Mallikarjuna Temple, Basaralu

The Mallikarjuna temple at Basaralu, a small town near Nagamangala in Mandya district, about 65 km from Mysore, is dedicated to Shiva. It was built around 1234 by Harihara Dhannayaka in the reign of the Hoysala king Vira Narasimha II, and the Archaeological Survey of India protects it as a monument of national importance.

It is a highly ornate trikuta, with three shrines off a hall that combines features of open and closed halls. Only the central shrine, which holds a linga, has a tower; the side shrines, holding an image of Surya and a pair of nagas, are absorbed into the hall walls. The tower keeps its large 'helmet', kalasa and Hoysala crest of a warrior stabbing a lion. The wall panels match the workmanship of Belur and Halebidu on a smaller scale, among them a sixteen-armed Shiva dancing on the demon Andhakasura and a 22-armed Durga. Below them run six friezes of birds, makaras, scenes from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Krishna stories, lions, horses and elephants.