Pattadakal, also called Paṭṭadakallu or Raktapura, is a complex of 7th and 8th century CE Hindu and Jain temples in northern Karnataka (India). Located on the west bank of the Mallaprabha River in Bagalakote district, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is 14 miles (23 km) from Badami and about 6 miles (9.7 km) from Aihole, both of which are historically significant centres of Chalukya monuments. The monument is a protected site under Indian law and is managed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
The Tungabhadra River is a river in India that starts and flows through the state of Karnataka during most of its course, before flowing along the border between Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and ultimately joining the Krishna River near Gundimalla village in Jogulamba Gadwal district of Telangana.
Koppal district, officially known as Koppala district is an administrative district in the state of Karnataka in India. In the past Koppal was referred to as 'Kopana Nagara'. Hampi, a World heritage center, covers some areas of Koppal District. It is situated approximately 38 km away. Anegundi, is also a famous travel destination.
North Karnataka is a geographical region in Deccan plateau from 300 to 730 metres elevation that constitutes the region of the Karnataka state in India and the region consists of 13 districts. It is drained by the Krishna River and its tributaries the Bhima, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, and Tungabhadra. North Karnataka lies within the Deccan thorn scrub forests ecoregion, which extends north into eastern Maharashtra.
Hemalapuram (Alampur) is a town situated in Jogulamba Gadwal district in the Indian state of Telangana. Alampur is a popular Hindu pilgrimage site in Shaktism and is also home to the Navabrahma Temples, a group of nine temples dedicated to Shiva built in the seventh and eighth century CE. It is the meeting point of the rivers Tungabhadra and Krishna and is referred to as Dakshina Kasi and is also considered the western gateway to Srisailam. The sacredness of Alampur is mentioned in the Skanda Purana. It is surrounded by the Nallamala hills and is situated on the left bank of the Tungabhadra river. Alampur was ruled by badami chalukyas they built 9 cluster of shiva temples. After them rashtrakutas of manyakheta and western chalukyas of karnataka built papanasi temples. Alampur is home to hundreds of old Kannada inscriptions because it was ruled by all Kannadiga dynasties like badami chalukyas, Rashtrakutas of manyakheta, western chalukyas of kalyani etc. Alampur contains numerous Hindu temples, the prominent ones being Jogulamba temple, Navabrahma temples, Papanasi temples, and Sangameswara Temple.
Hangal, also spelled Hanagal, Hanungal, and Hungul, is a historic town in Haveri district in the Indian state of Karnataka, It is 46 km (29 mi) away from Sirsi
Lakshmeshwara is a town, and newly created Taluk place along with Gajendragad in Gadag district, in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is about 40 km from Gadag and 55 km from Hubli. It is an agricultural trading town. Lakshmeshwara Temple dedicated to Shiva. There are many important temples in this historic town, including the other Shiva temple, the Someshwara Temple. There are two ancient Jain temples in the town, as well as a notable Jamma Masjid. Lakshmeshwara is also home for many smaller shrines, a dargah, the Kodiyellamma temple, the Mukha Basavanna shrine, and a gigantic idol of Suryanarayana.
Karnataka, the sixth largest state in India, has been ranked as the third most popular state in the country for tourism in 2014. It is home to 507 of the 3600 centrally protected monuments in India, the largest number after Uttar Pradesh. The State Directorate of Archaeology and Museums protects an additional 752 monuments and another 25,000 monuments are yet to receive protection. Tourism centres on the ancient sculptured temples, modern cities, the hill ranges, forests and beaches etc. Broadly, tourism in Karnataka can be divided into four geographical regions: North Karnataka, the Hill Stations, Coastal Karnataka and South Karnataka.
Balligavi a town in Shikaripura taluk Shivamogga district of Karnataka state, India, is today known as Belagami or Balagame. Its ancient names are Baligrama, Dakshina Kedara, Valliggame and Valligrame. Dakshina Kedara means Kedarnath of the South. A place of antiquity, it is known for its ancient monuments. Balligavi is located 72 km from Shivamogga city and 21 km from Shikaripura town and 2.3 km from Shiralakoppa in Shikaripura taluk. Balli in Kannada means creeper or vine.
Western Chalukya architecture, also known as Kalyani Chalukya or Later Chalukya architecture, is the distinctive style of ornamented architecture that evolved during the rule of the Western Chalukya Empire in the Tungabhadra region of modern central Karnataka, India, during the 11th and 12th centuries. Western Chalukyan political influence was at its peak in the Deccan Plateau during this period. The centre of cultural and temple-building activity lay in the Tungabhadra region, where large medieval workshops built numerous monuments. These monuments, regional variants of pre-existing dravida temples, form a climax to the wider regional temple architecture tradition called Vesara or Karnata dravida. Temples of all sizes built by the Chalukyan architects during this era remain today as examples of the architectural style.
The Siddhesvara Temple is located in the town of Haveri in Haveri district, Karnataka state, India. It is considered an ornate example of 12th century Western Chalukyan art and is well known for the many loose sculptures of Hindu deities that exist in it. However, inscriptional evidence would suggest that the initial consecration of the temple was in late 11th century. An interesting aspect about the temple is that it faces west, instead of facing the rising sun in the east–a standard in Chalukyan constructions. Though it is currently used as a Shaiva temple dedicated to God Shiva, historians are unsure by which faith or sect the temple was originally consecrated and to which deity. This uncertainty perhaps stems from the many loose sculptures of deities that exist and the degradation of primary wall images.
The Chandramauleshwara Temple, sometimes referred to as the Candramauḷĩśvara or Chandramouleshwara temple at Unkal, is an 11th-century Shiva temple with Chalukyan architecture in Unkal (Hubballi), Karnataka, India. The temple has a square plan architecture with four entrances from the cardinal directions, while illustrating the sandhara plan found in Sanskrit texts on architecture. It originally had a Chaturmukha (four-faced) Linga in the center of the temple and many more mandapas (halls), but the surviving structure is much smaller. The temple preserves an early example of a relatively uncommon Hindu architecture. The temple is also notable for how it integrates the artwork of Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Vedic deities together.
The Mahakuta group of temples is located in Mahakuta, a village in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka state, India. It is an important place of worship for Hindus and the location of a well-known Shaiva monastery. The temples are dated to the 6th or 7th century CE and were constructed by the early kings of the Chalukya dynasty of Badami. The dating of the temples is based on the style of architecture which is similar to that of the temples in nearby Aihole and the information in two notable inscriptions in the complex: the Mahakuta Pillar inscription dated between 595–602 CE ; and an inscription of Vinapoti, a concubine of king Vijayaditya, dated between 696–733 CE and written in the Kannada language and script.
Temples of North Karnataka
The Bhutanatha group of temples are 7th to 12th century Hindu temples to the east of Agastya lake in Badami, Karnataka state, India. It consists of two subgroups – one called the East Bhutanatha group or Bhutanatha main group from 7th to 8th-century mostly in the Dravida architecture style; the other called the North Bhutanatha group or Mallikarjuna group from 11th to 12th-century mostly in the Nagara architecture. The former illustrates the Badami Chalukya architects, the latter along with the nearby Yellamma temple the Kalyani Chalukya architects.
The antiquity of architecture of Karnataka can be traced to its southern Neolithic and early Iron Age, Having witnessed the architectural ideological and utilitarian transformation from shelter- ritual- religion. Here the nomenclature 'Architecture' is as old as c.2000 B.C.E. The upper or late Neolithic people in order to make their shelters, they constructed huts made of wattle and doab, that were buttressed by stone boulders, presumably having conical roof resting on the bamboo or wooden posts into red murram or paved granite chips as revealed in archaeological excavations in sites like Brhamagiri, Sanganakallu, Tekkalakota, Piklihal. Megaliths are the dominant archaeological evidence of the early Iron Age. There are more than 2000 early Iron Age burial sites on record, who laid the foundation for a high non-perishable architecture in the form of various distinct architectural styles of stone built burials, which are ritualistic in its character. The active religious architecture is evident 345 with that of the Kadamba Dynasty. Karnataka is a state in the southern part of India originally known as the State of Mysore. Over the centuries, architectural monuments within the region displayed a diversity of influences, often relaying much about the artistic trends of the rulers of twelve different dynasties. Its architecture ranges dramatically from majestic monolith, such as the Gomateshwara, to Hindu and Jain places of worship, ruins of ancient cities, mausoleums and palaces of different architectural hue. Mysore Kingdom (Wodeyar) rule has also given an architectural master structure in the St. Philomena's Church at Mysore which was completed in 1956, in addition to many Dravidian style architectural temples. Two of the monuments are listed under the UNESCO World Heritage List of 22 cultural monuments in India. Styles of Indo-Saracenic, Renaissance, Corinthian, Hindu, Indo-Greek and Indo-British style palaces were built in Mysore, the city of palaces. Sikh architecture at Bidar (1512) and also in Bangalore in 1956 can also be cited as having an impact on the architectural composition of the state.
Shri Kuruvathi Basaveshwara temple at Kuruvathi is one of the ancient and historic temples at the extreme south-western corner of Hoovina Hadagali taluk, Vijayanagara District, Karnataka, India. This temple is on the bank of Tungabhadra river, 10 km from Halavagalu and 2 km from Mylara and 36 km from Ranebennur and 326 km from Bangalore.
The Rameshvara temple is a 12th-century Shiva temple in Kudli, Shimoga district, Karnataka India. It is an early non-ornate, Hoysala construction with simpler Vesara style. The village of Koodli – also spelled Kudli, Kudali – was a major town through the 14th-century and of great antiquity, with ruins of over eight major Hindu temples and monasteries. It is located about 18 kilometres (11 mi) north-east of Shimoga city, the district headquarters. The town gets its name because it is situated at the confluence of the Tunga and Bhadra tributaries that form the Tungabhadra river.
The Nagareshvara Temple, also called the Aravattarukmbhada Gudi is a 12th-century Western Chalaukya construction. Bankapura is located in the Haveri District of Karnataka state, India. According to the Archaeologist Henry Cousens (1854–1933), during medieval times, the Bankapura fort was considered one of the most important fortifications in the Karnataka region. According to Cousens, the temple suffered much damage when Bankapura fell to the armies of Firoz Shah Bahamani in 1406 CE and later again when it was occupied by the Bijapur Sultan Adil Shah. According to the writings of Farishtah, the Sultan "ordered a superb temple within the fort to be destroyed". However, despite much pillage, the large temple with its majestic "great" hall (mantapa) still retains some of its original beauty. That the temple was built in honor of the Hindu god Shiva comes from two short inscriptions in the temple which begin with a salutation to "Shambu". There are other inscriptions in the temple, two of which are dated 1138 CE and one dated 1091 that record grants to the god "Nagaresvaradeva". The temple is protected as a monument of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India.
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