Editing Hoysala architecture (section)

{{Short description|Medieval Hindu temple style}}
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[[Image:Close up of Hoysala style shrine and sikhara with decorative molding frieze in the Chennakeshava temple at Somanathapura.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Profile of a Hoysala temple at [[Somanathapura]]]]
'''Hoysala architecture''' is the building style in [[Hindu temple architecture]] developed under the rule of the [[Hoysala Empire]] between the 11th and 14th centuries, in the region known today as [[Karnataka]], a [[States and territories of India|state of India]]. Hoysala influence was at its peak in the 13th century, when it dominated the [[Deccan Plateau|Southern Deccan]] Plateau region. Large and small temples built during this era remain as examples of the Hoysala architectural style, including the [[Chennakeshava Temple, Belur|Chennakesava Temple]] at [[Belur, Karnataka|Belur]], the [[Hoysaleswara Temple]] at [[Halebidu]], and the [[Chennakesava Temple at Somanathapura|Kesava Temple]] at [[Somanathapura]].<ref name="kdravida">Hardy (1995), pp. 243–245</ref><ref name="great">Foekema (1996), p. 47, p. 59, p. 87</ref> These three temples were accorded UNESCO world heritage site status in 2023.<ref name="unesco">{{cite web|title=Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1670 |author=UNESCO World Heritage Convention|publisher=© UNESCO World Heritage Centre 1992-2023|work=UNESCO|access-date=2023-10-03}}</ref> Other examples of Hoysala craftsmanship are the temples at [[Veera Narayana Temple, Belavadi|Belavadi]], [[Amrutesvara Temple, Amruthapura|Amruthapura]], [[Lakshminarayana Temple (Hosaholalu)|Hosaholalu]], [[Nageshvara-Chennakeshava Temple complex, Mosale|Mosale]], [[Ishvara Temple (Arasikere)|Arasikere]], [[Mallikarjuna Temple, Basaralu|Basaralu]], [[Brahmeshvara Temple, Kikkeri|Kikkeri]] and [[Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, Nuggehalli|Nuggehalli]].<ref name="hardy_list">Hardy (1995), p. 320, p. 321, p. 324, p. 325, p. 329, p. 332, p. 334, p. 339, p. 340, p. 346</ref><ref name="foekema_list">Foekema (1996), p. 53, p. 37, p. 71, p. 81, p. 41, p. 43, p. 83</ref> Study of the Hoysala architectural style has revealed a negligible [[Nagara Style|North Indian]] influence while the impact of [[Southern India]]n style is more distinct.<ref name="distinct">[[Percy Brown (scholar)|Percy Brown]] in Kamath (2001), p. 134</ref>

Temples built prior to Hoysala independence in the mid-12th century reflect significant Western Chalukya influences, while later temples retain some features salient to [[Western Chalukya architecture]] but have additional inventive decoration and ornamentation, features unique to Hoysala artisans. Some three hundred temples are known to survive in present-day Karnataka state and many more are mentioned in inscriptions, though only about seventy have been documented. The greatest concentration of these are in the [[Malnad]] (hill) districts, the native home of the Hoysala kings.<ref name="nativehome">Hardy (1995), p. 244</ref>

Hoysala architecture is classified by the influential scholar [[Adam Hardy (architectural historian)|Adam Hardy]] as part of the ''Karnata Dravida'' tradition, a trend within [[Dravidian architecture]] in the Deccan that is distinct from the [[Tamil Nadu|Tamil]] style of further south.  Other terms for the tradition are [[Vesara]], and Chalukya architecture, divided into early [[Badami Chalukya architecture]] and the [[Western Chalukya architecture]] which immediately preceded the Hoysalas. The whole tradition covers a period of about seven centuries began in the 7th century under the patronage of the [[Chalukya dynasty]] of [[Badami]], developed further under the [[Rashtrakuta dynasty|Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta]] during the 9th and 10th centuries and the [[Western Chalukya Empire|Western Chalukyas]] (or Later Chalukyas) of [[Basavakalyan]] in the 11th and 12th centuries. Its final development stage and transformation into an independent style was during the rule of the Hoysalas in the 12th and 13th centuries.<ref name="flourish">Hardy (1995), pp. 6–7, section ''Introduction-Dynasties and Periods''</ref> Medieval inscriptions displayed prominently at temple locations give information about donations made toward the maintenance of the temple, details of consecration and on occasion, even architectural details.<ref name="epigraph">Foekema (2003), p. 18</ref>