 It housed a sandalwood statue of Shardamba in a standing posture, which was installed by Adi Shankarachaya until the Vijayanagara rulers and Sri Vidyaranya (12th Jagadguru) installed a seated gold statue of Sri Shardamba in the 14th century.Sankara is believed to have envisioned this place as the holiest where a snake hooded as an umbrella to protect a pregnant frog from hot Sun during its labour.To commemorate this incident, a sculpture known as KAPPE SHANKARA is there on the footsteps to the river Tunga.