LORD HOYALESWARA OF HALEBIDU

As the creative faculty reigned supreme unquestioned, its artistic grandeur and aesthetic superiority scaled new peaks to remain as a model to the posterity; secondly here the temples are dedicated to Lord Siva unlike that of the temple at Belur; thirdly there is ample evidence that it was built not by the kings, but by their admirers; and mainly they were built in memory of parents, or in honour of great rulers.

Besides, there are many more plus points that this temple complex has to its credit. It was, as the word Halebid means the old capital of Hoyaslas; it was here they founded the principality and later shifted to Belur during Ereyanga's period; it was here Jainism co-existed with Saivism, as evidenced by an unusual number of 720 Jain mandirs flourishing here then; it was here Kedareswara temple, styled in legends as Dhakshana kedara and deemed a little gem of Hoyasala architecture was built at one strech; it was this city called Dwarasamudra owing to the multiplicity of doorways, the fort encircling the town had then; it was this place that served as the capital for Rastrakutas, Yadavas, Kadambas and Kongalvas before Hoyasalas founded their empire.

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