The Somnathpur temple tour from Mysore begins with hotel pickup at 9 am in a private air conditioned vehicle. Somnathpur is approximately 35 kilometres from Mysore and the drive takes around 45 minutes through the Karnataka countryside.

The Chennakesava temple sits on a raised star shaped platform at the centre of a walled courtyard, its three shrines each crowned with a stepped tower of intricate carved stone. The temple was built as a single commission in 1268 and was never significantly altered after its completion, which is why it survives in such extraordinary condition while most comparable temples of the same period have been damaged, rebuilt or modified beyond recognition.

The exterior walls are the first and most immediately overwhelming experience of the Somnathpur temple tour from Mysore. The horizontal bands of sculpture that cover every surface run continuously around the entire building, each band depicting a different subject — elephants at the base for stability and strength, horses for speed, scrolling foliage, scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and the rows of deities with their crowns, bangles, anklets and jewellery rendered in soapstone with a precision that has never been surpassed. Your guide identifies the key figures, explains the iconographic logic of the arrangement, and draws your attention to the detail that stops every visitor in their tracks — every dancer on the walls has had her nose deliberately cut. The theories range from the act of a conquering army to a deliberate gesture of humility by the sculptors. None has been conclusively proved.

Inside the temple the three shrines lead to the common mandapa, the pillared hall where the quality of the stone carving reaches its peak. The 16 ceilings each depict the lotus or banana flower at a different stage of blooming, a meditative programme of natural observation executed in stone that has no parallel in any other temple in India. The pillars are lathe-turned, each one slightly different from its neighbours, the joints between the carved sections fitting so precisely that no mortar was required.

Hotel drop in Mysore by 1:30 pm.

This private Somnathpur temple tour from Mysore is fully inclusive. We take care of hotel pickup and drop in a private air conditioned vehicle, your expert cultural guide throughout the tour and all entry fees.