Vesara Style of Architecture

Vesara style of architecture flourished in the Deccan part of India. Also called the Hybridised style, it combines features of Nagara and Dravida styles. Chalukya’s rulers and Hoysala rulers promoted this style. The topographical location of Karnataka, the widespread actions of the significant royal rules and a boldness that is not unduly determined might have encouraged this merger of styles.

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Main Features of Vesara style of Architecture

• Its emphasis is on Vimana and Mandapa.
• Its ground plan is basically in a star shape or stellate plan.
• One of the unique features of India’s architecture, Vesara has an open ambulatory passageway.
• Structures of this style have an unraised platform or Jagati as their base. Pillars, doorways, ceilings are decorated with intricate carvings.
• The most famous temples of Vesara style are the Kailashnath temple, Ellora, Chennakesava temple, Virupaksha temple, and Ladkhan temple.

Historical Background

• Later Chalukyas

The patronage of later Chalukyas rulers developed this hybridised style of temple architecture in the mid-7th century A.D. These rulers’ emphasis was on Vimana and Mandapa. First, they used a stellate plan or star shape as a ground plan. Then they started decorating walls, pillars and doorways. At this time, they built the Dodda Basappa temple and the Ladkhan temple in Karnataka.

• Rashtrakuta Architecture

The Rashtrakutas, subordinate to the Chalukyas, developed their architecture during the mid-8th century in Karnataka. These rulers built their temples, mostly copying the Chalukyan structure. During the time of Krishna II, Kasail temple was built at Ellora. In their era, they constructed the Navalinga temples in Dravidian style architecture in Kukkanur. 

• Hoysala Art

The Hoysala rulers developed the Vesara style of architecture in 1050-1300 A.D. They built their famous art seat in Belur, Halebid, and Sringeri, among other places in Karnataka. The main feature of their art was multiple shrines around a central pillared hall.

They also used a stellate plan as a ground plan. The main building material of this art was soft soapstone, which is also known as Chlorite Schist. They basically followed the zigzag pattern to make walls and stairs of the temples. In their time, they built Hoysaleswara temple at Halebid, Chennakesava temple at Belur etc.

Vijayanagara Architecture

Vijayanagara architecture is a pure mixture of their past rulers like Chalukyas, Hoysala, Pandya’s styles. They used local hard granite as a building material. Ornate pillared halls and Rayagopurams, or monumental towers decorated with a full-sized figure of goddesses and gods, stand in front of the temple, which are the main features of their architecture.

Additionally, the chief characteristic feature of this architecture is the construction of Tall Raya Gopurams (gateways) and Kalyan mandapas (open pavilion). This architecture style is also famous for its carved pillars, which portray figures from Hindu mythology and hippogriphs (yali). Vithalswamy and Hazara Rama temples have wall inscriptions containing Ramayana and Mahabharata stories. The Varadharaja and Ekambaranathar temples at Kanchipuram are also examples of the Vijayanagara style of architecture.

The Nagara-type and Dravidian Vimana decorated walls are the main features of Vesara style of architecture. This is why the Vesara temple style is often found as a different style, created from a particular combination of the Nagara and Dravida style architecture.

The most exploratory hybrid kinds of Vesara style architecture are found in the southern part of Deccan, specifically in the Karnataka zone. According to South Indian construction transcripts, the term shikhara is kept for the dome-shaped crowning cap. However, art historiographers have normally used this term to elect all temple spires in the north and south.

The South Indian spire, known as Kutina type, is pretty different in a figure from the North Indian shikhara, having a pyramidal storied planning, with each level (Bhumi) stepped and comparatively believably delineated.

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