Hampi

Hospet is  the city nearest to the site of Hampi,  where one  will have the  pleasure to  experience the remains of a previous  civilisation. Presented here are  the majority of the historic sites.

Kukkanur

The small site of Kukkanur on the road between  Hospet to Hubli,  is a little with  variation. Before the village, one  should  stop   shortly  at  the temple of Kalleshvara, of the 10th  century. It  represents a transition style between Chalukya and Râshtrakûta Dynasties.A painted Nandi, with the beautiful expression, sitting under the short porch, holds the attention. In the temple, a large mutilated statue of Shiva. stands .

 At the  village, the temple of Navalinga (i.e. the nine Lingam), whose foundation goes up to the 9th  century, disappoints compared to the usual descriptions. It consists of a complex of nine small temples, communicating by courts mandapa. A statue  in the corridor , is remarkable Shiva Mallikarjuna, in its warlike shape with horse, holding up a sword.

Ittagi

 At a distance of  54 km  from  Hospet, on the road  to  Hubli, is  the village of Banikoppa. Ittagi is  13 km  up in the north of the  village. The temple of Shiva Mahadev, built in 1112, is quite visible  as one enters  the village. It has a splendid  mandapa with superbly worked columns.  Other small temples and vaults, are around. A large crowned basin extends in front of the temple.

Lakkundi

In this village on the road of Hubli, one will be able to visit a whole of temples located in an enclosure girds high walls, dating from the 12nd century, Hindus and Jains. Jain Basti, with its will shikhara on five levels, is vastest. The best sculptures are with the temple of Kashivishvara.

Dambal

Located to 18 km of Gadag, in the south of the Hospet-Hubli road, this village conceals a beautiful temple of Dodda Basapa of late Chalukya style. Returning and projecting of will shikhara give an air of relationship with the Hoysala style. The external sculptures are degraded enough but the unit has pace, because of the excellent state of will shikhara. The gate of entry opens in the south. The cella shelters simple a lingam. In a mandapa coarsely reconstituted day before splendid and large Nandi which faces the cella. Between Nandi and the cella, a second mandapa kept beautiful worked pillars. One will note the remarkable lintel of the gate of the cella.

Another small temple, simpler but whose mandapa is equipped with beautiful pillars, is located on the other side of the road.

Gadag

Gadag is a large village between Hospet and Hubli (103 km of Hospet , with agricultural vocation, ).

The temple of Trikuteshvara (form of Shiva). One enters  here by a side  porch. On the ground  three are laid out small  lingams cut in the same block of stone.  Ganesh takes care in a corner, and at the bottom of a mandapa, sits a  large Nandi.

The temple of Sarasvatî, is smaller but extremely interesting. The principal part, oldest, made of a mandapa with  beautifully  profiled columns, preceed a short hall  where the  beautiful Sarasvatî  in meditation is held of black stone.

In a contiguous vault of simpler and more recent architectural design,  the large and beautiful statue of the Sarasvatî goddess is the subject of  worship : with  the sacrificial spoon in a right hand, the crowned book of Veda in the left hand. Behind it, spreads a large stone crown where  vidyadharas are carved in medallions.

Downtown,  is the   gopuram temple of   Narayana (Vishnu). Figures decorate one of the levels of this gopuram, like various gods, Ganesh, Mahîshâsuramardinî, Hanuman, Bouddha. In the court of the temple, the old mandapa was repainted in pastel  colors. The statue  represents Vishnu decorated with flowers and  bright clothes .

Haveri

This large village is on the   road connecting  Hubli (75 km) to Bangalore, and about  200 km from  Hospet

The temple of Siddheshvara, at the exit of the city on the road of Hospet, is known only under one local name.  The mandapa with open-type screen has a typical Chalukyan art  balustrade, however that  its splendid pillars all are marvelously worked, similar to the  Hoysala style. Those of the periphery are grooved. The boxes of the ceiling are decorated  with lotus except one of them, on the right, which has Shiva engraved , in the center, surrounded of eight Mâtrikâ In this mandapa, vis-a-vis the entry  to the main temple , beautiful Ganesh  statue  is worshipped with  flowers and honoured.

The lintel of the gate of access to the  main temple  shows the gods of Trimûrti framed of Ganesh and Kârtikeya. The statue of the main deity is  a lingam.

The walls external of the temple,  are extraordinarily worked. Under the many times repeated reason for the kudu, one identifies gods and goddesses (Ganesh, Lakshmî, Shiva, Varâha, etc, as well as dancers and celestial musicians tiny and perfectly preserved. The elements of Chalukya architecture (projecting horizontal accentuated, vertical steps, niches, small buildings in reduction) follow one another to form a harmonious unit. The building opens unusually in the west.

A second temple, smaller and of the same design, is  with  beautiful pillars of mandapa and a  statue Narasimha  Several statues are laid out with  the  same ground, in this mandapa .

Kaginelli

Located at a few kilometers   west of Haveri, on the road of Sirsa, is a  small village of Kaginelli  announced only by three very small temples worth touring for its  impressive statue of Vîrabhadra (form of Shiva) in one of them.

Bankapur

  With a little diversion  from  the road between Haveri and Hubli  one  finds  a fort forgotten, at the end of a few hundred meters. The temple of Ranganath Nageshvara.  a unit, of  Chalukya style, is superb .The round mandapa and its 61 pillars, are splendid and are worth  visiting .

Harihara

This significant city, between Hubli and Chitradurga, has a temple of the same name. The entry in the paved yard, by a court gopuram, is framed of two large and squat stone carry-lamps. Close to their base, small Nandi on a side and Garuda of the other are, underlining the mixed character of the divinity of the place.

Of type Hoysala or late Chalukya, the mandapa of this temple is supported by 58 black stone columns at square base. The median and summit part circular and like is finicked of it with the turn. The boxes of the ceiling are carved flowers of lotus. A remarkable statue of Harihara, of approximately 2 meters height, resides in the cella. Of course, it is vêtue, but the composite face, as well as the cap and emblèmes in the hands, make it possible to recognize Shiva, Vishnu on the right on the left. Pârvatî and Lakshmî, of small size, are held with the foot of their Lord. A great worked brass aureole surrounds the statue.

Outside of the temple, the balustrades of the mandapa are decorated with planks of dancers, of elephants and small statues of divinities, including three statues of Lord  Ganesh . On the northern side of the temple, unusual site, sits a Nandi  curiously .

Same northern side, one will notice a temple of  Godess Lakshmî with a mandapa with pretty columns.  On its line, Ganesh summarily outlined in low-relief on the wall, while on its left, a drawn up snake engraved in the stone is Lord  Kârtikeya.

Sandur

 In Sandur, a village in between  the  hills . One arrives  at the temple of  Goddess Pârvatî, built in a place isolated and dating partially from the 7th  century. One enters  through  an old gopuram with the eroded reliefs. The temple rises in the middle of a garden of roses and other flowered plants. Its mandapa, short, closed and without columns, is equipped with a strange roof in the shape of reversed hull of ship,  which existed  before the form of a kudu. . Small niches on the exterior walls  of the temple are announced by statues  of  various lords, Pashupati , Bhairava in the west and Shiva in north. The interior of the mandapa presents also niches with beautiful statues: with a bejewelled  Ganesh  and a Vishnu in its traditional form. In a  rectangular and a very large  and a beautiful  statue  of Parvatî (10th  century) .

Chitradurga

The town of Chitradurga  between Hospet (140 km) and Bangalore, is leaned with a large picturesque rock hill, on which a fort with seven ramparts was built to the 17 th century by Nayak vassal of Vijayanagar. There are various  small temples  inside the fort.

Hiriyur

The temple of Tiru Malleshvara (Shiva) is worth   stopping by this village, located at 40 km  from  Chitradurga on the road to Bangalore. One  enters  the court of the temple by a gopuram. Although old (approximately 14 th century), this temple draws  the attention by the modern sculptures, highly coloured, which decorate the worked cronicles  of the mandapa: various gods, heads of lions,  make an unusual unit.