Kalleshwara Temple, Hire Hadagali

The Kalleshwara Temple is in Hire Hadagali, in the Hoovina Hadagali taluk of Vijayanagara district (earlier part of Bellary). It was built by Demarasa, chief minister to the Western Chalukya king Someshvara I, who reigned from 1042 to 1068. An old Kannada inscription of about 1057 calls it Bhimesvara-Demesvara; another, of about 1108, records its consecration by Udayaditya on Demarasa's orders; and a third, of about 1212, belongs to the reign of the Hoysala king Veera Ballala II. The Archaeological Survey of India protects it as a nationally important monument.

Built of soapstone, the temple has two shrines, each with a sanctum and vestibule, opening onto a shared four-pillared closed hall; only one shrine carries a tower, and that is a later rebuilding. The outer walls use projections, recesses and niches holding reliefs of Indra, Shiva, Parvati, Lakshmi and others. The vestibule doorway shows door guardians, Rati and Manmatha, with Gajalakshmi on the lintel. Outside, a Nandi pavilion has been turned into a shrine.