Importance of the Place
Situated in this quiet & quaint village are five to six 11th century temples, of which two are a treasure trove of architecture. The aura of the temples are felt by visiting these temples. However due to neglect of these grand edifices over a period of time, people having a lineage to Nuggehalli came together more than 40yrs ago to form a society under the name Nuggehalli Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Seva Samithi for the upkeep of the temples & to ensure the day to day ‘pooja’s’ are performed to the almighty as per the ‘shastras’.
The historical temples of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha & Sadashiv at Nuggehalli belonging to 11th century Hoysala period architecture is a must visit place of tourist/cultural importance. The sculptures in the temple tease the mind with a beauty that would linger in one’s mind for ages. These wonderful temples come under the purview of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and they have classified these as the “Living Temple – Monument”, (which are very few in number) wherein the pooja to the Almighty is being performed uninterrupted from day one. This classification is given to about 50 odd temples in India. Karnataka is indeed fortunate to have quite a few of these temples which have a Great & Hoary past.
Geographical Position
Nuggehalli is a village & Hobli HQ in Hassan district of Karnataka. It is 16kms northeast of Channarayapatna & 16kms east of Hiresave on NH 47 & is very close to Sravanabelgola (28Kms). The deviation to both Nuggehalli & Sravanabelogola is from Hiresave & one could reach Nuggehalli from Bangalore within three hrs.
History of the Town
Nuggehalli used to be a flourishing town as seen in the inscription Ch.238. & an ancient place near which the Chola king is said to have constructed a temple of ‘Jayagondeshwara’ & to which the Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana gave some grants in 1121 A.D. A number of temples dedicated to ‘Vishnu & his incarnation’ were constructed during the reign of Hoysala King Vishnuvardhana. The Jain King came under the profound influence of the Srivaishnava saint Sri Ramanujacharya. (It was during this time an impetus to Hinduism over the then religion of Jainism – as signified by the sculptures & basadies of Sravanabelgola gained strength) & had several such temples constructed in his kingdom.