The Sringeri Vidya Shankara Temple. You could spend a whole day looking at it and still not have enough time.

@LostTemple7

Some of the sculptures I was able to identify on the walls of the Vidya Shankar temple
The Matsya and Kurma avatars of Vishnu

The Varaha Avatar of Sri Vishnu with Bhudevi in his lap. #Sringeri

Narasimha Avatar of Vishnu in battle with Hiranyakashyap.

Vamana Avatar of Lord Vishnu asking alms from Emperor Bali

The Parasurama Avatar of Lord Vishnu. Identified by the axe in his hand and the bow

Lord Vishnu as Rama, accompanied by Sita. The diety on the side panel could be Lakshmana. Identifying becomes easy with the monkeys in the panel below the gods feet.

Balarama, as an Avatar of Vishnu. Identified by the "Hala", or the ploughshare in his hand.

The Krishna Avatar of Lord Vishnu. The Temple Sculptor decides to leave a hint for us in the bottom panel, with the cows looking up at Krishna lovingly. As if the Flute wasn't easy enough to identify him #Sringeri

Buddha appears to be the natural successor in the sequence but here, the sculptor prefers to portray a Jain Tirthankara as an Avatar of Vishnu. Notice the smaller Tirthankaras at the base panel

The last of the Avatars, Lord Kalki. The Sword wielding , horse riding Avatar of Lord Vishnu who comes to end the Universe as we know it.

Other panels I have noticed beyond the Dasavatars. Here we have Shiva (identified by his Dhamru) intervening as Yama tries to kill Markandeya (bottom left clutching the Shivlinga)

This is my favourite panel. A little tough. It's Shiva as Tripurantaka, the destroyer of the Three Cities (identified as three buildings).Shiva rarely is depicted holding the Pinakini, his bow . This is just marvellous

Kamadeva takes Aim at Rathidevi. Difficult to decipher unless you identify the bow made of Sugarcane #Sringeri

An entire panel dedicated to Lakshmi. The Ashtabhuja (8 armed) Lakshmi. Notice the chariot beneath. Doesn't it remind you of Hampi?

This emaciated sculpture was the toughest for me to understand. Thanking a passerby who explained it was Vetala , the lord of the mortal bodies. Depicted usually as a skeleton – at Udipi Hotel

The Dakshina Murthy. Facing towards the Tunga river, we have Shiva as a great teacher. The demon under his fee is Agnana (ignorance)

A beautifully restored panel. On the left we have Shiva Parvati, on the right we have Brahma and Saraswati. And in the centre we have Narasimha and Lakshmi – at Sringeri

The Strangest Panel I've ever seen. A Rushi sitting on a scorpion. Could anyone explain this?

The four layered frieze structure clearly indicates a liberal inspiration from the Hoysala temple architecture. We have horses, elephants, lions and humans alternating with floral designs as we go bottom up. #Sringeri

Several panels all around the temple depict royal life, hunting scenes, battlefield and soldiers, and local legends. All you need is to go searching for them. Keep a keen eye.

The Vidyasankara Temple in Sringeri, built in the Vijayanagara style has an amazing corpus of sculptures depicting the epics. Next time you come here, linger on admiring the medieval talent. I reached the temple at 645am and it's 915 now. And I'm still exploring it.

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