For people of the Lingayat faith, Kudalasangama is an important place of worship. It is situated in the bangalkot district of Karnataka state around 15 Km from Alamati Dam. The malaprabha and Krishna River become one here and flow towards Andhra Pradesh. The holy Samadhi of Basavana or AikyaMantapa, who is known as the founder of the Lingayat faith along with the self-born Linga is here. The maintenance and development of this place is in the hands of Kudalasangama Development Board.

Reference here should be made to the great social reformer and prophet, Lord Basava, who was born in a small village in Bijapur district, known as Bagewadi. Many people consider Basavanna as the incarnation of Nandi, who is the greatest devotee of Lord Shiva. He was a revolutionary and true visionary of his time, who established a new religion Lingayatism – which stands for the “Brave Followers of Shiva”.

History

In the temple, there is an inscription which dates back to 1213 A.D. which describes about the gift to God Acheshvara. There is another stone which dates back to 1160 A.D. which details about the granting of land to deities, Acheshvara and Kaleshvara. According to legends, Jathaveda Muni Sarangmath laid the foundation of an education center in 12th century. The first students at this center were Akkanagamma, Channabasavanna and Basaveshvara.

Basaveshvara’s boyhood was spent at this place and when he went back from Kalyana, he is considered to have merged with the God at this place. He composed some vachanas here which were dedicated to Sangamanatha – the presiding deity here.

Architecture

Kudalasangama is situated at around nineteen kilometers from Hungund. Near to this place are the renowned temple and the holy pilgrim center of Sangameshwara, at the confluence of Malaprabha and Krishna rivers, on the river bank. Earlier, this place was called Kappadisangam where Ishanaguru, the teacher of Basaveshwara lived.

The temple consists of the main shrine, navaranga and a porch. The idols of Ganapathi, Nandi, Neelama and Basaveshwara are placed in the Navaranga. Rich and detailed carved work is done on the door frame of the Garbhagriha, compromising of animal figures and floral designs. In the shrine is the famous Sangamanatha or Sangameshwara. In the middle of the river in front of the temple, there is a Shivalingam in a small stone mantapa. To protect it from submersion, a dry well has been created from lofty concrete cement.

Attraction for Tourists

The main attraction points for tourists in and around Kudalasangama are:

• The Aikya Linga of Basaveshwara
• The Sangamanatha temple built in Chalukya style
• A mini forest, Poojavana, with clear path between trees
• Basava Dharma Peetha or the Mahamane campus

How to Reach

Kudalasangameshwara temple is approximately 90 km by road from Bijapur and around 382 km from Hyderabad. People who are coming by air can land to the nearest airport which is at Bangalore, Hyderabad and Hubli. This is a popular place so it is well connected through train and bookings for bus and train travel can be made online.