Hoysala Expedition Part 47: Kedareshwara Temple, Balligave
Well, a Hoysala Temple Write-Up after a long time, and not entirely "Hoysala" for that matter too. This is a long pending blog post about the temple that stands as testimony to "the handing over of the baton", so to speak, from the Kalyani Chalukya Architecture to the Hoysala Architecture - The Kedareshwara Temple in Balligave , Shikaripura Taluk in Shivamogga . The town of Balligave must be celebrated as one of the most important centers of art and architecture in the history of Karnataka. After all, this is the birth place of Shantala Devi , a great exponent of the traditional Indian dance forms, a devout Jain, and the Queen of Hoysala King Vishnuvardhana . This is where the best of the sculptors of the later Kalyani Chalukya era and the initial Hoysala era hailed from - Dasoja, Malloja, Maniyoja, Siddoja, Nadoja and more. This is where they got their hands on a huge mine of soapstone (Chlorite Schist) that took the beauty and the possibilities of int...