Mysore State: Monuments
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From Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1907 – 1909
Mysore State (Maisūr): 1909
Archaeology and Epigraphy
An epigraphic survey has been completed of the whole State1 and about 9,000 inscriptions copied in situ2. The most memorable discovery was that of edicts of Asoka in the Molakālmuru tāluk in 1892, thus lifting the veil that had hidden the ancient history of the South and marking an epoch in Indian archaeology.
These and the Jain inscriptions at Sravana Belgola relating to Chandra Gupta and Bhadrabāhu, and the Sātakarni inscription at Malavalli in the Shikārpur tāluk, have filled up the gap between the rise of the Mauryas and that of the Kadambas. The origin and accession to power of the latter have been made clear by the Tālgunda pillar-inscription in the same tāluk, while the Vokkaleri plates from Kolār District throw light upon the true significance of the Pallavas.
The forgotten dynasties of the Mahāvalis or Bānas, and of the Gangas who ruled Mysore for so long, have been restored to history. The chronology of the Cholas has for the first time been definitely fixed. The birthplace of the Hoysalas has been discovered, and their history worked out in detail. Most important additions have been made to the information relating to the Chālukyas, the Rāshtrakūtas, the Nolambas, the Seunas, the Vijayanagar kings, and other more modern dynasties.
1 An Archaeological department was formed in 1890, under Mr. Lewis Rice, who had been engaged for some years previously in archaeological work, in conjunction with other duties.
2 These are published in a series called Epigraphia Carnatica, extending to twelve volumes.
There have been finds of prehistoric punch-marked pieces, called purāna by the earlier Sanskrit writers, at Nagar ; of Buddhist leaden coins of the Andhra period, second century B.C. to second century A. D., at Chitaldroog ; and of Roman coins dating from 21 B. C. to A. D. 51, near Bangalore. Hoysala coins, before unknown, have been identified and their legends deciphered. The diversified coins of the modern [S. 187] States that occupied Mysore, and of Haidar and Tipū, have been tabulated and described.
Palm-leaf manuscripts have been collected, bringing to light the Kanarese literature from the earliest period, which had been lost in oblivion1.
1See introduction to Karnātaka-Sabdānusāsana. This and other classical works are being published in a series called Bibliothcca Carnatica, of which six volumes have been issued.
Monuments
Prehistoric stone monuments, such as cromlechs and kistvaens, are found in most of the rocky tracts. The latter, generally called Pāndu koliy are known in Molakālmuru as Moryara mane, 'houses of the Moryas' or Mauryas, and they are so named also among the Badagas of the Nīlgiris. Stone slabs erected as memorials of heroes who fell in battle are called vīrakal.
They are sculptured with bas-reliefs, of which the bottom one depicts the hero's last fight, and the others his triumphal ascent to paradise and rest there. Similar memorials to widows who have become satī and been burnt with their husbands are called mādstikal. They bear the figure of a post with a human arm extended from it, holding a lime between the thumb and forefinger. These are found mostly in the west.
The Jain temples are called basadi or bastī, and are in the Dravidian style. The chief group is on Chandragiri at Sravana Belgola. They are more ornamental externally than Jain temples in the North of India, and, Fergusson considers, bear a striking resemblance to the temples of Southern Babylonia. In front is often a māna-stambha, a most elegant and graceful monolith pillar, 30 to 50 feet high, surmounted by a small shrine or statue—lineal descendants, says the same authority, of the pillars of the Buddhists.
But the Jains also have bettas, literally 'hills,' which are courtyards on a height, open to the sky, and containing a colossal nude image of Gomata. That at Sravana Belgola is 57 feet high1, and stands on the summit of Indragiri, 400 feet in elevation. It was erected about 9S3 by Chāmunda Rāya, minister of the Ganga king. Nothing grander or more imposing, says Fergusson, exists anywhere out of Egypt, and even there no known statue exceeds it in height.
1 The only other two known, which are in South Kanara and much more modern, their dates being 1431 and 1603, are 41 and 37 feet high.
The Hindu temples are of either the Chālukyan or the Dravidian style. The Hoysalas were great promoters of art, and temples erected by them or under their patronage in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, in the highly ornate Chālukyan style, are not surpassed by any in India. The best existing examples are those at Halebīd, Belūr, and Somanāthpur. Fergusson, than whom there is no higher authority, says :—
'The great temple at Halebīd, had it been completed, is one of the [S. 188] buildings on which the advocate of Hindu architecture would desire to take his stand. The artistic combination of horizontal with vertical lines, and the play of light and shade, far surpass anything in Gothic art. The effects are just what mediaeval architects were often aiming at, but which they never attained so perfectly1.'
1 History of Indian and Eastern Architecture. See also Architecture of Dharwar and Mysore, where he says : 'It is worthy of remark that the great architectural age in India should have been the thirteenth century, which witnessed such a wonderful development of a kindred style [meaning the Gothic] in Europe.'
Examples of temples in the Dravidian style, of which the gopuram or pyramidal tower is generally the most imposing feature, may be seen at Seringapatam, Chāmundi, Melukote, and other places in the south. The bridges of Hindu construction at Seringapatam and Sivasamudram are noticed in connexion with the Cauvery.
Of Saracenic architecture the best remains are the Mughal buildings at Sīra, and the Pathān mosque at Sante Bennūr. The Gumbaz or mausoleum of Haidar and Tipū at Ganjam and the mosque at Seringapatam deserve notice. But the most ornamental is the Daryā Daulat, Tipū's summer palace at the latter place. Mr. J. D. Rees, who has travelled much in India and Persia, says :—
'The lavish decorations, which cover every inch of wall from first to last, from top to bottom, recall the palaces of Ispahān, and resemble nothing that I know in India.'
The temples of the Malnād in the west correspond in style to those of Kanara. The framework is of wood, standing on a terrace of laterite, and the whole is covered with a tiled and gabled roof. The wooden pillars and joists are often well carved.
