Savadatti is one of the oldest towns in

Belagavi district Belagavi district, formerly also known as Belgaum district, is a district in the state of Karnataka, India. The district is known as the sugar bowl of Karnataka with hectares being used for commercial production. It has overtaken Mandya distri ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n state of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. It is a celebrated Hindu

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

centre located 78 kilometres from

Belagavi Belgaum (Kannada ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma'', ), officially known as Belagavi (also Belgaon), is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located near its northern western border in the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters ...

and 41 kilometres from

Dharwad Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the northwestern part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merged ...

. Savadatti is also the name of the

taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative ...

(sub-district), which was previously named Parasgad. There are several ancient temples in Savadatti.

History of Rashtrakuta kings

The historical name of the Savadatti was ''Sugandavarti'' "Sougandipura". It was the capital of the

Ratta dynasty Ratta was a minor dynasty who ruled over the Belagavi region of the Karnataka as a branch of Rashtrakutas. Savadatti (Saundatti), historically known as ''Sugandavarti'' was the capital of Ratta dynasty during 875-1250 CE period. Later their c ...

(from 875-1230), until the capital shifted to Belagavi. * During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, Belagavi was the capital of the Rattas, the chieftains of Savadatti. The fort at Belagavi was built by Bichiraja (Ratta Dynasty) in 1204. * The Ratta clan was one of several names of the

Rashtrakuta Dynasty The Rashtrakuta Empire was a royal Indian polity ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the 6th and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their rule from Manapu ...

. * Rattas of Savadatti accepted the overlordship of ''Taila II'' (AD 973-977). * Two of the pillars at Belagavi fort have

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

inscriptions in

Nagari script Nagari may refer to: Writing systems * Nāgarī script, a script used in India during the first millennium * Devanagari, a script used since the late first millennium and currently in widespread use for the languages of northern India * Nandina ...

, one inscription from around 1199 is attributed to the Ratta king Kartaveerya IV.

Rattas (Rashtrakutas)

* In one of the inscriptions related to Rattas of Savadatti it is mentioned that

Krishna III Krishna III (r. 939 – 967), whose Kannada name was Kannara, was the last great warrior and able Rashtrakuta Emperor. He was a shrewd administrator and skillful military campaigner. He waged many wars to restore the glory of the Rashtrakuta ...

having appointed ''Prithvirama'' as a chief feudatory had dignified the ''Ratta dynasty'' of Savadatti. * The Rattas of Savadatti, used to represent themselves as Lords of Lattaluru(present day

Latur Latur (ISO: ''Lātūra''; formerly Ratnapur) is a city located in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra state of India country. Before 1982 Latur was a part of the Osmanabad district (now Dharashiv). The city is a tourist hub surrounded by many ...

Inscriptions

* At Savadatti, Jain inscription slab written in Sanskrit and Kanarese (

) of ''Krishna''

Rashtrakuta The Rashtrakuta Empire was a royal Indian polity ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the 6th and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their rule from Manapu ...

, Shaka 797 (c. 875 AD), and ''

Vikramaditya Vikramaditya (Sanskrit: विक्रमादित्य IAST: ') was a legendary king as mentioned in ancient Indian literature, featuring in traditional stories including those in ''Baital Pachisi, Vetala Panchavimshati'' and ''Singhasan ...

'', Shaka 1017 (c. 1095 AD). * At Savadatti, in front of the

Western Chalukya The Western Chalukya Empire ( ) ruled most of the western Deccan, South India, between the 10th and 12th centuries. This Kannada dynasty is sometimes called the ''Kalyani Chalukya'' after its regal capital at Kalyani, today's Basavakalyan i ...

-style Ankeshwara temple, there is an inscription carved into the wall by the Ratta Chief Ankarasa.

Jainism

* The Rattas of Savadatti are Jains by religion. * In the 11th century Rattas of Savadatti and their provincial governors were great patrons of

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...

. Kartivirya's son, a Jain saint Munichandra, a minister to Laksmideva and a teacher, and has the title of Acarya, the founder of Ratta-rajya. * Savadatti has two small Jain

basadi A Jain temple, Derasar (Gujarati: દેરાસર) or Basadi (Kannada: ಬಸದಿ) is the place of worship for Jains, the followers of Jainism. Jain architecture is essentially restricted to temples and monasteries, and Jain buildings ge ...

s dating back to Ratta times.

Tourism

Savadatti fort

The 18th-century Savadatti fort was built by the ''Sirasangi Desai'' with 8 bastions. Savadatti fort has a ''Kadasiddheshwara temple'', surrounded by four

bastion A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...

s. Around the Kadasiddheshwara temple in the inner chajja of the prakara there is a row of carvings of geometrical patterns with over two hundred designs, some painted.

Renuka Saagara Reservoir

Renuka Sagara Renuka Sagara, also known as Malaprabha reservoir and Navilutheertha reservoir, is a dam and impounding reservoir constructed across the Malaprabha River in the Krishna River basin. It is situated at Navilatirtha village in Savadatti Taluk Tal ...

is a reservoir formed by damming the Malaprabha River adjacent to Savadatti. The dam is called ''Navilu Tirtha'', also the name of the adjacent village,

Navilatirtha Naviluteertha is a village in Savadatti taluk of Belagavi district, Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 ...

. The name Renuka Saagara is because of the Renuka (Yellamma) temple at Yellammagudda, Savadatti.

Savadatti Yallammana

The temple of the goddess Yellamma or Shree

Renuka Mahur Renuka, also known as Yellamma Devi, is a Hindu mother goddess venerated predominantly in the South Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra. She is regarded as the mother of Parashurama, the six ...

devi, is a pilgrimage site for Shakti devotees. Every day, hundreds of pilgrims visit the temple. The congregation is especially large, crossing the one million mark, on two auspicious days in the year - ''Banada Hunnime'' and ''Bharatha Hunnime''. The century-old temple of

Yellamma Mahur Renuka, also known as Yellamma Devi, is a Hindu mother goddess venerated predominantly in the South Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra. She is regarded as the mother of Parashurama, the six ...

is situated atop Yellammanagudda, amidst the picturesque Ramalinga Hills, about 5kmsfrom Savadatti. Between Savadatti and the temple is the magnificent fort of Paarusgad, dating back to the 10th century.

Naviluteertha

The Renuka Sagara, formed by the Naviluteertha Dam, touches the low-lying areas of Savadatti. There is a spot called Jogullabhaavi here, where there is a temple. Pilgrims take a holy dip here before visiting the Yellamma hill. This Samaadhi (grave) is in the Ramapura area of Savadatti.

Shirasangi Shri KalikaDevi Temple

Shirasangi a small village located approximately 25 kilometers from Savadati is famous for Shri Kalikadevi temple. The temple is known to be very ancient and is believed to be the place where Shringa maharishi worshiped Shri Kalikadevi. Shirasangi is also known for Shri Tyagveera Lingaraja Desai. Shri Lingaraj was one of the main donors to give land to K.L.E Society.

Savadatti Temples

The town has

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

s dedicated to Ankeshwara, Puradeshwara, Nagarkere Mallikarjuna, Veerabhadra, Ulvi Basavaeshwara, Mouneshwara, Dyamavva and

Venkateshwara Venkateswara (, ), also known as Venkatachalapati, Venkata, Balaji and Srinivasa, is a Hindu deity, described as a form or avatar of the god Vishnu. He is the presiding deity of Venkateswara Temple, Tirupati. His consorts, Padmavati and Bhud ...

, which is the largest.

Puradeshwara temple

The Puradeshwara temple in the later

Chalukya The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynas ...

style is a trikutachala with three ardhamantapas, a common navaranga and two mukhamantapas. Gurlhosur Chidambar temple is also an historical temple. All three

garbhagriha A ''garbhagriha'' () is the innermost sanctuary of Hindu and Jain temples, often referred to as the "holy of holies" or " sanctum sanctorum". The term ''garbhagriha'' (literally, "womb chamber") comes from the Sanskrit words ''garbha'' for ...

s with pierced windows have

shivalinga A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Upanishads and epic literature, wher ...

s. The

shikhara ''Shikhara'' (IAST: '), a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India, and also often used in Jain temples. A ''shikhara'' over the ''garbhagriha'' chamber ...

, now damaged, over the central garbhagriha is in Kadambanagara style and the navaranga

pillar A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

s are

lathe A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, threading and turning, with tools that are applied to the w ...

-turned. Inside the niches of the navaranga are images of

Parvati Parvati (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, pɑɾʋət̪iː/), also known as Uma (, , IPA: Sanskrit phonology, /ʊmɑː/) and Gauri (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, gə͡ʊɾiː/), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the Devi, ...

and

Veerabhadra Virabhadra (), also rendered Veerabhadra, Veerabathira, and Veerabathiran, is a fierce form of the Hindu god Shiva. He is created by the wrath of Shiva, when the deity hurls a lock of his matted hair upon the ground, upon hearing of the self- ...

. This temple has been renovated very crudely. On the day of

Ugadi () or (), also known as Samvatsarādi (), is the first day of the year on the Hindu calendar that is traditionally celebrated by the Telugu people and the Kannadigas in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Na ...

, the rising sun's rays fall directly on the main shivalinga. The outer walls have fine sculptures depicting

Hindu mythology Hindu mythology refers to the collection of myths associated with Hinduism, derived from various Hindu texts and traditions. These myths are found in sacred texts such as the Vedas, the Itihasas (the ''Mahabharata'' and the ''Ramayan ...

and there are inclined chajjas all round. The open mukhamantapa, a later addition, is also in the same style with massive pillars.

Ankeshwara temple

The Ankeshwara temple in ''Desaigalli'', built by Rattas in 1048 is in the

style and is below the ground level. There are steps descending to the mukhamantapa. In front of the temple, there is an inscription carved into the wall by the builder, Ratta Chief Ankarasa.

Gallery

Image:Saundatti Fort.JPG, Savadatti Fort Image:Savadatti_fort_4.JPG, Savadatti Fort Image:Savadatti_fort_3.JPG, Savadatti Fort

References

On can get more info, from the http://karnatakatravel.blogspot.com/ (which I do often). {{Authority control Culture of Karnataka Hindu temples in Belagavi district Tourism in Karnataka History of Karnataka Forts in Belagavi district Former capital cities in India