An afternoon at the Chennakeshava Temple, Somanathapura
The Hoysala Empire ruled most of what is now the state of Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur but was later moved to Halebidu, both of which still have the remnants of the magnificent temples that were constructed. In the year 1258 CE, Somanatha Dandanayaka, a general of the Hoysala King Narasimha III built a temple to Sri Krishna at Somanathapura which in later centuries would come to epitomize the best of Hoysala architecture. A little over fifty years after the temple was consecrated, it was attached by Islamic invaders. The first attack was by Malik Kafur, Alauddin Khilji’s general in 1311 and in 1326 Muhammad Bin Tughlaq destroyed the remaining structures. The invaders forced the king Veera Ballalla III to submit, and looted him of 312 elephants and 20,000 horses, besides jewellery. The king fled to Tiruvannamalai, but died in Madurai, while fighting the invaders. The account of Ibn Battuta, the Moroccan