The Bucesvara temple is a simple yet elegant specimen of 12th century of Hoysala architecture. It is located in the village of Korvangla, 10 km from Hassan city, in Hassan district or Karnataka state, India. The temple was built in 1173 A.D. by a rich officer called Buci, to celebrate the coronation of Hoysala King Veera Ballala II. Nearby are two more temples that are in ruins. From the inscriptions on the premises, it is evident that these two temples had been commissioned by Buci's older brothers, Govinda and Naka. This temple is protected as a monument of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India.
Architecture
By plan, the temple is a divikuta that face each other. These shrines are connected by a closed mantapa and an open mantapa. Consequently, one shrine appears much dimmer in lighting than the other. At the eastern end of the complex is a small shrine whose deity is the Bhairava, a form of the Hindugod Shiva. The western shrine facing the east, containing an image ofSurya has a staggered square plan, its kalasa standing above the sukanasa are intact, and the decorative features on the shikhara and the outer walls are "conventional" by Hoysala standards. The eastern shrine, which contains a linga has a similar plan; a Sukhanasi which is a low protrusion of the tower over the shrine and is built over the vestibule which connects the vimana to the hall. However its main tower is missing and it is unclear if the tower was a part of the original plan or not. The temple decorative features can be said to belong to the "old kind" prevalent even before the Hoysala times. In this type of decoration, below the superstructure, an eaves that projects about half a meter runs all around the temple. Below the eaves are decorative miniature towers on pilasters. The miniature towers are in various styles; nagara, dravida, vesara, and bhumija. In the "old kind", the large wall images of deities and their attendants are placed below these decorative towers. These images include among others; Bhairava, the goddessSaraswati and Durga, Maheshvara, Narasimha, Brahma, and Venugopala. Below these images, the base of the wall comprises five different horizontal moldings, one of which is a row of blocks. The halls are adjoining. The closed hall is complete in design but the open hall is not. It has no structure above its eaves and provides two side entrances into the temple, the southern entrance being flanked by two small elephant balustrades. The outer wall of the closed hall has, in addition to usual Hindu iconography, some unusual reliefs, depicting animals devouring animals. The ceiling art in the open hall is of fine quality and the pillars have a glossy finish. The pillars of the mantapa are bell shaped, a design achieved by turning with lathes.
