Hoysala

What is Hoysala?

The Hoysalas ruled parts of the southern Deccan from the eleventh to the fourteenth century, with capitals at Belur, Halebidu and Dvarasamudra. Their temples are built of soapstone on a star-shaped plan and carry dense, deeply undercut relief: the stone is soft when quarried and hardens on exposure, which allowed lathe-turned pillars and ornament of a jeweller’s fineness.