Ikkeri

Ancient temples from the post-medieval times, built by the Nayaka’s of Keladi or Keladi kings, these are remnants of the Keladi Nayaka dynasty. The Keladi kings were initially part of the Vijayanaga Empire but with the fall of the Vijayanagara empire in the 1500s, they declared independence and ruled parts of the western ghats in Karnataka for some years only until their defeat to Hyder Ali in the 1700s. Their kingdom was later absorbed by the Mysore kingdom. The entire Sharavathy valley is littered with ancient remnants from the Keladi times. One of the most magnificent of them is the Aghoresvara Temple located near about 3 km from Sagara town at Ikkeri The keladi kings built fine temples and forts. Most of the architecture was a combination of late Kadama, Hysala, Vijayanagar and Dravida styles.

The Agoreshwara Temple in Ikkeri has a large compound. Built with laterite material which is plentiful in the area, the, temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. A huge Nandi located in the front of the temple dominates the surroundings. Beautiful, very well sculpted; around it are fine stone carvings which demonstrate the fine workmanship during this period. This temple was however ransacked by the army of Sultans of Bijapur when they raided the kingdom.