Mallikarjuna's Doll House

When you plan , it doesn’t happen .

When you don’t plan , it happens !

 It is one of those funny twists in life.

 

( The Trikuta temple that looks like Ekakuta)

BASARALU is barely 25 Kms from Mandya , yet it took all these years to visit it – and that , only accidentally , because it was on the route taken for the return journey from another destination . What a happy accident !

 As Hoysala temples go , this one is  a doll-house . Such a compact little  temple , almost invisible among  the surrounding dreary landscape !

 Though  a small temple , it is endowed with  an outer entrance pavilion which is ornamented with well carved , though unmatched, pillars . The ceiling here shows the ashtadikpala grid arranged around a central  four armed Shiva. 

Kings built ambitious , extravagant , immense complexes like the Hoysaleshwara of Halebid . Chieftains , lacking means,   did not shy away from temple building dreams either. They built modest to mini sized gems . Like this one .

 The Mallikarjuna temple  was built in the year 1234 CE in Basurivala Agrahara( old name of Basaralu)  , by a Chieftain named  Harihara Dandanayaka (with his two brothers) , in honour of his  father, after the dandanayaka had successfully beaten back an attacking army of Seunas   . They also dug a tank nearby in honour of their mother . The temple was endowed  with two villages , the revenues of which were to go towards  upkeep of the temple  .

Interestingly  , the  patron made an extremely micromanaged  list of how much was to be spent on each item for each ritual , down to the number of betel leaves to be offered at each puja ( 20 ! ) All this Information, preceded by a detailed genealogy of the King under whom Harihara served and the exact date of dedication of the temple , comes from a large, beautifully etched stone inscription. Scratched over by vandals  , this inscription stone stands  upon a bed of gravel near the entrance   , perhaps awaiting better placement.

Work  is still pending on this recently renovated temple, which ,earlier,  had fallen into total neglect and disrepair . Thanks to ASI , it was carefully taken apart , cleaned up and reassembled and now stands proud and  Protected .

And locked .

 We are told  that the temple attracts very few visitors and hence kept locked  . The ASI staff who holds the key  pops in to open the door upon seeing us, but  is keen on locking up and going back in express speed ! He urges us “to have darshan of the God and come out quickly”  - And strictly no photography inside .

We do the quick round up of the  interior .

The shrine , technically , is a trikuta ( three garbhagrihas) though it is not apparent from the outside because only  the central shrine has retained the pagoda. The common hall into which the three cella  open is a cramped spaced , with squat, srikara  pillars . A small lingam, Mallikarjuna, occupies the main cell , while the other two have the images of Surya and Twin Nagas . Old records , though, say that these two cells had Narayana and Krishna originally .

Some   loose sculptures are also stored in the dark niches and against the wall . Since the space  is small and the day cloudy , visibility , unfortunately,  is not optimal . Facing the main shrine is an enclosed Nandi Mantapa , cordoned  off for repairs ; the face of a gentle , couchant  Nandi is just about visible .

 After the keeper of the  key locks up and leaves , we have all the time in the world to go around , gaping at the sculpted exteriors.

The approximately 3 ft high jagati ( platform upon which the shrine stands) adds some  height  to the small  structure.  This common architectural feature of  Hoysala times ,   also provides the space for circumambulation, since  Hoysala temples are nirandhara (ie, without a pradakshina-patha around the sanctum  inside ) .

 The external walls  are  "folded" for the  star-shaped Hoysala design , affording more surface for ornamentation within the given dimensions . These surfaces are fully crammed with a  wealth of narrative panels and statuary.

 

The adhistana ( base) has six strips of running friezes, showing ( from the base upwards) -Elephants , Horsemen , Lions , Mythological episodes , Makaras and Hamsas  . The Mythological episodes are taken from Ramayana , Bhagavatha and Mahabharatha . In the small space available for each carving , an immense amount of detailing can be seen .

Above the adhistana , on the Bhitti are seen a series of large , standalone sculptures of divine beings, dancers, drummers etc  . There are said to be 100plus such sculptures , but did not count . 

 

There is a school of opinion that though ornamentation is exquisite , the figurative sculptures of Hoysala temples lack elegance because they are rather squat and fleshy . This criticism has been countered by some experts with the explanation that the figures are in keeping with the actual physique of real people who populate the region from where the artisans came . By the time the Hoysalas came to power , the highly  idealised depiction of human bodies in art , which started with the Gandharas , was  giving way to folksy traditions of recreating what is actually seen . Moreover, the fact that  Hoysala period artisans chose to work with chlorite schist , a soft stone when quarried , would have deterred them from trying out tall , lithe figures  in the round , which may not hold up . Whatever the explanation , the Gods and attendants on these walls look prosperous , comfortable , exuding a sense of happy well being and abundance !  

 

There are  two lateral entrances to the navaranga,  accessed by a small stairway  of three steps each , flanked by two chubby , well decorated elephants. But only one dwarapala has survived. The lower part of each stairway has a pair of devakhullakas   (miniature shrines) flush with the jagati and they are empty . They act as buttresses to the raised platform .   

Perforated screens along a section of the wall, provide light and ventilation to the dark interior. The walls are provided with double eaves , each one bordered with a row of  conical "rain drops", a design both pleasing to the eye and functional - they  drain off rainwater , protecting the wall sculptures. 

 

The potshaped finial on top of the vimana is preserved in excellent condition , as is the Hoysala lanchana ( insignia ) of  Sala slaying the tiger on the sukanasi projection. The steppes of the prasada ( tower)  are also minutely decorated with yakshas , kirtimukhas , devatas and scroll work .

 A small subsidiary temple , looking very sad and  unsafe, houses a magnificent Bhairava who looks too large to belong to this temple . Did he , perhaps , move in from some other ruin ?

 

( The Majestic Bhairava , tenant in the outhouse)

Beyond the compound wall , very close to  the temple is a tall pillar with the   figure of a woman at the apex . Gazettes from the early 20^th Century note that this figure was accompanied by the figure of a man in  some act of self sacrifice and that they could be Garudalenkas ( Loyal guards who followed their master to death ).

By now, light has really started fading and in the tiled houses across the road, dim

yellowish light bulbs have been switched on . No one on the streets . Sounds from a TV programme stream out from the houses . 

Mallikarjuna’s doll house gets enveloped in a deeper shadow , clenching  all the vibrance of its lively cavalry , jaunty entertainers and dynamic gods so tightly to its secretive bosom as to totally disappear into the past .