The Chennakeshava Temple at Somnathpur is on the outskirts on the right bank of the river Kaveri. The temple is dedicated to Keshava(Lord Krishna), an honorific form of Lord Vishnu. It is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and it has attracted a lot of tourists recently.
The temple is located 135 kms from Bangalore but 35 kms from Mysore City. This temple was constructed in 1268CE by Somanatha Dandanayaka after receiving funds from the reigning Hoysala king Narasimha III in 1268 CE.
This temple of schist stone is built in the centre of a rectangular courtyard. It is enclosed in a prakara wall and it consists of 56 small shrines that once housed deities. This trikuta temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu faced east. The temple has a main door guarded by two dvarapalas(door guardians). It has on plan garbhagrihas(sanctums, antaralas(antechamber), a navaranga(central pillared hall) and dvaramandapa (entrance hall). The three garbhagrihas ont the west, north and south have the stone idols of Keshava, Janardhan and Venugopala respectively.
The temple is erected on a raised stellate platform. The external walls of the temple are highly ornate. The exterior of the mandapas have plinth consisting of a 6 tiered frieze and above these are placed the kakshasana(seating with sloped back rest) with sculpture panels and stone screens. The exterior of the garbhagribha is divided into 3 parts adhistana(plinth), bhitti(wall), chadya(eave). The adhistana has 6 mouldings, while the bhitti has sculptures and most of them carry on their pedestals the names of the sculptors who made it. The chadhya that runs along the entire temple acts as a seperation layer between the bhitti and the superstructure of the temple. All of the 3 shrines have vesara shikharas.
But this temple was no longer used as a place of worship once the Muslim army destroyed the idols in 1311 and 1326 even after the Vijayanagara Empire had rebuilt most of the temple. But it is still amazing that even with 500 sculptors, the building of the temple took about 58 years!