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The main temple, Photograph courtesy of Shri Gopinath Kollur.

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Mysore is a royal city full of elegant palaces and buildings, broad and green roads. It struggles as modern India catches up and Bangalore encroaches on this elegant city that was once the capital of the Mysore Kingdom. 

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There is a battle going on between the old kingdom and modern India here as the leisurely pace of old Mysore is getting replaced by the frenetic changes that are taking place as India develops.

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A little distance from the city, just an hour’s pleasant drive at a distance of about 36 kms is the small hamlet of Somnathpur or Somanathapura. 

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I had often heard about the temple there and was told it was the ruins of an ancient Hoysala temple now being maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India. I was told it was a small temple and the locals did not seem to give it much importance.

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When people came to Mysore they were normally taken to the famous Mysore Palace, the temple of Chamudeshwari, Tipu’s fort and palace at Srirangapatnam. A few ventured to the Bandipur sanctuary to see the elusive Tiger and the Elephants of Bandipur.

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It is said in India that just below the lamp the darkness is the most. I, though living in Mysore then, had never visited this temple of a forgotten kingdom. I had rather gone all the way to Belur and Halebid and seen the temples there.

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But once posted away from Mysore I went back with my family and as we had nothing planned for an afternoon, my son was insistent that we see the temple rather than me catch my afternoon nap.

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Somanatha Dandanayaka, a general of the Hoysala kings, built an Agraharam, which is a village for brahmin priests, and donated land dedicated to building and maintaining of a temple. The settlement he created came to be known as Somanatha pura, where he built and consecrated the Keshava temple around the year 1258. This is as per the inscriptions there. The name Dandanayaka, h I believe denotes his power to give punishments (Dand = Punish, Nayaka: Leader)

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Keshava or Kesava is another name for Krishna and Chennakeshava means handsome Kesava and the lord here is indeed handsome.

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There is no actual temple here, in the sense that there is no regular worship that takes place. 

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What is left today are the ruins of a magnificent temple built with love and a lot of detail and hard work.

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There were several temples built by Somanatha and they were all built with equal care and attention, but nothing remains of the other temple as they were destroyed in the wars between the Hindu Kingdoms and Muslim Sultanates that ravaged the region.

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The Chennakeshava temple was repaired by the Vijayanagara Kings but was damaged again sometime later and was repaired to some extent by the Mysore Maharaja in the early 20th Century.

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Having read and heard the history as above, I was prepared for a view of some broken stones and carvings and an afternoon not well spent.

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The first view of the temple took my breath away. This was a gem of a temple, and though there was no regular worship, I could feel the reverberations of a divine force. The above is an excellent photo taken by my friend of the magnificent temple.

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The temple is built in the typical Hoysala style of intricate carvings all around the temple. The temple plan itself is perfect with its corridors full of perfectly aligned pillars.

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The perfectly aligned pillars

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There are stories from our epics and puranas carved in stone here, lovingly and intricately done. At many places there are inscriptions of the stone carvers, their logos showing that they knew they were creating something wondrous.

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The carvings are intricate and detailed and we spent hours looking over them. Though it was very hot as we had gone in May we did not really feel the heat so immersed were we in the carvings and the stories they told us.

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A panoramic view of the entire temple complex

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The intricate carvings from our epics and puranas.

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I found the temple here smaller and more intimate; the gardens maintained well by ASI and everything kept neat and clean. The only heart-breaking aspect was the random destruction we can see around, which was caused by wars in the region. But sitting under the spreading branches of a tree was peaceful and relaxing.

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The side of the temple with more carvings all telling you stories.

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Chennakeshava, see the Garuda image carved so intricately at the bottom.

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A very intricate carving on the roof!

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Keshava.

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It was with a pang we realised we had to leave this beautiful place now. 

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When you plan a visit to Mysore or Karnataka, plan to visit this monument to a grand kingdom and its architecture lost now in the mists of time. 

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It is a short distance from Mysore and you require only a few hours to visit and see it  but it is well worth it.

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We took many photographs which really do not do justice to the place. I leave you with a few images which speak of the grandeur of this place.

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Namaste till next time.

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