UK professor designs ancient Hoysala-style temple in India
Cardiff-based scholar of ancient Indian temple architecture has designed an ornate, complex temple based on the Hoysala tradition in Karnataka, where construction has started and the platform of the massive ₹300 crore temple has been laid.
Since no new Hoysala-style temple has been built since the 14th century and there are no ‘sthapatis’ (temple architects) practising the Hoysala style, the trust implementing the project in the Kolar district hired Adam Hardy, professor of Asian architecture at Cardiff University.
“There were some reservations initially about employing a foreigner,” Hardy told HT after his latest visit to Karnataka, where large granite blocks have been used to lay the platform. No cement is used; rest of the temple is to be built in soapstone, according to tradition.
Dedicated to Balaji, the temple is being built by the Sri Kalyana Venkateshwara Hoysala Art Foundation through crowdfunding and donations. The trust entered into a contract with Cardiff University for Hardy to pro- duce the overall design of the temple and surrounding complex.
Passionate about ancient Indian temple architecture, Hardy has several books on the subject and has worked on temples in India as well as others built by the Indian diaspora in the UK, particularly the Balaji temple in Birmingham.
The Hoysala dynasty ruled in south Karnataka between the 11th and 14th centuries; its temples are ornate and complex; such as the Chennakesava temple in Belur, Hoysaleswara temple in Halebidu and the Ishwara temple in Arasikere. “The design should grow from the tradition, and should perhaps be thought of as what the Hoysalas would have done next if they had built another great royal temple after Belur and Halebidu,” he added.