A 10th Century Hoysala Architecture in Ruins

Talakad aka Talakadu is a small town, located at a distance of around 50 kms from the heritage town Mysore in South India. Talakad is famous for Panchalinga Darshan – the popular temples of five Shivlingas. However, the town has even a temple for Lord Vishnu.

The temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu is considered as one of the five Vishnu temples (called as Pancha Narayana) established by the great Vaishnavite saint Ramanuja in 10th century AD. It is also believed that this temple of Lord Vishnu, called as Kirti Narayana temple was constructed by Hoysalas on their victory over Cholas. This is the only Hoysala architecture in Talakad today.

The magnificent temple of Kirti Narayana is intricately carved and stunningly beautiful due to its architecture. Unfortunately the temple is in ruins. The archaeological department has been excavating various stones and statues of this temple and trying to reconstruct the temple as it was originally. The current temple has just one shrine dedicated to Lord Vishnu – a tall idol of about 8 feet. You can find two consorts of Vishnu near his legs.

You can also find a big Nandi idol and few excavated idols in the temple surroundings. This temple is definitely which is something you shouldn’t miss when you travel to Mysore.

Happy travelling.