Hoysala dynasty rises in the Deccan

1103

Vishnuvardhana, the ambitious Hoysala prince, began asserting independence from the declining Western Chalukyas in the lush hill country of present-day Karnataka. His battlefield victories and his personal conversion from Jainism to Vaishnavism under the philosopher Ramanuja's influence would produce a kingdom celebrated for some of the most intricately carved stone temples anywhere in the Indian subcontinent.