Friday, 13 January 2017

Forgotten Ancient monuments of Bengaluru District–Part 1


Overview: Though Bengaluru may not feature in many heritage locations in India, the city and district has been witness to several kingdoms from the 2nd century AD, and some of the monuments can still be seen all across the city. Capturing these heritage monuments right from the Gangas (6th century) to the Hoysalas (12th century) in the first of the two parts.
1. Begur: The 9th century inscription found in Begur bears the name ‘Bengalooru’ which was not deciphered until the late 16th century. The Panchalingeshwara temple in Begur was built by the Cholas.
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2. Manne: The Gangas had their capital at Manne, which was earlier called Manyapura, not far from Nelamangala, from where they administered Bangalore. Several ruins of the Ganga dynasty temples can be seen at Manne today.
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3. Kodigehalli/Thindlu: An inscription was discovered in Kodigehalli which talks about Veera Ballala III ruling from Thiruvannamalai, in present Tamil Nadu. The ancient Veerabhadraswamy temple in Thindlu village centre is a testimony of its ancient past. The temple was built by the Cholas initially, now being renovated for the second time in the last 20 years.
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4. KR Puram: KR Puram had been a small hamlet on the way to Kolar, holding an interesting story. This village was a part of Ganga period and evidence can be found in the Hero Stones or Veeragallu found at KR Puram town.
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5. Gangavara: This is an ancient village on the banks of Dakshina Pinakini river around 15kms from Devanahalli, believed to have been ruled by the Gangas and Nolambas in the 8th century. The village’s Someshwara temple ws built by the Cholas, with the earliest inscription from this temple dating back to 10th century.
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6. Narayanaghatta: A small village near Chandapura, is an ancient village lost in the expansion of the city limits. The village is popular for the 6th century temple dedicated to Sree Varadaraja Perumal, now known as Sri Rama temple. The temple was renovated during Hoysalas in the 12th century.
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7. Aigandapura: Aigandapura was a celebrated agrahara during Cholas and is believed to be the place where the Pandavas spent some time during exile.
8. Domlur: Chokkanatha swamy temple in Domlur is one of the oldest temples in Bangalore, built in the 10th century. According to the inscriptions found in this temple, Domlur is referred to as ‘Tombalur’ talking about grants offered to the temple. The temple was initially built by the Cholas and later renovated by the Hoysalas and Vijayanagara rulers.
9. Kadugodi: The Kashi Vishwanatha temple at Kadugodi was built during Chola dynasty in the 11th century on the banks of Dakshina Pinakini.
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10. Madivala/Agara: Old Madiwala was the seat of the Chola kings and the Someshwara temples at Old Madiwala and Agara are few of their footprints. Inscriptions have been discovered at Someshwara temple in Old Madiwala, from the same period, talking about grants by a local ruler in Begur.
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11. Binnamangala/Nelamangala: Binnamangala village near Nelamangala has a very old Chola temple dedicated to Mukthinatheshwara, which has inscriptions dating back to Rajaraja Chola’s times. The front of the temple has inscriptions in Tamil dating to 1110 AD which mentions about Kulothunga Chola making donations to the temple.
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12. Huskur: The Madduramma temple at Huskur is believed to be built by the Cholas in the 11th century.
13. Haragadde: The inscriptions at Chennakeshava temple at Haragadde indicates that Hoysalas had their presence in South Bangalore.
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14. Doddanekundi/Marathahalli: Inscriptions from the time of Veera Ballala-II (1304) have been discovered in Doddanekundi village, mentioning the name Nerkundi and a granting revenue to Shivagange temple. A leisurely stroll down the streets of Marathahalli takes us to the old village which is centered on the old Someshwara temple, though renovated now.
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15. Shivagange: This is one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations around Bangalore. The area has been known since the Hoysalas, with several inscriptions mentioning about grants been made towards the temple.
16. Vibhutipura: An inscription belonging to Veera Ballala has been discovered in Veerabhadraswamy temple at Vibhutipura near HAL. It talks about building an agricultural land around the area which was called Vachidevarapura in those times.
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17. Bannerghatta: A 12th century Hoysala inscription can be seen at Champakadhama temple near Bannerghatta. This temple is believed to have been built during the rule of Tamilarasa in 1257.
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18. Doddaballapura: The 15th century Venkataramana temple has a huge compound with Hoysala carvings and also the compound walls are decorated in Islamic style, giving it a unique appearance.
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19. Kengeri: The history of Kengeri can be dated back to the Cholas, the Prasanna Someshwara temple was built by the Cholas in the 11th century.
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20. Hebbal: The ancient Ananda Lingeshwara temple on Anandagiri Hill built in the 13th century by the Cholas still stands strong in Hebbal.
21. Vasantapura: Around 5kms from Banashankari temple is the ancient village of Vasantapura. The village derives its name from the old temple of Vasantha Vallabharaya swamy.
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22. Kondrahalli: The Dharmeshwara temple at Kondrahalli is one of the few Chola temples built in 1065 AD. According to another legend, this was the place where the Yaksha Kanda of Mahabharata took place.
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23. Doddagubbi: Around 10 kms north of Banaswadi, Doddagubbi is host to another of Bangalore’s ancient Shiva temples of Cholan times. Inscriptions around this temple indicates the significance of having lakes around a village to maintain the needs of the community.
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24. Hulimavu/Bilekahalli: Hulimavu is known for the popular cave temple and the Someshwara temple built by the Cholas in the 11th century. Bilekahalli, just 2 kms north of Hulimavu is home to the 11th century Someshwara temple built by the Cholas. A part of the original structure is intact but is surrounded by a new set of walls.
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25. Gavipuram: There are several old structures and homes in the area, the most popular attraction is Gavi Gangadhareshwara temple. Dating back to the times of Cholas, this temple was renovated by Kempegowda in the 16th century.
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26. Halasuru: Halasuru Someshwara temple is the main attraction and is very popular across Bangalore. The temple itself dates back to Cholan times (10th century), and was later renovated by Vijayanagara kings and again during Kempegowda’s times. Recent excavations have surfaced an ancient pond around 1200 years old just next to the Someshwara temple.
27. Vagata: Vagata, a small village near Hosakote, was a celebrated Agrahara during the Cholas and was earlier known as Sri Yogapuri. Several inscriptions have been found in this village dating from 13th century to 16th century, most of them in Tamil.
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28. Muthkur: An ancient pilgrimage village during the Cholas with several temples, now left high and dry. The temples have been destroyed and many houses have sprung up at the site. Some traces of the ancient Muthkur can still be seen now.
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29. Hosakote: There are several ancient temples in Hosakote old fort area and Brahmin’s street like Hanuman temple, Kashi Vishveshwara temple, Raghavendraswamy temple and Nagareshwara temple. Most of these date back to the Cholas.
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30. Sondekoppa: Around 12 kms west of Nelamangala is the village of Sondekoppa, after which one of the gates of Kempegowda’s fort was named. The village has a Kashi Vishwanatha temple, which was built by the Cholas in the 9th century AD. Also next to this temple is another temple complex of Lakshmi, Ganapati and Shiva temple, with a huge tank in the middle.
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31. Chowdappanahalli: The Shiva temple at Chowdappanahalli near Gangavara is also from the time of the Gangas, which was further renovated by the Cholas in the 13th century.
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32. Nallur: The Tamarind Grove at Nallur in North Bangalore is perhaps the oldest grove in the country and the trees are believed to have been planted by the Cholas around 800 years ago. A few temples belonging to the Chola period can also be seen near the grove.
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33. Anekal: The Chennakeshava temple at Anekal dates back to the Hoysalas.
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34. Sorahunase: A tiny village near Varthur is known for the ancient Chola era Someshwara temple. which has been revered for centuries, now lying forgotten in a corner of an agricultural field.
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Most of these monuments date back to pre-Kempegowda Bengaluru, though I feel most of these temples/monuments are off the tourist list for many people.
The next of this series will feature some of the medieval monuments of Bengaluru, starting with the Vijayanagara and Kempegowda’s times to the post-Independence age.


  1. Wow, this is very comprehensive list.Good that you are documenting these lesser known places inside Bangalore.

  2. Amazed by the information in the post. Great!!

  3. A very interesting n comprehensive collation of the forgotten monuments from our own backyard. Thank you for taking me through familiar routes of the metro with unfamiliar landmarks.. Keep up the good work and posting more such informative articles!

  4. Nice painstaking effort. I think the Hebbal temple that you have mentioned on a hillock is Cholanayakanahalli, about 1.5 km from the present Hebbal bus stop, past Sumangali
    Sevashrama. Pls correct me if I am wrong. (manjunath36 at yahoo dot com

    1. Yes Manjunath. The Anandagiri hillock is very close to Cholanayakanahalli.

  5. This is fabulous work sir. Fantastic information. THis is a real treasure for bengaluru lovers. Thanks a lot

  6. Dating to Chola times is a favourite pass-time of the 20th Century people who wrote their impressions as Bangalore History. Remember that at that time Bangalore was a forest and had some small villages populated by locals. Even in 14th century, Ahuti (today Avati) was the capital of the region.
    Cholas were spread thin as they had to manage a territory up to Bihar. Also the Chola kings kept changing every few years and there was a constant turmoil during the century that they had control over southern Karnataka. Cholas were too preoccupied in admin and taxation to be able to contribute much to building Temples. For example Kulatunga Chola considered the greatest chola burnt the original Puri Jaganath Temple along with the city in Orissa as the people were unable to pay taxes.

  7. From Ancient times Bangalore was known as Morasu Nadu and the ethnic people here were called Morasus. The first 7 Ganga Kings were from Kolar and were Morasus dating to 1st to 4th century AD. Kempegowda was a Morasu chief himself.

  8. Morasus were the ethnic people of Bangalore since recorded history and continued to be in the 14th century as per Portuguese records and in as per British census of 19th century. Kempegowda was a Morasu Chief but before him and after him mostly also Morasu chiefs thru the centuries contributed to development of the region. Cholas, Maharatas, Mysore Kings etc were external conquerors whose interest was in collecting taxes.

  9. very nice and comprehensive list Arun.....great

  10. Hi Arun. I found this article very intresting and would like to make a travel documentary on it so that it attracts more travellers to see. So can you suggest how to take permission for video shooting of this location as we use some cinematography equipments like Steadicam, Sliders etc. so that the video comes in a cinematic look. So if you know anything about permission and other things then please share at or can whatsap at +919654690069