Hoysaleswara Temple

The Hoysaleswara temple is the largest monument in Halebidu, the old Hoysala capital, about 30 kilometres from Hassan. It was built beside a large man-made lake under King Vishnuvardhana, starting around 1121 and finishing in 1160. Raids by the Delhi Sultanate twice in the early 14th century left the temple and the city ruined and neglected.

It is a twin temple, with two Shiva lingas named Hoysaleswara and Santaleswara representing male and female aspects, joined at the transept and each faced by its own Nandi pavilion outside. There is also a small shrine to Surya. The towers that once rose above it have gone, so the soapstone building now looks flat. What draws visitors are the carvings: friezes and some 340 large reliefs that draw on Shaiva, Vaishnava and Shakta themes and Jain imagery, offering a picture of life in 12th-century south India.