Sadasiva Temple, Nuggehalli

Karnataka , Hassan, Bengaluru

The Sadashiva Temple at Nuggehalli, a town on the Channarayapatna-Tiptur state highway, is a rare architecture built with a Bhumija style shrine that is more popular in Western India. Also known as the Hoysala Nagara style, there is an inevitable ultra modern look to the main ekakuta shrine that almost reminds you of some spaceship that has just landed. The remarkable nature of the shrine is in its symmetry, which is the hallmark of Hoysala architecture, irrespective of the style they have followed. Sri Sadashivaswamy Temple, an unique hybridization of the evolved Hoysala style and the diffused Yadava type of the Bhumija style was erected in 1249 AD.

Architecture

The temple architecture is a combination of Hoysala style - ekakuta (one superstructure and shrine) architecture with a nagara (north Indian) styled tower. The temple stellate on plan, the original structure consisted of a garbhagriha, a sukanasi and a navaranga with porches and a nandi-mandapa. The temple is built on a jagati (platform) and the building material used is Soapstone. It has a large "linga" in its sanctum and an equally large and extremely well carved Nandi in a closed hall with walls that have perforated stone windows. The temple has a life-size standing image of the goddess Parvati. The images of the navagraha facing each other is another unique feature to be noted. There are two images of Lord Ganesha, one outside the sanctum and the other at the entrance to the sanctum housing Goddess Parvati. A big hall and a lofty mahadvara in the Dravidian style have been added towards south, stylistically datable to the Vijayanagara period.

Picture courtesy : commons.wikimedia.org

Darsan Info

Temple timings : 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM

Darsan Dresscode

Clean and conservative clothing is preferred.

Famous Festival

Shiva ratri

Culture

The culture of this place is fascinating and captivating. The festivals, the events, the attractions, all reflect the culture of Hassan in one way or the other. Tourism has picked up in the last decade or so and the local people are generally quite friendly towards the tourists.