Galageshwara Temple,
Galaganath, Karnataka
Galageshwara Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located in Galaganath Village in Haveri Taluk in Haveri District, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The Temple is also called as Galaganatha Temple. The Temple is situated on the banks of Tungabhadra River. Galaganath was earlier called as Palluni. This temple is protected as monuments of national importance by the central Archaeological Survey of India.
History
The temple was constructed in the 11th century CE by Western Chalukyas. It is believed that Sri Venkatesh Galaganath (Kadambari Pitamaha) worshiped at the temple and wrote his novels on the temple premises.
The Temple
This Temple is facing towards east. This temple consists of sanctum, vestibule, navaranga and mukha mandapa. The mukha mandapa has entrances on the eastern, northern and southern sides. The sanctum enshrines the presiding deity, Galaganath / Galageshwara, in the form of Sparsha Linga. The sanctum has an unusual pyramidal basement. It might have been built due to problems with instability during construction, surrounds the shrine. The tower is decorated with plain architectural elements.
The exterior walls of the navaranga have some fine decorations. The interior has numerous niches containing figural sculpture including Ganesha. There is a large inscription slab in the mukha mandapa. It is dated to the reign of Chalukya King Vikramaditya VI in 1080 CE. The inscription records a grant to the god Galageshwara and talks about the tradition of dance and music. The inscription talks about Mokhari Barmmayya, a famous musician and his exemplary skills of 32 different ragas.
Connectivity
The Temple is located at about 7
Kms from Havanur, 10 Kms from Halagi, 14 Kms from Guttal Bus Stand, 39 Kms from
Lakshmeshwar, 39 Kms from Haveri Railway Station, 41 Kms from Haveri, 41 Kms
from Ranebennur and 95 Kms from Hubli Airport. The Temple is located at about
10 Kms from Halagi off the Ranebennur to Lakshmeshwar route.
No comments:
Post a Comment