Ishvara Temple, Arasikere
The Ishvara temple, also referred to as the Ishwara or Isvara temple, is an early 13th-century Hindu temple in Arsikere, Hassan district, Karnataka India. Dedicated to Shiva, it is one of the most notable early Hoysala architecture examples with a rotating circular plan, a domed mandapa with 16-point star shape, a pancatala vimana, and a galaxy of artwork depicting Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Vedic legends of Hinduism.
| Isvara temple at Arsikere | |
|---|---|
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Hinduism |
| District | Hassan |
| Deity | Shiva |
| Location | |
| Location | Arsikere |
| State | Karnataka |
| Country | India |
Shown within India Ishvara Temple, Arasikere (Karnataka) | |
| Geographic coordinates | 13°19′06″N 76°15′36″E |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Hoysala |
| Creator | unknown, Narasimha II |
| Completed | c. 1220 CE |
The Ishvara temple was one among a complex of many Hindu temples in Arasikere. Most of these and their artwork were destroyed and mutilated in or after the 14th-century. Along with the Ishvara temple, a simpler and more damaged double temple (Shivalaya) survives and is to the immediate north of the Ishvara temple within the current compound. This double temple has red-stone pillars. About 200 meters to the southwest of the Ishvara temple is the Sahasrakuta Jinalaya – a ruined and mutilated monument of Jainism.
The Ishvara temple is protected as a monument of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India.