Hoysala Temples among UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Years of research come to fruition for INTACH Bengaluru

The newest Heritage Site from Karnataka consists of three temples from the 12-13th century CE that best represent the unique temple architecture and artistry of the Hoysala dynasty, namely the Chennakeshava temple in Belur, the Hoysaleshwara temple in Halebidu, and the Keshava temple of Somnathpur.

East Entrance of the Channakeshava Temple, Belur. (Photo: INTACH Bengaluru chapter)

Initially, the World Heritage Advisory Body had recommended referring the nomination back to India for the time being to add the nearby Tank Road and Vishnu Samudra Tank to the nominated area for the site of the Chennakeshava temple, among other recommendations, including managing the carrying capacity of the site.

However, Japan, Russia and several other nations put forth an amendment co-sponsored by three-fourths of the countries present, pointing out that India had previously responded to these concerns and supporting the immediate inscription of the Sacred Ensembles as a heritage site.

Responding to a question on the topic from the Zambian delegation, India explained that the Vishnusamudra and Tank Road, while culturally significant and hosted and included in the buffer zone of the site, were not included in the notified area since they did not belong to the Hoysala era and were built almost 400 years after the temple. The raft festival connected to the tank and road dated back to 1523 CE, as confirmed by a nearby inscription.

INTACH Bengaluru convenor Meera Iyer said, “These temples have certain differences in their features. For example, you can see some central Indian influence in the Belur temple. But the interesting thing about Hoysala temples is that they seem to have started at the peak of their skills. You can see this in the temple at Belur, though it is the oldest.”

Keshava Temple at Somanathaura. (Photo: INTACH Bengaluru chapter)

Technical coordinator Pankaj Modi said, “We had to do a lot of archival research. We also spoke to many experts in Hoysala society, managing such sites and also experts in stone and geology. INTACH’s fieldwork also involved extensive comparative work with temples in other states and dynasties, with months spent documenting the temples, including their building style and architecture, with the team eventually visiting most surviving Hoysala temples.”

Art and dance historian Gayatri Iyer noted that comparisons had to be done with other heritage sites in India and the world to establish the site’s importance as a heritage site, pointing out that the temples also served as a surviving repository for the performing arts.

She said, “We examined sites in Cambodia and Indonesia, namely Khmer Empire structures and the Prambanan Temple in Indonesia, to establish the individual and comparative historical importance.”

A day before the Hoysala Temples featured on the UNESCO list, Rabindranath Tagore’s Santiniketan, the university town in West Bengal, was also included as a World Heritage Site.

The other heritage sites in Karnataka which got into the UNESCO list are Hampi (1986) and Pattadakal (1987).