It was commissioned by King Vishnuvardhana in 1117 CE, on the banks of the Yagachi River in Belur, an early Hoysala Empire capital.

[2][4] The temple is remarkable for its architecture, sculptures, reliefs, friezes as well its iconography, inscriptions and history.

The temple artwork depicts scenes of life in the 12th century, dancers and musicians, as well as a pictorial narration of Hindu texts such as the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas through numerous friezes.

[2][5][6] It is a Vaishnava temple that reverentially includes many themes from Shaivism and Shaktism, as well as images of a Jina from Jainism and the Buddha from Buddhism.

The Chennakeshava temple is a testimony to the artistic, cultural and theological perspectives in 12th-century South India and the Hoysala Empire rule.

[2] The Chennakeshava Temple is located in Belur taluk in Hassan district of the Indian state of Karnataka.

[3] Belur has no nearby airport, and is about 220 kilometres (137 mi) west of Bengaluru (IATA Code: BLR), about 3.5 hours drive accessible with a four lane NH75 highway.

Belur is called Beluhur, Velur or Velapura in old inscriptions and medieval era texts.

[11] The main Chennakeshava temple at Belur was complete and consecrated in 1117 CE,[11] though the complex continued to expand over 100 some years.

[2] Vishnuvardhana moved his capital to Dorasamudra, (also referred to as Dvarasamudra, now Halebidu), famous for the Hoysaleswara Temple dedicated to Shiva.

[12] The Hoysala Empire and its capital was invaded, plundered and destroyed in the early 14th century by Malik Kafur, a commander of the Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji.

[23][note 1] The compound is entered from the east through a Gopuram added during the repairs of the Vijayanagar empire era.

[5] The temple stands on an open and wide platform designed to be a circumambulatory path around the sanctum.

[33][34] This Hoysala temple, according to the art critic and historian Settar, deployed the Western Chalukyan artists and their tradition that originally developed in Aihole, Badami and Pattadakal.

The visitor sees numerous artwork during the circumambulation of the temple over the jagati platform in horizontal bands.

[41][42] A majority of these madanakai figures are also carved into miniatures in the sixth band of the outer wall around the pradakshina patha.

Other major reliefs are of Arjuna shooting an arrow to win Draupadi; Ravana lifting the Kailasha; Daksha, Bali and Sukracharya.

[44] Secular life is shown in these images, such as an artist making a drawing or musicians lost in their music.

[46] The outer wall on the side of the eastern entrance into the temple inside shows Bhairava and Durga.

The outer wall on the side of the southern entrance into the temple shows Tandavesvara and Brahmani.

[47] The Chennakesava temple has three entrances and their doorways have decorated sculptures called dvarapalaka (doorkeepers) on either side.

The central four are later additions, added in 1381 CE during the Vijayanagara Empire era, to support the internal structure of a damaged temple.

One is the so-called Narasimha pillar which is carved with miniature figures from top to bottom, such as a tiny bull (kadale basava).

[53] The design of the ceiling follows the Hindu texts, and is a modified utksipta style with images placed in concentric rings.

[15] Other reliefs inside the hall include large images of Vishnu avatars, friezes of the Vedic and Puranic histories, and more scenes of the Ramayana.

The halo has cyclical carving of the ten avatars of Vishnu – Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parasurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki.

The temple is active house of worship, with Keshava dressed and decorated, priests present and devotees doing darshana.

Dasoja and his son Chavana who were from Balligavi in modern Shimoga district made important contributions.