Hoysala Paintings

Though the sculptural wealth of the Hoysalas is very well known through the magnificent examples of architecture and sculpture all over their realm, no example of the painter's art has been discovered so far. though  no murals have been noticed in any of the temples, fortunately there are specimens of painting of the Hoysala period from their territory preserver for us in Moodbidri. These are painted palm leaf manuscripts at the Jain pontifical seat at Moodbidri and are objects of worship

These manuscripts, fortunately have been well taken care of in the ancient library at Moodbidri. By their paleography , clearly of the Hoysala period, and closely resembling the lithic as well as the copper-plate inscriptions of Vishnuvardana's time, they have survived , with their paintings of quality in bright colour, to give an idea of the art of Hoysala painter. it is interesting to compare the writing in these manuscript , with the letters composing the flowery lines in the metal plates from Belur temple. These paintings must be attributed to the time of Vishnuvardhana and his wife  Santala , who was so devoted to Jainism