Kedareshwara and Chennakeshava temples, Nagalapura

Tumkur district has its share of Hoysala monuments situated in Turuvekere, Nagalapura, Aralaguppe and Vignasante. Most temples have been restored from their ruinous states, and currently they are protected monuments. These temples, dedicated to Vishnu and Shiva, follow traditional design rules, are different in looks and sizes. Ancient builders, made sure no two temples are identical. Having said that, lets narrow down to the two temples- Kedareshwara and Chennakesava -of Nagalapura, situated within 400 meters of each other. The two temples have been built around the same time i.e. sometime in XII or XIII Century. These temples are more or less same size but plans are slightly different. I felt comparing these two temples' similarities & differences would be an interesting study. Below is a table of comparison followed by a set of photos.

	Kedareshwara	Chennakesava
Type	Ekakuta	Ekakuta
No. of entrances	One	One
Entrance direction	south-facing	east-facing
Garbhagudi direction	east-facing	east-facing
Garbhagudi plan	star shaped	star shaped
Shikhara	absent	absent
State of work	incomplete	incomplete

In this series of collages, pictures on the left are that of Kedareshwara and on the right are Chennakeshava. Elevations are different but the Garbhagudi parts are similar in design. The external walls have three sections- lower, middle and upper. The lower section is further divided into five tiers, each with its own theme. The five themes are elephant (signifying strength to carry heavy load), horse, creepers, Yali and peacock.

Kedareshwara vs Chennakeshava

Inside, the Navaranga Mantapa and the pair of enclosed mantapas are similar at the first glance. There will be differences in finer details. Then the Chakra in the ceiling, same size but different pattern.

Coming to the sculptures on the external walls, the number of idols on both temples are more or less same. Ganesha is present in both temples on the left, the point from where 'Pradakshine' begins. At Kedareshwara it is Shiva in different forms and poses, and on Chennakeshava it is Vishnu. The poses shown are dancing, standing and sitting. Below are a six-armed Shiva and eight-armed Vishnu in identical dance pose.

Here are standing Shiva and Vishnu. Though the sculptures are incomplete, one can still see the similarities. 

Shiva-Parvati seated on Nandi's back, and Vishnu-Lakshmi sitting in Garuda's shoulders. The 'destroyer' and 'preserver' along with their consorts and mounts. Shiva is also shown dancing on Apasmara's head and slaying Gajasura. Also there  are sculptures of Bhringi the sage with three legs, Karthikeya and Mahisasuramardhini. On the Vishnu temple there are Ugra-Narasimha, Lakshmi-Narasimha, Goverdana Giridhari and possibly Hayagriva. There could be other forms of Vishnu which I might have missed.

Both temples have sculpture of Brahma the creator. Together these two temples have Trimurthy present.

Then have one sculpture of a pair holding an egg like object, possibly a Saligrama. Sculptures are incomplete but the one at Kedareshwara is closer to completion. The characters holding the object seem to have horses' heads.

Lastly, Vishnu and Lakshmi seated on Garuda's shoulder. The image seems to depict a Garuda trying to protect and move his lord to a safer place. Here Garuda is identifiable easily because of wings at the back, The similar sculpture at Kedareshwara must be depicting Shiva-Parvati on Nandi holding a sword.

That's it for this post. Below are the links to individual posts on these temples- Kedareshwara Devastana and Chennakesava Devastana.

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