Dvarasamudra

Dvarasamudra, later called Halebidu, was the capital of the Hoysala kings. Its great Hoysaleshvara temple has twin shrines dedicated to Shiva, each with a hall and a pavilion for Nandi. The walls are covered with exceptionally detailed sculpture: bands of elephants and horsemen run beneath images of gods and scenes from the Ramayana. Other bands depict lions and foliage, while the two shrines stand on a raised terrace that allows worshippers to walk around the sculpted exterior. The soft stone allowed artists to carve elaborate ornaments and narratives into the surface of the temple.

The Hoysalas made Dvarasamudra their royal seat in the twelfth century. In 1311 the army of Malik Kafur, general of the Delhi sultan Alauddin Khalji, reached the capital and forced King Ballala III to submit and pay tribute. A later Tughluq expedition struck the city again. Hoysala authority declined in the fourteenth century, while Vijayanagara rose as a new power in the south.

The old capital came to be known as Halebidu, the old abode. Its temples survived the loss of the court, preserving the achievement of Hoysala builders and their patrons. Along with the great Hoysala shrine at Belur, the twin temple at Dvarasamudra remains one of the clearest expressions of the dynasty’s distinctive architectural tradition.