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Halebidu

Village in the Belur taluk of Hassan district, Mysore (now Karnataka), the site of Dorasamudra (Dvarasamudra), capital of the Hoysala kings from the 12th century until it was sacked by Malik Kafur's army in 1311 and destroyed by a Tughluq army later. Its unfinished double temple of Hoysalesvara, with friezes of elephants, lions, horsemen and scenes from the Ramayana, and the lost Kedaresvara temple were described by James Fergusson and James Burgess.

Halebidu, or Halebid, is a village in the Belur taluk of the old Mysore state, now in Karnataka.1 It stands on the site of Dorasamudra, the capital of the Hoysala kings.12

The capital

B. Lewis Rice (1909) wrote that the Hoysala capital was Dorasamudra, “now Halebid in Belur taluq”.1 In Sanskrit it was Dvarasamudra or Dvaravatipura.1 James Fergusson’s history, revised by James Burgess in 1910, says that King Vishnuvardhana moved the capital there from Belur about 1135.2

The city remained the capital until the Delhi armies came.2 In 1311 Malik Kafur’s army appeared before the fort of “Dhur Samundar”, as the Persian writers called it.3 Rice wrote that it was sacked, rebuilt by 1316, and destroyed completely by a later army of Muhammad Tughluq.4

The temples

Fergusson and Burgess describe two great temples.56

  • Kedaresvara. A small star-shaped shrine of Siva, built by Vira Ballala and one of his queens, probably about 1219.5 It was covered with sculpture “of the very best class of Indian art”.5 By 1910 it had fallen into “a shapeless mound”.5
  • Hoysalesvara. A double temple with two shrines of Siva, each with its own pillared hall and a pavilion for the bull Nandi.6 Its building was probably stopped by the Muslim conquest of 1311.6

The Hoysalesvara temple stands on a terrace five to six feet high.7 Its walls carry long bands of carving.7 At the bottom is a frieze of some 2,000 elephants.7 Above come lions, scrolls, horsemen, and a long series of scenes from the Ramayana.7 Rice noted a pillar beside this temple that records the death of the prince Lakshma and his followers when Ballala II died in 1220.8

Footnotes

  1. B. Lewis Rice, Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions (1909), p. 96 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. James Fergusson, rev. James Burgess, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, Vol. I (1910), p. 437 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, South India and her Muhammadan Invaders (1921), p. 93 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  4. Rice, Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions (1909), p. 107 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  5. Fergusson and Burgess, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture I (1910), pp. 442–443 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  6. Fergusson and Burgess, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture I (1910), p. 444 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. Fergusson and Burgess, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture I (1910), pp. 445–446 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  8. Rice, Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions (1909), p. 104 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

Photos

Dynasties

Hoysalas

c. 1173–1343 CE

Dynasty of Dorasamudra (Halebid) in the Mysore country, at first vassals of the Western Chalukyas and independent from the time of Vishnuvardhana in the 12th century. Ballala II took Nolambavadi; his inscriptions are at Parigi (1178) and Hemavati (1205–06) in the Anantapur district, and he claimed Gooty. His successors fought the Seunas, the Pandyas and the Telugu Chodas for the Chola country, and in the later 13th century held the Rayachoti country. Ballala III lost Dorasamudra to Malik Kafur in 1311 but still ruled parts of Anantapur to 1340; a Kakatiya general defeated him at Kanchi. He was killed fighting the Sultan of Madurai in 1342.

People

Ballala II (Hoysala)

1173–1220 CE

Hoysala king, crowned at Dorasamudra on 22 July 1173, who defeated the Seuna army at Soratur, took the Pandya fortress of Uchchangi and pushed his frontier to the Bhima river. He took Nolambavadi: his records in the Anantapur country are at Parigi (Saka 1100, 1178) and Hemavati (1205–06), and an inscription at Harihar claims that he took Gooty. B. Lewis Rice dates his reign 1173–1220.

Ballala III (Hoysala)

1292–1342 CE

The last great Hoysala king, crowned on 31 January 1292, who united the two halves of the kingdom. Malik Kafur took his capital Dorasamudra in 1311; the city was rebuilt by 1316 and destroyed again by a Tughluq army, after which he lived at Tiruvannamalai. His inscriptions in the Anantapur district run from 1317 to 1340, and in 1328 his minister ruled at Penukonda. A Kakatiya general defeated him at Kanchi. He was killed fighting the Sultan of Madurai on 8 September 1342.

References

Sources (3)
  1. B. Lewis Rice, Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions (opens in a new tab), Archibald Constable, London, 1909, pp. 96, 104, 107. [Public domain]
  2. James Fergusson (rev. James Burgess), History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, Vol. I (revised ed.) (opens in a new tab), John Murray, London, 1910, pp. 437, 442–446. [Public domain]
  3. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, South India and her Muhammadan Invaders (opens in a new tab), Oxford University Press (Humphrey Milford), London, 1921, pp. 93. [Public domain]

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