Agrahara Belaguli

Agrahara Belaguli is a village in Karnataka, India.[1][2] It is situated about 25 km northeast from Channarayapattana in Hassan district. It was a major town before the 14th-century during the Hoysala times. Early inscriptions here date from the 11th and 12th-century. Kesava Dannayaka – a general of king Vira Ballala, added several Hoysala temples dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu here in early 13th-century. He also constructed a water reservoir called Kesavasamudra. This historic water infrastructure is now to the west of the village. The village became an Agrahara who were believed to be following Shatkarmas (ADHYAYANA (Study), ADHYAAPANA (Teaching), YAJANA (Fire-Sacrifice), YAAJANA (Instructing Yajana), DAANA (Offerings/Donations), PRATIGRAHA (Receiving Daana)) in the second half of the 13th-century, renamed as Kesavapura. This town was destroyed after the 13th-century. Belaguli is now a small village, and most of the historic temples ruined. Of these, the Betteshvara temple – Kesavesvara temple in inscriptions survives in the most preserved form. This is a twin-temple, with two equal sanctums, one dedicated to Kesava-Vishnu and other to Isvara-Shiva. It has beautifully carved pillars and partly mutilated remains of Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Vedic deity relief panels.[3][4]

Agrahara Belaguli
Agrahara Belaguli, Belaguli
village
Hoysala-era Betteshvara temple
Hoysala-era Betteshvara temple
Agrahara Belaguli is located in Karnataka
Agrahara Belaguli
Agrahara Belaguli
Location in Karnataka, India
Agrahara Belaguli is located in India
Agrahara Belaguli
Agrahara Belaguli
Agrahara Belaguli (India)
Coordinates: 13°03′13.3″N 76°28′38.2″E
Country India
StateKarnataka
DistrictHassan
TalukasChannarayapatna
Government
 • BodyVillage Panchayat
Languages
 • OfficialKannada
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
573131
Telephone code08176
Nearest cityHassan, India
Lok Sabha constituencyShravanabelagola
Vidhan Sabha constituencyShravanabelagola
Civic agencyVillage Panchayat

Attractions
The floor plan of the Bettesvara twin temple at Agrahara Belguli

This village has a large Hoysala era twin temple, called Betteshvara temple. It is also called the Keshaveshwara temple in its inscriptions. In a poor state of maintenance, this soapstone carved historic temple integrates Shaivism and Vaishnavism themes. It has exquisitely carved statues of Saraswati, Durga Mahisasuramardini, Ganesha, Kesava, Vishnu avataras, and Nandi.[3][4]

The village also has other temples including:

  • Kattappa (Ganapati) temple
  • Honnadevi Devi temple
  • Someshwara temple (ruined Hoysala era)

The two big tanks Honnammanakere (formerly Lakshmi Samudra) and Naachkere (formerly KeshavaSamudra) situated at the either ends of the village also have historical importance. The annual cart festival for the Village deity Honnadevi takes place every year during the spring.

Occupation

The main occupation of the villagers is agriculture along with cattle rearing. Coconut farms are widely spread. The main crops grown here are Coconut, Ragi and Maize. Copra available here are of very high quality, since it lies in the Tiptur belt.

Notable Personalities

B.S.Jayaprakash renowned Kannada writer and Journalist hails from this village.

See also

References
  1. "Census of India : List of Villages Alphabetical Order > Karnataka". Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 18 December 2008. , Census Village code= 2675700
  2. "Yahoo! maps India :". Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 17 April 2009. A. Belaguli, Hassan, Karnataka
  3. Madhusudan A. Dhaky; Michael Meister (1996). Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture, Volume 1 Part 3 South India Text & Plates. American Institute of Indian Studies. p. 364. ISBN 978-81-86526-00-2.
  4. MH Krishna (1931), Annual Report of the Mysore Archaeological Department : 1929, Government of Mysore, pp. 8–12 (includes photos of the temple and historic artwork as seen in the 1920s)
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  • A. Belaguli as per Government of India Website
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