Pages from History

by Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy

Hundreds of tourists visit the famous temples at Halebid which was also known as Dwarasamudra.It was their capital and when they changed the capital to Belur, this place became famous as old capital or Halebidu. Normally, tourists visit the famous Hoysalesvara temple here and enjoy the beauty of the delicate sculptures. Generally people do not even know the existence of three Jaina temples in the same place. Though these three Jaina temples do not exhibit that enchanting beauty of the Hoysalesvara temple, they present another facet of Hoysala art.

Many may wonder how Vishnuvardhana, a devoted Vaishnava was able to build these three temples in his capital Halebid. To understand this we have to just go back to some incidents that happened in the early life of Vishnuvardhana. His original name was Bittideva and was a staunch Jaina by religion. After coming into contact with the great Sri Vaishnava Saint Ramanujacharya, he became a Vaishnava and changed his name Bittideva to Vishnuvardhana. There are no historical records to support these incidents but these legends are very strong and make us believe them. One such legend states that Vishnuvardhana had a daughter by name Hariyaladevi and she was a problematic child physically and mentally from her birth itself. The physicians of the Palace could not cure her and make her normal. At that time Vishnuvardhana who had heard of Ramanujacharya paid a visit to him and narrated him the plight of his daughter. The saint by uttering some mantras cured the daughter of Vishnuvardhana and the latter was greatly imp

ressed by the spiritual power of Ramanujacharya and became his disciple and consequently he changed his name to Vishnuvardhana.

There is another slightly different legend to explain the name Vishnuvardhana. Bittideva had many wives among whom Lakshmidevi was the most beautiful and charming. She was a follower of Sri Ramanujacharya. She used her influence on her husband and converted him to Vaishnavism from Jainism. Naturally Bittideva changed his name also and began to be known as Vishnuvardhana. All these legends have no historical basis but they are strong in the minds of the people and the historians. Though Vishnuvardhana was a Jaina in the beginning and got converted to Vaishnavism, he was tolerant of Saivism which was one of the major sects of the period. This is evidenced by many Siva temples built by him.

The Jaina architecture is based upon Hindu architecture itself but the Jainas made some innovations and changes to suit the needs of their religion. They followed the usual pattern of Garbhagriha, Sukhanasi, Navaranga and Mandapa in a row. They added a pillar in front of the temple and it became unique as Manastambha. The Jaina art can be studied on dynastic pattern as Ganga, Chalukya, Hoysala, etc. That shows their inclination for adaptability. The double storeyed sanctum was an innovation of the Jains. But this did not become popular. The uniqueness of the Jaina sculptural style is the highly glossy polish of the Tirthankara images, even if the structure was built of granite. Another unique feature is the presence of tall metallic images found in many Jaina temples.

The three Jaina temples in a row at Halebid are dedicated to Parsvanatha (west), Adinatha (central) and Shantinatha (east) Tirthankaras. Parsvanatha was the 23rd Tirthankara (Jaina guru) and many people consider him as the real founder of Jainism. He was the son of Asvasena of Kashi. He lived as a housholder for 30 years and later became an ascetic. After deep meditation for 83 days, he attained the highest spiritual knowledge. He had a huge following of 1,64,000 men and 3,27,000 nuns who were highly devoted to him. He died at the age of 100 years on the summit of mountain Sammeta. Scholars have placed him in 8th century BC.

The temple dedicated to Parsvanatha was built by Bopparaja, the son of the famous Hoysala General Gangaraja. It was built in memory of Gangaraja. At this time the news of the victory (vijaya) over Bankapura was conveyed to Vishnuvardhana and he named the deity as Vijaya Parsvanatha. The temple is built of soapstone and consists of garbhagriha, sukhanasi and a navaranga and a detached enclosure. The square garbhagriha and the walls of the navaranga are decorated with pilasters at intervals. The most important attraction of this temple is the image of Vijaya Parsvanatha which is imposing by its height of 14 ft. The deity has a seven-hooded serpent over his head. The Tirthankara is a perfect yogi or a realised soul with sympathetic and benign smile on his lips. The lathe-turned elegant pillars in the navaranga are highly polished and exhibit mirror-like glossy surface.

The next temple is dedicated to Shantinatha. This is also similar to the first temple. It was built in 1192 AD during the reign of Ballala II (1173-1220). He was the next great king in Hoysala dynasty after Vishnuvardhana. He was born in 1154 AD and was appointed as a Yuvaraja as a child. He began taking interest in administration from his eleventh year. He was ruling for sometime with his mother Echaladevi and subsequently as an independent king. His father Narasimha was weak and was immersed in worldly pleasures. Ballala rebelled against him and after his father’s death, he assumed full powers and defeated many kings including Chalukya and Yadava kings. He was a patron of art and architecture also. He built this Jaina temple dedicated to Shantinatha. It consists of a garbhagriha, sukhanasi, navaranga and a mandapa. The first three parts were built during the Hoysala period while the mandapa was added during the Vijayanagara period. The sanctum has a fine image of standing Shantinatha which is 14ft in hei

ght. The navaranga pillars do not exhibit the glossy quality. Perhaps it was not finished at all.

The frontal mandapa contains granite pillars which are tall but are not artistic as those of the hoysala pillars. But they provide good support to the roof of the mandapa. Before the temple is a tall pillar referred to as manastambha which is similar to garudagamba or nandi kamba of vaishnava and saiva temples respectively. The manastamba is very elegant and indicates the special feature of jaina temple art, and can be seen in all Jaina temples. They can be seen in Sravanabelagola in plenty which is a great Jaina architectural centre not only in Karnataka but also in India.

Sravanabelagola is not only an ancient Jaina centre but also has a large number of Jaina monuments including temples and an evolution of Jaina architectural and sculptural art can be traced. Infact, its history starts from the Chandragupta basadi. The present structure is of a later period but scholars have opined that at that very spot existed the ancient Chandragupta basadi almost contemporary to the migration of King Chandragupta and the sage Bhadrabahu. Even at this great centre we do not come across three Jaina temples in a row close to each other. Thus it is unique feature here at Halebid.

The last temple is slightly smaller in dimension. It is dedicated to Tirthankara Adinatha. It was built in 1138 AD during the reign of Vishnuvardhana. He had a minister by name Mallayya and this temple is his initiative. An inscription is available and it records some historical details. Thus the three temples built by hoysala kings in their capital Halebid gives a hint to the importance given by them to jainism in addition to other religious of the State. This religious harmony of the hoysala period is specially noteworthy. This reminds us of a hoysala inscription which enunciates the equality of all Gods like Siva, Vishnu, Brahma, Budda, Jina, Karta etc. That this was not an empty boast and a lofty idea in theory but was practised in daily life is proved by the temples built by hoysala kings to all the religious faiths of their kingdom. That was the greatness of the hoysala dynasty.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles  / July 26th, 2014