The Hoysala Empire was a prominent South Indian empire that ruled most of the modern-day state of Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur but was later moved to Halebidu. The Hoysala rulers were originally hill peoples of Malnad Karnataka, an elevated region in the Western Ghats range. In the 12th century, taking advantage of the internecine warfare between the then ruling Western Chalukyas and Kalachuri kingdoms, they annexed areas of present-day Karnataka and the fertile areas north of the Kaveri River delta in present-day Tamil Nadu. By the 13th century, they governed most of present-day Karnataka, parts of Tamil Nadu and parts of western Andhra Pradesh in Deccan India. The Hoysala era was an important period in the development of art, architecture, and religion in South India. The empire is remembered today primarily for its temple architecture. Over a hundred surviving temples are scattered across Karnataka, including the well known Chennakesava Temple at Belur, the Hoysaleswara Temple at Halebidu, and the Kesava Temple at Somanathapura. The Hoysala rulers also patronised the fine arts. This patronage encouraged literature to flourish in Kannada and Sanskrit.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoysala_Empire

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1702: Princess Anne became the Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland, succeeding William III. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Great_Britain)

1782: American Revolutionary War: Almost 100 Native Americans in Gnadenhutten, Ohio died at the hands of Pennsylvanian militiamen in a mass murder known as the Gnadenhutten massacre. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnadenhutten_massacre)

1966: Nelson's Pillar, a large granite pillar with a statue of Lord Nelson on top in Dublin, Ireland, was destroyed by a bomb. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson%27s_Pillar)

1983: The Cold War: During a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida, U.S. President Ronald Reagan described the Soviet Union as an "evil empire".

1985: A failed assassination attempt on Islamic cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah in a car-bombing in Beirut killed more than 80 people and injured almost 200 others. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Beirut_car_bombing)

_____________________ Wiktionary's Word of the day:

flagrant: Obvious and offensive, blatant, scandalous. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/flagrant)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

We do not ask for what useful purpose the birds do sing, for song is their pleasure since they were created for singing. Similarly, we ought not to ask why the human mind troubles to fathom the secrets of the heavens. The diversity of the phenomena of nature is so great and the treasures hidden in the heavens so rich precisely in order that the human mind shall never be lacking in fresh enrichment. -- Johannes Kepler (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Johannes_Kepler)