inscriptions in the hassan district

XXXVIII INTRODUCTION.
1220 to 1300, it would appear that the two gods were then known as Hoysale-
Svara and PanchikeSvara. Bl. 98 informs us that a shrine of the goddess
Nimbaja was set up in the temple in 1261. The sculptors who executed the
marvellous statues and figures on the outer walls of this temple, especially on
the western side, have not given their names, except here and there. The
following are the only ones, in alphabetical order:
Ballanaa
Bochana
Chauga
Devoja
Harisha of Odeyagiri
Harisha of Tanagundur
Kalidasi
Kedaroja
Ketana
Mabalaki
Machanna
Manibalaki
Masa, son of Kanimoja
Revoja
None of these names corresponds with those at Belur, except Devoja, but
Odeyagiri Harisha seems to say that Belur did not agree with him (Belur
agadelu). The temple is conserved by Government.
The Kedaresvara temple was built by Ballala II and his junior wife
Abhinava-Ketala-Devi at the close of his reign, about 1219. There can be
little doubt that the idea was suggested by the celebrated Dakshma Kedaresvara
temple at Belgium, and an inscription at Bandalike, close by, implies that this
queen belonged to that part of the country. The temple was endowed in 1220
by Na.rasimha II and his mother Padmala-Devi, immediately after the death
of his father (Bl. 115). A banyan tree which had rooted itself in the vimdna
about 50 years ago was culpably allowed to grow unchecked till too late. The
sculptured images on the outer wall were thrust out by the tree and portions
of the building were dismantled, with some intention, not fulfilled, of erecting
it elsewhere. Many of the images were placed in the Bangalore Museum, and
recently many more in the HoysalSsvara grounds. Plans have been prepared
for conserving what remains of the structure, at present a heap of ruins. The
only name of a sculptor found in connection with it is Revdja.
No notice of these temples can be complete without quotation of the views
of Mr. Fergusson, the great authority on architecture. "There are many
buildings in India" he says 1) , "which are unsurpassed for delicacy of detail
by any in the world, but the temples of Belur and Halebid surpass even these
for freedom of handling and richness of fancy.
The illustrations given in the present volume will serve to show the extent
and arrangement of the temples, though a separate volume of views could alone
do justice to them. Of that at Belur, Mr. Fergusson says, "It is not, however,
either to its dimensions or the disposition of its plan that this temple owes its
pre-eminence among others of its class, but to the marvellous elaboration and
beauty of its details... The richness and variety of pattern displayed in the
1) This and the other quotations are from Architecture of DhaiWar and Mysore, and History of
Indian and Eastern Architectre.