Indian History

'Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysala', the three Hoysala temples in Karnataka, have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. These temples are the Chennakeshava temple at Belur, Hoysaleshwara temple at Halebidu and The Keshava temple at Somnathapura. While the first two are in Hassan district, the third is in Mysuru district.  All the three temples are protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Nominations were entered as ‘’The Sacred Ensembles of Hoysalas’’. While the Chennakeshava temple and Hoysaleshwara temple at Halebidu were on the UNESCO’s tentative list since 2014, the Keshava temple at Somanathapur was appended to the other two monuments under the tentative list and all the three were officially nominated by the Centre as India’s entry for 2022-23 in February in 2022. An expert from International Commission on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) concluded the site visits covering all the three temples in September 2022 and the monuments were officially inscri

                                                        Bucesvara Temple - Koravangala / Image Credit The Bucesvara temple (also spelt Buceswara, Bucheshwara or Bhucheshvara temple) is the main attraction of Koravangala, located 10 km from Hassan Railway Station  in Karnataka. A fine specimen of the Hoysala architecture, this Shiva Temple was built in 12th Century A.D. An inscription in the Buceswara temple states that the temple was built in 1173 AD to celebrate the coronation of Hoysala King Veera Ballala II.