Hoysala Belur temples finished

1220

In the soft soapstone of southern Karnataka, craftsmen of the Hoysala dynasty completed the densely carved Chennakesava temple at Belur. Every inch of wall surface was covered with dancers, musicians, and mythological scenes in impossible detail, a miniaturist's cathedral in stone. The star-shaped platform on which the temple sits became the signature of Hoysala architecture, repeated at Halebidu and a dozen smaller shrines.