Hoysala Expedition Part 2: Brahmeshwara Temple, Kikkeri

On the 3rd of this month, I had been on my second leg of the Hoysala Expedition, covering two places which are close to each other. One was Kikkeri, a town belonging to Krishnarajapete (K. R. Pet) Taluk of Mandya district. Although it is in Mandya district, it is easily accessible from Channarayapatna of Hassan district, for those who would be traveling from Bangalore. The second place was Govindanahalli, a village 5 kilometers away from Kikkeri.

The focus here is on the temple in Kikkeri, a place that is famous as the birthplace of the Kannada poet Dr. K. S. Narasimhaswamy. The town is home to the 1171 AD Brahmeshwara Temple built with the Hoysala style of architecture. The temple houses idols of Brahmeshwara, Venugopala, Ganesha, Suryanarayana, and Kala Bhairava among others, apart from the intricate carvings showcasing Nandi, the vehicle of Shiva, and the ten incarnations of Vishnu, and the trimurtis, Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara. The clinching feature of this temple for me was the huge Nandi statue in front of the main door, which has intricate stone carvings indicating the rope tied around its neck, and the garland of bells it is wearing. The amount of focus and concentration these carvings might have required would leave you stunned without a doubt.

Here is a compilation of the pictures taken there. Only regret on this trip was that I could not see the inside of this temple, as I got delayed at the Govindanahalli temple and they had closed this temple for the day by the time I returned. But the fact that the temple premises had so much historical, mythological and architectural marvels to offer, that it did not feel like I missed something.




Brahmeshwara Temple, Kikkeri from hmvprasanna on Vimeo.


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