UNESCO team also visits Belur, Halebid; Mysuru DC translates local views in Kannada to English

T. Narasipur: A team from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) visited the 13th century Chennakeshava Temple at Somnathpur in Mysuru yesterday before concluding its tour of Hoysala monuments in Karnataka.

The team, headed by Tiang Kian Boon, an expert from International Commission on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), also visited the other Hoysala Temples at Belur and Halebid before coming to Somnathpur.

Tiang Kian Boon is expected to submit a report to UNESCO which will decide whether the monuments could be accorded the World Heritage Site tag.

The World Heritage Site tag will be declared in 2023. The Somnathpur Temple is located at a distance of 35 kilometres from Mysuru and the structure is a paradise for art connoisseurs.

Officially, the Hoysala Temples of Belur, Halebid and Somnathpur have been finalised as India’s nomination for consideration as World Heritage for the year 2022-2023. The effort has been ongoing since 1992.  In Karnataka, only Hampi and Pattadakal are considered UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

There has been a demand to promote more places on the list as it actively promotes conservation efforts and officials  have been working since the 1990s to push for the Hoysala Temples on the list.

On the tentative list since 2014

The ‘Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas’ are on UNESCO’s tentative list since April 15, 2014 and represent one of the highest points of human creative genius and stand testimony to the rich historical and cultural heritage of our country.

At Somnathpur, Tiang Kian Boon was briefed regarding the architecture of the Temple and the sculptures. He was apprised of its salient features by former Chairperson of Infosys Foundation Sudha Murty who has been actively involved in conservation efforts of heritage Temples and Kalyanis in Karnataka. She also heads the State Tourism Vision Group.

Others in the team were Jahnwij Sharma, Additional Director-General (Conservation and Scientific Preservation), Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Pankaj Modi, Meera Iyer and Aravind Chandramohan of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH)-Bengaluru.

Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Dr. Bagadi Gautham and Commissioner, Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage A. Devaraju were also present during the team’s visit.

Dossier to UNESCO

In fact, INTACH-Bengaluru had prepared the dossier for submission to UNESCO. After the dossier was submitted, technical scrutiny was done. Now the team is doing a site evaluation. The dossier will be taken up for consideration in July or August 2023.

According to the epigraphical records available with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Soma, commander-in-chief of the Hoysala king Narasimha III (1254-1291 AD) built the shrine in 1268 AD. Built using a soft stone (greenish schist stone), every inch of the Temple is adorned with various sculptures and the entire shrine is raised on a star-shaped moulded platform.

Interaction with villagers 

After the site visit, Tiang Kian Boon met Somnathpur villagers and local businessmen especially those doing business at a short distance from the Temple and elicited their views on the site being accorded a World Heritage Site status.

The Mysuru DC translated the views of the local community from Kannada to English for Tiang Kian Boon to understand. The villagers told the ICOMOS head that as of now, the Temple with superior and wonderful architecture was known only in the local areas and some of the tourists who come from Mysuru. If at all the Temple gets the distinction of being a World Heritage Site, it will be known to the entire world and it will be a matter of pride to the village too.

State to ensure conservation: Centre

A note from the Press Information Bureau (PIB) stated that the State Government will ensure the conservation of State-protected monuments which are around these three monuments since it would add to the visual integrity of the place.

The District Master Plan will also incorporate the buffers of all monuments and build an integrated management plan and the State will also look at the traffic management issues to be looked into especially around the designated property.

“These Temples attest to the creativity and skill of the Hoysala artists and architects who built these masterpieces of a kind never seen before or since. The Hoysala architects used their profound knowledge of Temple architecture in different parts of India to their advantage,” the PIB said.

The Hoysala architects made considered and informed eclectic selections of features from other Temple typologies which they further modified and then complemented with their particular innovations. The result was the birth of a completely novel ‘Hoysala Temple’ form, the PIB release added.