Temple exterior

Keshava at Aralaguppe was built in the year (1250 A.D.). Most of the ancient history is gathered by the stone inscriptions and what is inscribed on the reliefs and sculptures. The Chennakesva temple has ten label inscriptions (inscriptions on the wall). They mention that the sculptor who carved the images of Harihara, Yoganarayana, Durga and Pradyumna is Hanoja. Many unique sculptures in the Hoysala temples have the names of their sculptors engraved below them. This makes a visitor feel a personal connect with the era and the people who created the magnificent structures.

The temple at Aralaguppe contains many of the features common to Hoysala temples:

1. Star-shaped wall of the temple and the raised platform that follows the contour of the outer wall

2. Perforated stone screens.

3. Horizontal carved bands

4. Pillared hall

5. Ornate Vimana - raised tower over the sanctum

The temple at Aralaguppe has its outer walls shaped like a star. The raised platform or Jagati and the roof of the temple follow the star-shaped contour of the temple wall. The Vimana above the sanctum is ornate but is only missing the Kalasha - the pots kept atom the tower.

In the Beluru Chennakeshava temple the inscriptions indicated that a later ruler Veera Ballala covered the open halls with perforated stone screens. It appears that the same theme is adopted in the Aralaguppe temple. The stone screens span the length of the closed hall and the porch area. Beyond the closed the hall, the temple walls are closed off as can be seen in the second image.

In every Hoysala temple the bottom portion of the wall has at least five friezes and they all mostly display the same theme. The Aralaguppe temple follows this tradition.

1. The bottom-most frieze has elephants

2. Above the elephants are the horses

3. The third frieze is that of a scroll of creepers

4. The fourth frieze has sequences from the epic Ramayana and that of Krishna. However, due to time-induced damage, the scenes from the epic are not too clear.