Last weekend my friends and I decided to getaway from the busy city for a one day trip. We directed our attention towards the direction of Mysore, more specifically a beautiful temple 30 Kms away from it. The wikipedia entry says:

Somanathapura is famous for the Chennakesava Temple (also called Kesava or Keshava temple) built by Soma, a dandanayaka (commander) in 1268 CE under Hoysala king Narasimha III, when the Hoysalas were the major power in South India. The Keshava temple is one of the finest examples of Hoysala architecture and is in a very well preserved condition.

The architecture of the place simply blew my mind away. The concentration to detail is magnificent and the variety of statues and design is very impressive. I have a soft corner in my heart for Sculptors and statues :) so it was a pleasure spending my time there despite the scorching heat.

I have been here before but looks like lately they are maintaining the place pretty well.

I never understood what this was for! What do you think?

The pillars were amazing, it looked like the work of some sort of a Lathe.

There were statues inside all corners of the temple. Some the size of a few millimeters! The ceiling depicts the phases of a Banana Flower! Brilliant concentration to detail!

The Gods at the temple are not worshiped as the statues were damaged by raids and vandalism.

Each row on the outside walls of the temple had a different animal. Each animal was unique by either stance, shape or position! Imagine desiging thousands of the above statues, each unique! Took a pic with the standard 1 Re coin for perspective of size!

There was some great work in parts which would hardly be visible, shows the dedication of the craftsmen and the designer.

As I walked and touched the statues it felt weird… These statues have been around since 1200s and they were probably seen and touched by people hundreds of years before me. We will always have that in common… Me and that someone hundreds of years before me!

Its that feeling that I love when i visit ancient monuments… That feeling of traveling thru time to a place which is frozen in time! Reminds me of the scene from “The Mummy” where they show the aging of a statue from the Egyptian time to when Brendan Frazer is chased by the defenders of the temple.

The trip was really fun and I would recommend you to visit the place once atleast!