Belavadi shrines miss heritage list

Hoysala temples in Amruthapura too left out

Update: 2014-06-05 06:40 GMT
A view of the Hoysala era temples at Belawadi. (Photo: DC)

Hassan: The Archaeological Survey of India, which is making a strong pitch for including  the Hoysala temples of Belur and Halebeedu in Hassan and the Somanthapura temple in Mysore among world heritage sites,  has made no such plea on behalf of the ornate Hoysala temples of Belavadi and Amrutapura.   

Although the world heritage tag for monuments ensures them technical support for conservation and world- wide publicity, the monuments  of  Belavadi such as the Veeranarayan Temple, a classic piece of Hoysala architecture built in the 12th century,   have not been included in the list that the department plans to submit to UNESCO.  

“The Amritheswara Temple in Amruthapura,  located close to the river Bhadra, is an excellent illustration of Hoysala  architecture. This temple was built with black soapstone  during the rule of Veeraballala II,” recalls an ASI official.

Heritage Commissioner, C.G. Betsurmath, who  has  prepared  the proposal with  ASI, said there were certain criteria such as “Outstanding Universal Values”  which had to be considered before labelling a monument a heritage site. “ We  will check  on Belavadi and Amrutheswara before the  proposal is submitted,” he assured.

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