Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, Nuggehalli

The Lakshminarasimha temple was built in 1246 AD by Bommanna Dandanayaka, a commander in the Hoysala Empire during he rule of King Vira Someshwara. It is a good example of 13th century Hoysala architecture. The town was called Vijaya Somanathapura in ancient times and gained importance as an agrahara (place of learning) during the time of Bommanna Dandanayaka. .

This is a good example of a richly decorated Hoysala temple built in the trikuta (three towers) vimana (shrine) style with fine sculptures adorning the walls.The material used is Chloritic Schist, more commonly known as Soapstone) and the temple is built on a jagati (platform) that closely follows the plan of the temple. The size of the original temple can be considered small, to which a larger open mantapa(hall) was later added. The three shrines are located around a central closed mantapa with 9 "bays" (compartment between four pillars). The ceiling of the closed mantapa is supported by four lathe turned pillars which is deeply domed in the center. The central shrine is the most prominent one and has a large tower. This shrine has a vestibule that connects the shrine to the mantapa (hall). Consequently, the vestibule also has a tower (or superstructure, sikhara) that looks like an shorter extension of the main tower. It is called the sukanasi. According to Foekema, it looks like the "nose" of the main tower. The other two shrines have smaller towers and because they have no vestibule to connect them to the central mantapa, they have no sukanasi.

From outside, the temple actually looks like a ekakuta (single tower and shrine) temple because the two lateral shrines are simple extensions of the wall of the mantapa. Their towers are a later addition. This is a classic example of a trikuta (three shrines and towers) that looks like a ekakuta. A large open hall with tall pillars was added during later times making the original porch and closed mantapa look like the inner portion of the temple. The central shrine has five projections per side and the tower is complete though without the kalasha (decorative structure on top). Since the shrine is square in plan, the topping roof (a helmet like sculptured stone) follows the same plan. There are three tiers of decorative smaller roofs bearing their own kalasa that form the body of the main tower. The superstructure on top of the vestibule (forming the nose) has only two tiers of decorative roofs. This is why the sukanasi looks like an extension of the main tower. The two lateral shrines also have five projections per side. The top of these shrines and the wall of the mantapa are crowned with a row of decorated roofs just like the main shrine.According to art critic Gerard Foekema, the temple is of a "newer" Hoysala style, and below the superstructure of the vimana where the roof meets the outer walls of the temple, two eaves all round the temple.The upper eaves projects about half a meter from the wall. There is a second eaves running about a meter below the upper eaves with decorative miniature towers (aedicule) between them. The wall images of Hindu gods and goddesses and their attendants are below the lower eaves, and there are 120 such sculptured panels in all. Below these are six moldings of equal size with decorations in frieze. This according to historian Kamath is broadly called "horizontal treatment". The six moldings at the base of the wall is divided into two sections. Starting from the base where the wall meets the jagati, the first horizontal lmolding contains procession of elephants, above which are a horsemen, and a band of foliage on the third. The second horizontal section starts with depictions from the Hindu epics and puranic scenes executed with detail. Above this are two friezes of yalis (or makara, an imaginary beast) and hamsas (swans). The vimana tower is divided into three horizontal sections and is even more ornate than the walls.The images in the panels are mostly Vaishnava in faith and they are attributed to two well known Hoysala sculptors, Baichoja and Mallitamma. There are a few images of the god Shiva in the form of Bhairava along with his consort Bhairavi. Baichoja's sculptures are on the south side of the temple and according to Foekema, have a certain peace and dignity about them. Mallitamma's sculptures are on the north side. According to him, while they are not as fine, they are lively and have greater variety.The three shrines contain the images of Venugopala, Keshava and Lakshminarasimha, all forms of Vishnu

Route :1.Bangalore-Nelamangala-Kunigal-Yediyur-Bellur-Hiriseve-Nuggehalli.
2.Mysore-Pandavapura-Melkote-Shravanbelagola-Hiriseve-Nuggehalli.
3.Hassan-Shanthigrama-Channarayapatna-Nuggehalli. 4.Arasikere-Gandasi-Nuggehalli. 5.Tiptur-Gandasi-Nuggehalli.

Venugopala Swamy Temple,Kannambadi

 (Wikipedia)

Venugopala Swamy Temple is  example of Hoysala architecture  This temple was built in the 12th century AD around the same time as the Chennakesava Temple at Somanathapura

The temple complex was massive, with an area of around 50 acres (100 x 60 yards)The complex was a symmetrical building enclosed by two 'prakaras' and the outer gate (Mahadwara) had verandahs on both sides, flanked by the yagasala and the kitchen. This was enclosed by the second mahadwara, which led to the inner enclosure and was akin to the Somanathapura temple.

It had altogether 46 constituent shrines - 17 each on the southern and northern sides and 12 on the western side, all of which were embellished with 24 murthies or idols and ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, besides the figures of Brahma, Saraswati, Harihara, Hayagriva and Jalasayana. The temple had a garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum), a vestibule, a middle hall and a mukhya mantapa (main hall). The cell opposite to the entrance had a figure of Kesava (Lord Krishna) and the south cell, containing the figure of Gopalakrishna, was a later addition

Before the Krishna Raja Sagara dam project was conceived by Sir M.Visvesvaraya in 1909, the temple complex was located in the village of Kannambadi. The KRS Dam project meant that Kannambadi and other surrounding settlements would be submerged. The then king of Mysore, Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV ordered the construction of a new village for the residents of Kannambadi and aptly named it Hosa Kannambadi (New Kannambadi).

The main idol of Venugopalaswamy, Lord Krishna playing on flute as a cow-herd, was shifted to a new temple in the rehabilitated village before the submersion

When the KRS dam was conceived in 1909, the temple was condemned for submersion. By 1930, the entire erstwhile village of Kannambadi was completely buried underwater. However, the temple would resurface whenever the water levels in the reservoir dropped, typically during drought years. This was most evident around the year 2000.

For more than 70 years the temple lay underwater, when the Khoday Foundation under the guidance of liquor baron and philanthropist Mr. Sri Hari Khoday took up the task of relocating and restoring the temple. It was initially planned to shift the entire complex to Madhuvana Park in Mysore. However, protests from the villagers of Hosa Kannambadi convinced the foundation to shift it to a place near the rehabilitated village. The cost of the project was estimated to be around  2.5 crore.

The new site is about one km to the north of the original site; the backwaters would touch the outer walls of the temple if the water level of the KRS touched 124.80 ft, its maximum capacity. It is 9 km by road from Brindavan Gardens