Temple Description

The Siddhesvara Temple, also known as Purada Siddeshwara locally and sometimes spelled Siddheshvara or Siddheshwara, is situated in Haveri, Karnataka state, India. It is renowned for the numerous loose sculptures of Hindu deities that are present in it and is regarded as an elaborate example of Western Chalukyan art from the 12th century.On the other hand, inscriptional evidence points to the late 11th century as the temple’s original consecration date.The temple’s intriguing feature is that it faces westward rather than eastward, toward the rising sun.

Historians are unaware of which faith or sect the temple was originally dedicated to and to which deity, even though it is today used as a Shaiva temple dedicated to God Shiva.In Many individuals go to the temple because of their spiritual beliefs, despite the Gita’s verse 23 in chapter 17, which contradicts this, providing evidence of temple visits. Lord Shiva is depicted as meditating in the majority of the sculptures portraying him. While the Devi-Bhagavata Purana provides some evidence that Lord Shiva meditates for another God, there are assertions that he meditates on himself. The numerous straggling sculptures of gods and the deterioration of the main wall pictures may be the cause of this ambiguity.

The temple may have been consecrated first as a Vaishnava temple (to the God Vishnu), later taken over by Jains who may have removed some images from the temple and eventually became a Shaiva temple after coming under the control of the followers of God Shiva. This conclusion is reached because the eastern wall (back wall) of the temple includes a picture of the Sun God Surya below the little Kirtimukhas (gargoyle faces). On the other hand, an image of Shiva that is set above the mantapa roof of the Shikhara (superstructure) and carved from a separate piece of stone suggests otherwise. Overall, the temple layout has all the characteristics of a typical Chalukyan construction from the eleventh century, with Dravida architectural articulation and some novel additions from the twelfth century, including aedicules and small decorative towers supported by pilasters.