Medieval India saw the high point of Hindu civilization in the Indian sub-continent, followed by a succession of Muslim conquests.
The Hoysala Empire was a prominent South Indian empire that ruled most of the modern day between the 10th and the 14th centuries.
The Hoysala rulers were originally hill people in an elevated region in the Western Ghats mountain range. In the 12th century, taking advantage of the internecine warfare between the then ruling Western Chalukyas and Kalachuri kingdoms, they ruled over areas of present day Karnataka and some parts of the Kaveri River delta between in Tamil country. By the 13th century, they governed most of present-day Karnataka, minor parts of Tamil Nadu and parts of Deccan India.
The Hoysala era was an important period in the development of art, architecture, and religion in South India. The empire is remembered today primarily for its temple architecture. Over a hundred surviving temples are scattered across Karnataka. The Hoysala rulers also patronised the fine arts, encouraging literature to flourish in Kannada and Sanskrit.
Hoysala society in many ways reflected the emerging religious, political and cultural developments of those times. During this period, the society became increasingly sophisticated. The status of women was varied. Some royal women were involved in administrative matters as shown in contemporary records describing Queen Umadevi's administration in the absence of Veera Ballala II during his long military campaigns in northern territories. She also fought and defeated some antagonistic feudal rebels. Records describe the participation of women in the fine arts, such as Queen Shantala Devi's skill in dance and music. Temple dancers were common and some were well educated and accomplished in the arts. These qualifications gave them more freedom than other urban and rural women who were restricted to daily mundane tasks. The practice of sati in a voluntary form was prevalent and prostitution was socially acceptable. As in most of India, the Indian caste system was conspicuously present.
Trade on the west coast brought many foreigners to India including Arabs, Jews, Persians, Chinese and people from the Malay Peninsula. Migration of people within Southern India as a result of the expansion of the empire produced an influx of new cultures and skills. Some towns such as Shravanabelagola developed from a religious settlement in the 7th century to an important trading center by the 12th century with the arrival of rich traders, while towns like Belur attained the atmosphere of a regal city when the King built temples there. Large temples supported by royal patronage served religious, social, and judiciary purposes, elevating the King to the level of "God on earth".
Temple building served a commercial as well as a religious function and was not limited to any particular sect of Hinduism. Merchants financed the construction of the temples to compete with the royal temples built at Belur. Hoysala temples however were secular and encouraged pilgrims of all Hindu sects. Temples built by rich landlords in rural areas fulfilled fiscal, political, cultural and religious needs of the agrarian communities. Irrespective of patronage, large temples served as establishments that provided employment to hundreds of people of various guilds and professions sustaining local communities as Hindu temples began to take on the shape of wealthy Buddhist monasteries.
Prevalence of Hinduism along with Jainism and Buddhism can be spotted instead of a decline in the later two religions due to a rise in Vaishnava Hinduism in the Hoysala empire. Adi Shankara Advaita philosophy resulted in the decline of Buddhism, and the only place of Buddhist worship during this time was at Dambal and Balligavi. Three important religious movements can be spotted during the Hoysala rule which were inspired by three philosophers Basavanna, Madhavacharya and Ramanajacharya. Basavanna preached a faith without a caste system, Madhavacharya established eight monasteries in Udupi believing in reality of the world and Ramanujacharya preached the way of devotion and wrote Sribhashya a critique on the Advaita philosophy. The Hoysala empire hence was an intense blend of bravery and cultural richness, which is notable among the history of classical India.
The support of the Hoysala rulers for the Kannada language was strong, and this is seen even in their epigraphs, often written in polished and poetic language, rather than prose, with illustrations of floral designs in the margins.According to historian Sheldon Pollock, the Hoysala era saw the complete displacement of Sanskrit, with Kannada dominating as the courtly language. Temples served as local schools where learned academics taught in Sanskrit, while Jain and Buddhist monasteries educated novice monks. The local Kannada language was widely used in the rising number of devotional movements to express the ecstatic experience of closeness to the deity. Literary works were written on palm leaves which were tied together. Writings in Sanskrit included poetry, grammar, lexicon, manuals, rhetoric, commentaries on older works, prose fiction and drama. Inscriptions on stone and copper plates were written mostly in Kannada but some were in Sanskrit or were bilingual. The sections of bilingual inscriptions stating the title, genealogy, origin myths of the King were generally done in Sanskrit. Kannada was used to state terms of the grants, including information on the land, its boundaries, the participation of local authorities, rights and obligations of the grantee, taxes and witnesses. This ensured the content was clearly understood by the local people without ambiguity.
Hoysala literature during this period consisted of writings relating to the socio-religious developments of the Jain and Veerashaiva faiths. The earliest well-known writers in Kannada were from the Hoysala court.
Writing Kannada literature in native metres was first popularised by the court poets. These metres were the compositions sung to the accompaniment of a musical instrument; shatpadi, six-line verses; ragale, lyrical compositions in blank verse; and ttripadi, three-line verses. However, Jain writers continued to use the traditional champu, composed of prose and verse. Important literary contributions in Kannada were made not only by court poets but also by noblemen, commanders, ministers, ascetics and saints associated with monasteries.
The modern interest in the Hoysalas is due to their patronage of art and architecture rather than their military conquests. The brisk temple building throughout the kingdom was accomplished despite constant threats from the south and the north. The Hoysala architecture style is described as Karnata Dravida as distinguished from the traditional Dravida, and is considered an independent architectural tradition with many unique features.
A feature of Hoysala temple architecture is its attention to exquisite detail and skilled craftsmanship. The tower over the temple shrine is delicately finished with intricate carvings, showing attention to the ornate and elaborately detailed rather than to a tower form and height. The stellate design of the base of the shrine with its rhythmic projections and recesses is carried through the tower in an orderly succession of decorated tiers. Hoysala temple sculpture replicates this emphasis on delicacy and craftsmanship in its focus on depicting feminine beauty, grace and physique. The Hoysala artists achieved this with the use of Soapstone, a soft stone as basic building and sculptural material.
While the temples at Belur and Halebidu are the best known because of the beauty of their sculptures, the Hoysala art finds more complete expression in the smaller and lesser known temples. The outer walls of all these temples contain an intricate array of stone sculptures and horizontal friezes that depict the Hindu epics. The temple of Halebidu has been described as an outstanding example of Hindu architecture and an important milestone in Indian architecture.
The Hoysala administration supported itself through revenues from an agrarian economy. The kings gave grants of land as rewards for service to beneficiaries who then became landlords to tenants producing agricultural goods and forest products. The highlands with its temperate climate was suitable for raising cattle and the planting of orchards and spices. Paddy and corn were staple crops in the tropical plains. The Hoysalas collected taxes on irrigation systems including tanks, reservoirs with sluices, canals and wells which were built and maintained at the expense of local villagers.
Importing horses for use as general transportation and in army cavalries of Indian kingdoms was a flourishing business on the western seaboard. The forests were harvested for rich woods such as teak which was exported through ports located in the area of present day Kerala. Sung dynasty records from China mention the presence of Indian merchants in ports of South China, indicating active trade with overseas kingdoms. South India exported textiles, spices, medicinal plants, precious stones, pottery, jewels, gold, ivory, rhino horn, ebony, aloe wood, perfumes and sandalwood to China, Aden and Egypt. Architects, sculptors, quarry workers, goldsmiths and other skilled craftsmen whose trade directly or indirectly related to temple construction were also prosperous due to the vigorous temple building activities.
The village assembly was responsible for collecting government land taxes. Taxes were levied on professions, marriages, goods in transit on chariots or carriages, and domesticated animals. Taxes on commodities (gold, precious stones, perfumes, sandalwood, ropes, yarn, housing, hearths, shops, cattle pans, sugarcane presses) as well as produce (black pepper, betel leaves, ghee, paddy, spices, palm leaves, coconuts, sugar) are noted in village records. The village assembly could levy a tax for a specific purpose such as construction of a water tax.
In the days of their prime, Vishnuvardhana, the Hoysala king, defeated the Cholas in Talakadu who ruled in the first half of twelfth century and he supported construction of ornate temples of stone all along his kingdom. The Kingdom declined gradually after its defeat by the Khilji dynasty invaders in 1311.
The famous Hoysaleshwara Temple and the large lake of the Hoysala Dynasty attract travelers in droves from all over the world. South, not far from Hoysaleshwara Temple, is another complex of finely carved structures of stone that have weathered the times. Finally west is an open expanse of villages and fields, with tall hills of Western Ghats visible in the horizon.
