The
Ishvara Temple (also spelt
Ishwara or
Isvara) in
Arasikere town of the
Hassan district in
Karnataka state,
India, dates to c. 1220 CE rule of
Hoysala Empire. Arasikere (
lit "Queens tank";
Arasi means "queen" or "princess" and
kere means "tank" in the
Kannada language) is located 140 km north of the historic city of
Mysore and 41 km east of
Hassan city. The temple, which is dedicated to the
Hindu God
Shiva, though modest in size and figure sculpture, is considered the most complex one in architecture among surviving
Hoysala monuments because of its ground plan: a 16-pointed star shaped
mantapa (hall), in addition to an asymmetrical star shaped shrine, whose star points are of three different types.