List of North Karnataka historical sites

Just behind the archaeological museum, there is a long stairway that leads to the fortification on the top of the hill.

The Aihole was the first capital of the early Chalukyas and is a veritable treasure trove of ancient temples.

Belagavi earlier known as Venugrama (Bamboo Village) is one of the oldest, strong, prominent and well cultured historical place nestling high in the Western Ghats.

The old town area with cotton and silk weavers stands gloriously besides the modern, bustling, tree-lined British Cantonment.

The place has a fort inside which built by one Ratta Officer called Bichirajain 1204 A.D. exhibits the execution of a totally refined style of temple architecture.

It has excellently and artistically carved Kamala Basadi having huge protruding lotus petals of stone (Kamala) in its ceiling and this beautiful structure in Chalukya style houses Neminatha Teerthankara image.

The place came under the Sevunas (Yadavas) and Vijayanagara and later conquered by Mahamood Gawan in 1474 on behalf of the Bahamanis.

The fort was strengthened by the Adilshahis and there is an excellent structure, Safa Mosque with three entrances, has rich floral and impressive calligraphic designs.

Two of its pillars have Kannada Inscriptions in Nagari Scripts, one of 1199 of Ratta King Kartaveerya IV and another of 1261 is of Seuna (Yadava) Krishna.

It has spread round two rocky hills, and one of them called Balahari Betta has a temple.

A Government Medical College was founded here in 1961 Bellary now has grown as a great centre of apparel manufacturing.

During the rule of Ahmad Shah I (1422–1486 AD), Bidar was made the capital city of Bahmani Kingdom.

Bidar boasts of several religious centers: The famous Nanak Jheera – the largest Sikh temple at least in Karnataka, carries the tale that Guru Nanak – the first guru of the Sikhs visited this place and got rid of the scarcity of drinking water in the region.

A popular spot is the Sikh temple, Guru Nanak Jheera, where fresh crystal clear spring water appears from nowhere.

[1] Here, stone inscriptions have been found in Persian and Arabic which belonged to the bastion of the fort, referring to its construction in 1294.

Mentioned as Dharawada in a record of the 12th century of the Kalyani Chalukyas, the place came under the Seunas, Vijayanagara, Bijapur, Mughals, Marathas, and Haider and Tipu.

Now a part of Hubballi-Dharwad Corporation, Dharwad became the district headquarters when it came under the British from the Marathas in 1818, and grew to be a centre of learning due to the English School opened in 1848, high school opened by the Basel Mission in 1868 and the Training College was initiated in 1867 which became the centre of Kannada Movement.

is 43 km to the east of Bijapur and is a Taluk headquarters where Sharana Basaveshwara was born (12th Century).

A spot here identified as Basava's ancestral house is declared as protected zone by the Trust.

Gadag-Betgeri (Kaldugu is the old name for Gadag and Battakere ("Round Tank") for Betgeri) is a twin city, It is a centre of Kalyani Chalukyas art with the large Trikuteshwara temple, originally Rashtrakuta, later expanded by the Kalyani Chalukyas into a vast complex, and it has Trikuteshwara temple complex triple shrines once housing Shiva, Brahma and Surya.

The great Kannada poet Kumaravyasa composed his famous "Karnataka Bharatha Kathamanjari" when staying in this temple.

The Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwara temple is situated at Venkatapura Taluk near Sortur, Gadag District.

Temple was renovated by Brahmananda Swami, a devotee of Gondavalekar Maharaj a sage from Gondavale, in Satara District of Maharashtra in the beginning of the 20th century.

The Mahadeva temple at Itagi (Ittagi) is about 7 km from Kuknur in Yalburga Taluka in the Koppal District.

A typical village is created where men and women are involved in their daily household activities.

It represents traditional farming, crafts, folklore, cattle herding and sheep rearing.

Lakkundi[1] was a place of prominence during the ninth and 14th centuries and it came under the rule of kings Chalukya, Yadava and Hoysala.

It was the capital of Hoysala king Ballala II (Veeraballala) in 1192 A.D. Lakkundi (Known as Lokkigundi) is situated at 12 km from Gadag, was once famous for its rich cultural heritage.

In these inscriptions Lokkigundi has been compared to Amaravati, the capital of Lord Indra in terms of wealth.

Dodda Basappa Temple at Dambal, a unique 24-pointed, uninterrupted stellate (star-shaped), 7-tiered dravida plan, 12th century CE.