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Mahakuta (Mahakoota) Kshetra

Another great place we visited was Mahakuta (Mahakoota) Kshetra, an ancient temple built by Chalukyas.




Mahakuta is a small town surrounded by hills and cool atmosphere, located 14 kms away from Badami, in Bagalkot District. Mahakuta is renowned for the Mahakuteshwara Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, built in Dravidian style. In the courtyard, there are 15 small temples with intricate sculptures. The temples, built by Chalukyan dynasty, are dated to the 6th or 7th century. Mahakuta was once a great center of shaiva cult. Now only in one temple poojas are performed.






Another beautiful attraction is a natural pond called Vishnu Pushkarni. There is a small shrine in the centre of the Vishnu Pushkarni tank and in it is a Shiva linga (universal symbol of Lord Shiva) called Panchamukha linga ("five faced linga"), one face for each direction and one on top. This pond is now used as a relaxing joint by the visitors.





This place is often called Dakshina Kasi because of its religious importance.
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Indrani said…
I remember visiting this place. Beautiful shots.
April 26, 2009 at 8:01 AM
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