English: This is a JPEG format plan and architectural drawing of a historic Indian temple or monument. An alternate SVG format (scalable vector graphics) version of this file – for web graphics, design studies, print, dynamic and interactive applications – has also been uploaded to wikimedia commons.

The drawing:

• Santebachahalli, also referred to as Santebachalli, is a village in Karnataka. It is about 75 kilometers north of Mysuru city. Santebachahalli was a major town before the 14th-century and hosted five temples. Of these, the Mahalingesvara temple is the oldest and the largest that has survived, though in a very damaged and ruined form like the others.

• The original temple was built near the village water tank bund. It has one sanctum dedicated to Shiva. A 20 feet x 20 feet square Navaranga mandapa faces it and had a 6 feet Nandi. According to the 1939 Mysore Archaeological report, this beautifully carved Nandi was removed from the temple and taken to Bangalore. Other parts of this temple have been taken out and were given to museums during the colonial era.

• Many sections of this temple were badly damaged during the Sultanate raids and wars with the regional Hindu kingdoms before and after the Vijayanagara period. Of the sections that survive, most major reliefs of deities and artworks are defaced or have chopped limbs. These were carved from soapstone and have fine details. Major icons that can be identified include Venugopala, Tripuradahana, Bhima's battle with elephant in the Mahabharata, Tandavesvara, Umamahesvara, Bhairava, Kalabhairava, Mohini and monkey legend, dancing Ganesha, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahisasuramardini and others. The sanctum's entrance has Shaiva dvarapalas.

• The temple's architectural plan follows the square and circle principle found in historic Sanskrit texts.

• GPS location of the monument:

  12° 48′ 51.7″ N, 76° 34′ 57.9″ E

  View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMap

  12.814361; 76.582750

• The relative scale and relative dimensions in this architectural drawing are close to the actual but neither exact nor complete. The plan illustrates the design and layout, but some intricate details or parts of the temple may not be shown. In cases where exact measurements were not feasible, the drawing uses best approximations and rounds the best measurements feasible. This drawing uses, in part, some of the measurements made and published by the Mysore Archaeological department between 1905 and 1911.

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