A Pass on Somanathapura

Review of S. Settars Somanathapura (2nd edition),

Ruvari, Bangalore, 2012, pages xvi+172, price Rs. 250.

Somanathapura, an idyllic village on the banks of Kaveri in the Mysore district of

Karnataka, needs no introduction to students of art history in India. The famous Kesava
temple found here is one of the exquisite treasures of temple architecture in the country
and save the Sun temple of Konark in Odisha the finest thirteenth century structure
from the subcontinent in terms of grandeur and workmanship. Of course, the Kesava
cannot boast of a rich and checkered history comparable to the great temples of Udupi,
Melukote or Sringeri in Karnataka, or to many living temples of considerable antiquity in
other parts of peninsular India, like the Padmanabha at Tiruvanantapuram in Kerala, the
Jagannatha and the Lingaraja in Odisha, Tirupati, Kalahasti and Simhachalam in Andhra
Pradesh, and Srirangam, Chidambaram, Palani and Suchindram in Tamilnadu. This in no
way undermines its importance, though. Somanathapura can any day be the subject of a
rich and rewarding study. The book under review is one such attempt by the renowned art
historian, S Settar. Sadly though, by no counts is this attempt a successful one.

Although the book claims to be an illustrated monograph, it lacks some of the

basic prerequisites of a historical monograph. There are no references in it by way of
footnotes, endnotes or in-text citations, so it is not easy to verify how authentic the facts
are. There is no bibliography, and the two-page bibliographical note (pp. 163-64) is far
from satisfactory. Most chapters are too short and the discussion abysmally terse to be
scholarly. For instance, the third chapter on the rise and fall of Somanathapura is all but
281 words long (pp. 41-42), the fifth chapter on the founder of the temple, 325 words (pp.
46-47), the eleventh chapter on a mythical sculptor, 270 (pp. 60-61), the fourteenth
chapter on the time taken to build the temple, 324 (pp. 78-79) and so on. The preface is
longer than most chapters (pp. 1-6). Articles in newspaper supplements tend to be more
respectable in terms of their length than many a chapter in this monograph. The book also
lacks uniformity of presentation, which a scholarly work warrants. At one place, dates are
mentioned as 1269-1279, but elsewhere on the same page, we have it in the more
popular format, 1269-76 (p. 55). At one place, we have Saiva-sthana followed in the
next paragraph by Saiva sthanas without the hyphen and with the suffix in italics
(ibid). There is Saiva at one place with and Saiva in the next sentence without
diacritical marks (p. 52). The diacritical marks are not uniform and oftentimes,
incomplete. So, the book does not qualify to be called a monograph, when looked at from
the standpoint of form.
 Moving on to the content, the work is equally pathetic. There is no argument, no
central thesis, only a pastiche of facts. The cumulative significance of these facts in the
making and unmaking of Somanathapura is nowhere taken up for discussion. Some of
these facts and suggestions are indeed interesting. The possibility of the mythical sculptor
Jakka or Jakkana being an archetype of Jakka (Prakrit) or Yaksha (Sanskrit), the
presiding deity of plastic arts, is one such suggestion (pp. 60-61). The discussion on the
likelihood of the master-sculptor Mallitamma offering models or literally laying down
the rules of carving points to the authors careful observations, comparisons and
analyses (p. 77). The career of Mallitamma engages the thoughtful reader in more ways
than one (pp. 73-77). These sidelights do not, however, substitute for the poor historical
light, which the author throws on Somanathapura. The sculptors found at Somanathapura
point to a marked departure in form and taste when compared to the sculptors of the
Badami Chalukya, Rashtrakuta or Kalyana Chalukya times. What were these changes and
what do they tell us about the mentality, which brought them forth? Settar provides no
answer (for he does not raise such crucial questions). How do we contextualize the
political and economic significance of Somanathapura at a time when the Cholas and
Pandyas were on the decline in the deep south and ruling houses established by warlords
from the frontiers like the Hoysalas, the Seunas and the Kakatiyas held sway over
much of Deccan? The study fails to address this question too. Settar points to the
difficulties in using expressions like Hoysala temple, Hoysala style and so on (pp. 10-11),
but he comes up with no alternative scheme of classification. He remains faithful to
dynastic labels throughout the study.

Finally, readers of this illustrated monograph are advised not to consult the
illustrations to which the author invites our attention in the text so often. There is no
assurance that they will succeed in finding them. Take for example, the reference to
plates 10 and 11 as Mondusale temple (p. 26). Turn to plates 10 and 11, and what you
find is a relief sculpture from the Kesava temple. Look for the porch or the
railingdivided into three sections (p. 91) on plate 38, and what you will see there is a
Yaksha with a huge belly. There is a carved ceiling on plate 43 and a navaranga on plate
44, but the text tells you that these are elephants (p. 105). On plate 45 is the Kesava
temple and on plate 46, four Yakshas. The text tries to persuade you that what you see in
these plates are 525 horses (p. 105). And then, try to locate the four-armed images on
plate 58, 59 and 61 (p. 112) or the portraits of Vishnu on plates 57 and 65 (p. 110), and
you will wake up to the fact that there are only forty-seven plates in the book. Small
wonder if readers feel that the author has taken them for a ride.