Arakeshvara Temple, Hole Alur


The Arakeshvara Temple, dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, is located in the village of Hole Alur in the Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka state, India. According to the historian Sarma, the temple which dates back to the middle of the 10th century rule of the Western Ganga Dynasty appears to have been renovated in later periods. It was constructed by King Butuga II around 949 A.D. to celebrate his victory over the Cholas of Tanjore in the historically important battle of Takkolam. It was a military engagement between crown prince Rajaditya, son of the Chola King Parantaka I, and King Butaga II. The temple is protected as a monument of national importance by the central Archaeological Survey of India.

Temple plan

The temple has a simple plan characteristic of Western Ganga constructions. It has a sanctum, a vestibule that connects to the sanctum a large well sculptured closed hall and an open, elevated and detached mantapa outside facing the shrine containing the sculptured image of nandi facing east. The base on which the temple is raised is a simple set of moldings.
The overall decoration is simple with dancing celestial maiden within volutes of scrolls which extend over the door jamb and linel. On either side of the entrance doorway are two tall rectangular vertical slabs reaching up to the lintel, divided into four panels with relief friezes depicting male drummers. The top panel has rustic male dancers who appear to dance to a musicians' ensemble who play the drum, violin, rudra veena, flute and the kanjira. According to the historian Sarma, in no contemporary temple are such native forms of dance depicted. The most interesting bas-relief sculptures in the temple, according to Sarma, are the ones on the rounded pillars in the nandimantapa and the closed mahamantapa. These relief vividly depict the victory of Butaga II over the Chola prince Rajaditya, in addition to themes from the Hindu epics, mythical figures and demi-gods. The high point of the relief work, in the closed mahamantapa is the ashtadikpalaka grid in the ceiling with a central dancing Shiva. There are several independent sculptures in the closed hall, including Mahishasuramardini, Yago Dakshinamurthy, Saptamatrika and other sculptures that adhere to the 8th-9th century Ganga-Chalukya sculptural idiom.

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