Agrahara Belaguli

Agrahara Belaguli is a village in Karnataka, India. 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.