Khetapai Narayana Temple at Bhatkal in Karnataka

Khetapai Narayana Temple is a lesser know temple in Karnataka. It is dedicated to Bhagvan Vishnu and is located at Bhatkal. Khetapai Narayana Temple is more than 500 years old and is part of a cluster of temples built by Khetapai Narayana, a jeweller who had come from Goa to the region.

The walls of the temple are noted for sculptures depicting important scenes from the Ramayana.

Maya Jayapal writes about the unknown temple in Deccan Herald

The entire Temple was enclosed by a stone wall. The door through which we entered was also stone-framed with guardian figures. Leading to the inner space at the entrance was a pair of beautifully carved stone balustrades with sculptured figures in niches. The yalis forming the balustrades were elegantly carved and seemed to have overlong curling tongues. Someone had placed hibiscus flowers in reverence under the figures and their vivid contrast against the dark stone was striking.

According to Sir Percy Brown, the exteriors of the temples, even though made of laterite, are very wood-like in appearance. It is flat-roofed without any shikara or tower but imitate overlapping wooden planks. At the sides of the Temple, are stone screens, with slats more like blinds actually. As he says, “it is a frank copy of the domestic architecture of the locality.” The Vijayanagara contribution was the navaranga with four pillars.

The narrative of the Ramayana unfolds on the sides of the laterite walls and at the base of the screens and the columns. We did recognise the more popular and dramatic stories such as the coronation or Rama and Sita, the abduction of Sita and  Hanuman and his monkey armies. In between, just like in Hampi’s Hazara Rama Temple are courtly and daily life scenes : a woman ornamenting herself, jugglers or entertainers dancing with musical instruments.