Ishvara Temple (Arasikere)

The Ishvara Temple (also spelt Ishwara or Isvara) in Arasikere town of the Hassan district in Karnataka state, India, dates to c. 1220 CE rule of Hoysala Empire. Arasikere (lit "Queens tank"; Arasi means "queen" or "princess" and kere means "tank" in the Kannada language) is located 140 km north of the historic city of Mysore and 41 km east of Hassan city. The temple, which is dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva, though modest in size and figure sculpture, is considered the most complex one in architecture among surviving Hoysala monuments because of its ground plan: a 16-pointed star shaped mantapa (hall), in addition to an asymmetrical star shaped shrine, whose star points are of three different types.

The temple faces east as in all Hoysala constructions, uses soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) as its basic building material, and is a ekakuta shrine (single shrine or cella) with two mantapas (hall), one open and one closed. All three units are connected to form a unity. The sanctum (garbhagriha) enshrines a linga, the universal symbol of the Hindu god Shiva. The mantapa is where the devotees gather. The closed mantapa does not have any windows. The ceiling in the closed mantapa is divided into nine compartments or "bays" by the four lathe turned pillars that support the ceiling. The unusual stellate design of the open mantapa is a deviation from the "staggered square"–a standard in Hoysala constructions, and offers no opening for devotees to enter the temple. The entrance is through a "bay" between the two mantapas.

The shrine has a tower (superstructure or Shikhara) which is intact, though the finial (a decorative water pot like structure called Kalasha) is a recent replacement. The vestibule connects the shrine to the closed mantapa and has its own tower called Sukanasi. The term "nose" is sometimes used to describe this tower because it is a low protrusion of the main tower (tower over the shrine). On this "nose" is an image of a bull (Nandi), which may be a more recent addition because this is the place where Hoysala temples normally exhibit the Hoysala royal emblem, the legendary warrior "Sala" fighting a lion.

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