Muktheshwara Temple – Haveri

About

Chaudayyadanapur is a small village with all facets of Indian civilization (religion, art, and poetry) are exemplified in an exquisite Muktheshwara Temple – Haveri, with the highest degree of refinement.

It is a single cella temple in Jakkanachari style. Similar temples were built under the patronage of Kalachuris of Kalyani or Seuna dynasties. This temple is a jewel of the architecture of the 11th–12th centuries. It was built during the heyday of the kingdom ruled by the Kalyani Chalukyas and the Seunas of Devagiri. It is dedicated to an Udbhava (spontaneously born) Lingam named Mukteshwar.

The dome of the temple is hollow and is closed by the slabs of the Sthupi. Shikhara of the Mukteshwara temple is 2.2 m in its axis at the base. The Sthupi is made of three beautiful loti form moldings diminishing in size and a lotus bud with its base.

The history of Mukteshwar Temple at Chaudayyadanapur is known through seven inscriptions in medieval Kannada, engraved on large steles. They provide information on the local rulers, kings of Guttala (Gupta ascendancy), on some constructions in the temple complex, on diverse donations to the deity.

They provide the details on prominent religious leaders. Inscriptions introduce Muktajiyar, a Lakulasaiva saint, and Shivadeva, a Virashaiva saint, who entered the place on 19 August 1225 and led there a long life of renunciation, asceticism, and spiritual elevation. The legacy of this age of intense Shaivism is a jewel of architecture and sculpture.

The temple testifies to the greatness of Basaveswara who helped the Veera Shaivam movement to thrive and spread across the entire Southern Peninsula, as almost all the temples across the South have only lingams installed instead of other idols forms of Lord Shiva.