to spend several years in Hoysala empire and popularise the Vaishnava philosophy of Vishishtadvaita. 

Vishnuvardhana is also well known for his defeat of the mighty Chola empire and take back some of the territories they had captured from the Western Gangas who were ruling from Talakadu. The Cholas were a formidable force, who are well known for having ruled for over 1200 years, and having expanded their empire throughout the eastern coast of India and to several regions of south-east Asia, including present day Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. 

The acclaimed Kannada writer TaRaSu (T R Subba Rao) has written extensively about how Vishnuvardhana managed to defeat the mighty Cholas. A major factor that led to his victory were the several technological innovations driven by an eccentric inventor called Gaurachari. These innovations include: an early form of undercarriage suspensions for horse carriages so that they could travel much more smoothly, flywheel based mechanisms to maintain stability of chariots, and an early form of the telescope (about 300 years before Galileo), with lenses made from the almost transparent Spatika stone. The image below shows a Shivalinga carved from the Spatika stone. 

A Shiva linga carved from the transparent Spatika crystal. Image Sourve: Google image search

This invention of Gaurachari is also immortalised on stone, in one of the Hoysala temples in Halebidu that depicts a soldier scanning the area using a telescope. 

Man holding telescope. Hoysala sculpture. Image source: Google image search

The Hoysala influence continues to be strong in southern Karnataka even today, with several of their key personalities-- including queen Shantala, their chief architect Jakanachari, capturing popular imagination in several forms.