Basavana Bagewadi

Basavana Bagewadi is a town in Vijayapura district revered by Lingayats as the birthplace of Basaveshwara, the 12th-century reformer whose teachings shaped the community. Followers regard him as an incarnation of Nandi, the bull of Shiva, and he is remembered for his Kannada poetry and his work for social reform. He spent his early years in this town.

The main shrine is the Basaveshwara Temple, also called the Jagadguru Temple, a Chalukyan-period building of sandstone and granite covering more than 2,000 square feet. It has a Basavanna figure bowing before a Shivalinga, marble statues of Basavanna and his wife, and smaller shrines to Nandi, Sangameshwara, Mallikarjuna and Ganapathi. A school, rooms for pilgrims and stone arches at the entrance complete the complex. Kudala Sangama and Almatti Dam are within reach.