Gadag & the Chalukyan country
A district built in stone
A temple in Gadag stands inside one of the great stone-building traditions of India. That inheritance shapes how this place understands craft — and it shapes this website.
The inheritance
Stone, and what was done with it
Gadag district holds some of the finest surviving Western Chalukyan architecture in India. The Trikuteshwara complex in Gadag town is celebrated for its lathe-turned pillars and for the Saraswati shrine, whose pierced stone screens — jali — are among the most accomplished anywhere in Karnataka.
Eleven kilometres away, Lakkundi holds the remains of more than fifty temples and over a hundred stepwells. The Veeranarayana temple in Gadag is where the poet Kumaravyasa is said to have composed the Kannada Bharata.
This is the visual inheritance a temple in Gadag stands within. The lattice motif running through this website is drawn from Chalukyan jali, and the proportional rhythm of its sections follows Chalukyan pillar spacing — a deliberate choice, so that a temple website from Gadag looks like it comes from Gadag.
On this website
Where the pattern comes from
The lattice running quietly through every page of this site is drawn from Chalukyan jali — the pierced stone screens of the Saraswati shrine at Trikuteshwara, a few minutes from this temple.
It is used deliberately rather than decoratively. A temple website from Gadag should look as though it comes from Gadag, and not from a template that would serve any temple anywhere.
Worth seeing
Around the temple
If you have travelled a distance for darshan, the district around you is worth an extra day.
In Gadag
Trikuteshwara Temple
An 11th-century Western Chalukyan complex famous for its lathe-turned pillars and the Saraswati shrine, whose carved stone screens are among the finest in Karnataka. The architectural vocabulary of this site's own ornament is drawn from it.
In Gadag
Veeranarayana Temple
A Chalukyan-era Vishnu temple, later associated with the poet Kumaravyasa, who composed the Kannada Bharata here.
Approx. 11 km
Lakkundi
A remarkable village holding the remains of over fifty temples and more than a hundred stepwells, including the Kashivishvanatha temple. Easily half a day, and worth every minute.
Approx. 30 km
Kappatagudda
A hill range and biodiversity reserve known for medicinal plants and quiet walking.
Approx. 100 km
Hampi
The UNESCO World Heritage capital of Vijayanagara. A comfortable day trip from Gadag.