Sala Fighting the Lion

The lion and Sala face each other in the centre, the latter holding a shield and brandishing a sword. Three dogs are attacking the lion from different sides and an elephant is emerging from the woods on the extreme right. Beneath the lion is a wounded boar. Below in the left corner, Sala is riding into the forest, with a sword in hand.

The animal-slayer motif became popular in the art traditions of the Sumerians, Hittites, Iranians, Greeks and others. Mostly lion, and to a certain extent tiger, has been associated with such motifs.

During Sala’s hunting expedition a lion attacked and the preceptor shouted in Kannada “Hoy Sala (kill Sala)”, which later became the name of the dynasty which ruled in Karnataka between 1022 – 1342 CE. The legend of Sala who killed the lion to save his Jaina preceptor Sudatta and had won a kingdom for himself ideally fitted into the animal-slayer motif already in vogue. As a result of the victory of the Hoysalas over another dynasty, the Kadambas, whose royal emblem was a lion, this animal-slayer motif acquired greater significance. This motif is found on the Hoysala monuments whether Brahmanical or Jaina. The Sala legend is mentioned in the Gadaga inscription of Vira Ballala II and in the inscription of Chennakeshava temple at Honnavara. The Tripurantaka temple to which our sculpture belongs was built during the reign of Vinayaditya (1047 – 1098 CE), however, the temple is dated 1070 CE.