Somanathapura Lakshminarasimha Temple, Karnataka

Address

Somanathapura Lakshminarasimha Temple, Somanathapura, Karnataka 571120

Diety

Lakshminarasimha

Introduction

The stone carved ruin temple at Somanathapura, Mysore Karnataka. This unknown ruins may be the ruins remains of Lakshminarasimha temple. There are no statues in the temple. The ruins are located 2kms away from the famous Somanathapura temple. The way to this place cannot be accessed by four wheelers as the roads are narrow. The only inhabitants of this temple were the bats.

Puranic Significance

The Somanathapura town was founded in the 13th century by a general named Somanatha a general of the Hoysala King Narasimha III. Somanatha created an Agrahara, that is granted land to Brahmins and dedicated resources to build and maintain temples. The town (pura) became known after the name of the patron, Somanatha-pura. According to the inscriptions and textual evidence, Somanatha additionally built the Purahara, Narasimhesvara, Murahara, Lakshminarasimha and Yoganarayana temples in Hoysala style in the region, but all these temples except the Lakshminarasimha have disappeared, after wars. The Lakshminarasimha temple is also in ruins. From the other disappeared temples, the sanctum image of Yoganarayana temple is only known surviving artwork, but it too is in a damaged form.