Several great empires and dynasties have ruled over Karnataka and many of them have contributed richly to the growth of Hinduism, its temple culture and social development.

These developments have reinforced the "Householder tradition", which is of disciplined domesticity, though the saints who propagated Hinduism in the state and in the country were themselves ascetics.

The Bhakti movement, of Hindu origin, is devoted to the worship of Shiva and Vishnu; it had a telling impact on the sociocultural ethos of Karnataka from the 12th century onwards.

The Vishishtadvaita philosopher Ramanuja, considered a saint in Sri Sampradaya, fled from persecution by the Shaiva Chola dynasty of Tamil Nadu, and stayed in Karnataka from 1098 to 1122.

He first lived in Tondanur and then shifted to Melukote where the Cheluvanarayana Swamy Temple and a well-organised math (religious centre)[2] were established.

[3] Hinduism is the largest religion in Karnataka, followed by Buddhism, Christianity, Jainism, Islam and Sikhism.

[5] In the 12th century, Lingayatism emerged in northern Karnataka as a protest against the rigidity of the prevailing social and caste system.

[3] Leading figures of the movement, such as Basava, Akka Mahadevi and Allama Prabhu, established the Anubhava Mantapa where Lingayatism was expounded.

[12][13] The basic tenet of this philosophy, propounded from the 12th century by the Virashaiva school or Virashaivism, was opposition to the caste system, rejection of the supremacy of the Brahmins, abhorrence to ritual sacrifice, and insistence on Bhakti and the worship of the one God, Shiva.

They abhorred caste system and were emphatic to practice the direct interaction with god and symbolically express it through wearing small linga around their neck signifying their faith.

The Shaiva Siddhanta, which included tantric practices also formed the base line for the Lingayat religion.

Sanskrit in South India as a basic language is evidenced in a stone pillar inscription dated between 455 and 470 AD in Talagunda in Shivamogga district of the state.

The inscription is in the language of Kadamba Kakusthavarma; the posthumous record is inscribed in Late southern Brahmi script during the reign of Santivarma (450 to 470 AD).

The earliest temple built was in 450AD which had a square mandapa (pavilion) and a tower (shikara) above the image of the main deity.

The unique features of this style comprise a central hall linked to three star shaped shrines, and the temple towers are laid in horizontal tiers.

He was given the name Vishnuvardhana by Ramanuja, one of the three eminent social reformers and religious heads of Hinduism who consecrated the Hoysaleswara Temple built in 1121.

Dedicated to Shiva, it has two sanctum sanctorums and the deities are in the form of lingas named Hoysaleshvara and Shantaleshvara, after the king and queen.

During the invasion by Bahmani Sultanate (Muslim rulers), Harihara was captured and was converted to Islam, thus becoming an outcast among Hindu religionists.

But he decided to establish his own kingdom and reconverted to Hinduism, an indication of religious tolerance that was prevalent during the medieval period; there was no opposition from the orthodoxy.