 During the early 12th @-@ century ascendancy of the Hoysalas , the kings of the dynasty entertained imperial ambitions . King Vishnuvardhana wanted to perform Vedic sacrifices <unk> an emperor , and surpass his overlords , the Western Chalukyas , in military and architectural achievements . This led to his conversion from Jainism to Vaishnavism . Around the same time , the well @-@ known philosopher Ramanujacharya sought refuge from the <unk> in Hoysala territory and popularised the Sri Vaishnava faith , a sect of Hindu Vaishnavism . Although Jains continued to dominate culturally in what is now the southern Karnataka region for a while , these social changes would later contribute to the decline of Jain literary output . The growing political <unk> of the Hoysalas attracted many bards and scholars to their court , who in turn wrote <unk> on their patrons . 
