Somnathpur Keshava Temple
A trikuta Hoysala temple completed in 1268 CE, its three star-shaped soapstone shrines covered in dense friezes — part of the "Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas" UNESCO World Heritage listing alongside Belur and Halebidu.
The Keshava Temple at Somnathpur (Somanathapura) was consecrated in 1268 CE, commissioned by Soma, a general serving under the Hoysala king Narasimha III, and is often cited as the most architecturally complete of the surviving Hoysala temples precisely because it was built in a single, unified campaign rather than expanded over centuries.
Its trikuta plan — three star-shaped shrine towers sharing a common mandapa — is carried entirely in soapstone (chloritic schist), a material soft enough when quarried to allow the intricate, almost lace-like friezes of epic scenes, deities and dancers that wrap every external surface. In 2023 it was inscribed, together with the temples at Belur and Halebidu, as part of UNESCO’s “Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas” World Heritage Site.
Getting there: Somnathpur lies about 35 km east of Mysuru via T. Narasipura; the post office serves the small village that has grown up around the temple.
The site itself
Where to get your stamp cancelled
This may not be next to the site itself — some post offices serve several nearby landmarks.
- Post office
- Somnathpur Post Office
- Pincode
- 571120
- Address
- Somanathapura Post Office, Somanathapura, T. Narasipura Taluk, Mysuru District, Karnataka
Sources
- Project maintainer transcription of the physical Philately Passport booklet (district/landmark/post office list)
- Somanathapura pincode/post office record — 1min.in