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==Hoysala Sculpture==

==Hoysala Sculpture==

In the Hindu temple, sculpture is inextricably enmeshed with architecture to the point where the boundary between them becomes unrecognizable. This is another feature which distinguishes the Hindu temple from other sacred architectures in the world. In the Hoysala architecture this feature becomes even more exaggerated. As Gerard Foekema says, in Karnataka, mainly in Kalyani Chalukya and Hoysala temples, architecture is decorated with architecture. These architectural parts are both functional and decorative. Since most of these parts are constructed by chiseling hence they are technically sculpture but play the function of architecture as well.[[File:Hoysala sculpture at Somnathapur, Mysore, Karnataka.png|thumb|Hoysala sculpture at Somnathapur, Mysore, Karnataka|link=http://dharmawiki.org/index.php/File:Hoysala_sculpture_at_Somnathapur,_Mysore,_Karnataka.png|left|480.996x480.996px]]Beginning from the top, the Hoysala temple has the quintessential ''kalasha'', containing the temple seed. It was built in stone, but in most temples it was lost during Islamic invasions, but some like temples at Mosale have their ''kalasha'' intact. The Veera Narayana temple, Belavadi also has the ''kalashas'' intact in all three of its shrines. The temples that have lost their ''kalasha'' have replaced it with a metal one.

In the Hindu temple, sculpture is inextricably enmeshed with architecture to the point where the boundary between them becomes unrecognizable. This is another feature which distinguishes the Hindu temple from other sacred architectures in the world. In the Hoysala architecture this feature becomes even more exaggerated. As Gerard Foekema says, in Karnataka, mainly in Kalyani Chalukya and Hoysala temples, architecture is decorated with architecture. These architectural parts are both functional and decorative. Since most of these parts are constructed by chiseling hence they are technically sculpture but play the function of architecture as well.[[File:Hoysala sculpture at Somnathapur, Mysore, Karnataka.png|thumb|Hoysala sculpture at Somnathapur, Mysore, Karnataka|link=http://dharmawiki.org/index.php/File:Hoysala_sculpture_at_Somnathapur,_Mysore,_Karnataka.png|left|400x400px]]Beginning from the top, the Hoysala temple has the quintessential ''kalasha'', containing the temple seed. It was built in stone, but in most temples it was lost during Islamic invasions, but some like temples at Mosale have their ''kalasha'' intact. The Veera Narayana temple, Belavadi also has the ''kalashas'' intact in all three of its shrines. The temples that have lost their ''kalasha'' have replaced it with a metal one.

Below the ''kalasha'' there is the domed roof, which is actually a sculpted stone and given the shape of the roof. It is square if the plan of the ''garbha-griha'' and ''shikhara'' is square and star if the plan is that of a star. “Below this giant topping roof, the tower consists of many more domed roofs with square plan, all of them much smaller, and also crowned by ''kalasas''. They are mixed with other small roofs of different shapes, most of them finely decorated. The top of the wall of a closed hall also shows this kind of decorated miniature roofs, but only one single row of them, and also above the heavy eaves of open halls and porches one row of them can be found. The tower of the shrine mostly consists of three or four of this kind of rows, the top of the nose mostly of two or three of them.”<ref>Ibid. p. 28.</ref>[[File:Hoysala Sculpture, Aralaguppe, Tumkuru, Karnataka.png|thumb|''Hoysala Sculpture, Aralaguppe, Tumkuru, Karnataka''|link=http://dharmawiki.org/index.php/File:Hoysala_Sculpture,_Aralaguppe,_Tumkuru,_Karnataka.png|451.992x451.992px]]The Vesara style has evolved basically from the south Indian Dravida style with some Nagara embellishment. Hence, essentially it is a Dravida style which later evolved into a separate branch. This is why the Dravida feature of the ''vimana'' having many ''talas'' are also present in the Vesara styles. The rows of decorated miniature roofs that Foekema talks about in the above excerpt are actually these ''talas'' which are so decorated and so deeply enmeshed into each other that they look like a single structure.

Below the ''kalasha'' there is the domed roof, which is actually a sculpted stone and given the shape of the roof. It is square if the plan of the ''garbha-griha'' and ''shikhara'' is square and star if the plan is that of a star. “Below this giant topping roof, the tower consists of many more domed roofs with square plan, all of them much smaller, and also crowned by ''kalasas''. They are mixed with other small roofs of different shapes, most of them finely decorated. The top of the wall of a closed hall also shows this kind of decorated miniature roofs, but only one single row of them, and also above the heavy eaves of open halls and porches one row of them can be found. The tower of the shrine mostly consists of three or four of this kind of rows, the top of the nose mostly of two or three of them.”<ref>Ibid. p. 28.</ref>[[File:Hoysala Sculpture, Aralaguppe, Tumkuru, Karnataka.png|thumb|''Hoysala Sculpture, Aralaguppe, Tumkuru, Karnataka''|link=http://dharmawiki.org/index.php/File:Hoysala_Sculpture,_Aralaguppe,_Tumkuru,_Karnataka.png|451.992x451.992px]]The Vesara style has evolved basically from the south Indian Dravida style with some Nagara embellishment. Hence, essentially it is a Dravida style which later evolved into a separate branch. This is why the Dravida feature of the ''vimana'' having many ''talas'' are also present in the Vesara styles. The rows of decorated miniature roofs that Foekema talks about in the above excerpt are actually these ''talas'' which are so decorated and so deeply enmeshed into each other that they look like a single structure.