Mailar Mallanna Temple, Bidar

The Mailar Mallanna Temple stands in Mailar (Khanapur) village, 15 km out of Bidar along the road to Udgir. It is dedicated to Khandoba, also called Mailar Mallanna, a form of Shiva. Its legend tells of the demon brothers Malla and Mani, who won invincibility from Brahma and tormented the sages until Shiva took the form of Martanda Bhairava, rode out on Nandi at the head of the gods' army and killed them both. As he died, Malla repented, gave Khandoba his white horse and asked to be present in every Khandoba shrine.

Mailar was once a regional god of rural and pastoral communities, and texts suggest his standing grew in the Vijayanagara period. Today the temple draws great numbers of devotees each year from Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, and its chief priest comes from the Kuruba community. Sunday is the main day of worship, when goats, sheep and cows are traded nearby. A homa often precedes the Rudrabhishek, the ritual bathing of the linga.