Siddhesvara Temple

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Siddhesvara Temple

Vimana (Shrine and superstructure) at the Siddhesvara temple, Haveri.

Siddheshvara Temple at Haveri, a staggered square plan with dravida articulation and superstructure, late 11th century CE.

The Siddhesvara Temple (also spelt Siddheshvara or Siddheshwara and locally called Purada Siddeshwara ) is located in Haveri in Haveri district, Karnataka state, India. It is considered an ornate example of 12th-century Western Chalukyan art and is well known for the many loose sculptures of Hindu deities that exist in it.^[1] However, inscriptional evidence would suggest that the initial consecration of the temple was in the late 11th century.^[2] An exciting aspect of the temple is that it faces west instead of facing the rising sun in the east–a standard in Chalukyan constructions.^[3] Though it is currently used as a Shaiva temple dedicated to God Shiva, historians are unsure by which faith or sect the temple was consecrated initially and to which deity.^[3] Many people visit the temple for their spiritual beliefs, while evidence about temple visits can be found in Gita chapter 17, verse 23, which says otherwise. Most of the Lord Shiva sculptures are observed to be of him meditating. There are claims that he meditates on himself, whereas some proof can be found in Devi-Bhagavata Purana that Lord Shiva meditates for some other God. This uncertainty perhaps stems from the many loose sculptures of deities and the degradation of primary wall images.^[3]