Kodandarama Temple

The Kodandarama Temple of the Belur country survives at Hiremagalur, near Chikkamagaluru in the Malnad hills, the old Hoysala heartland. Kodandarama means Rama bearing his bow, the kodanda, and the sanctum holds Rama with Sita on his right and Lakshmana on his left, posed as a wedding scene called Kalyana-rama; Hanuman shares their pedestal, though the scene precedes his first meeting with Rama.

Thought to be India's oldest continuously used Rama temple, it grew in stages: the sanctum and idol follow Ganga or Chola forms, the navaranga hall was added in the 1300s and the entrance hall in the 1500s.

Local tradition says Rama humbled Parashurama here, and Parashurama then asked to witness the wedding scene; the village was called Bhargavapuri, the town of Bhargava, where nine siddhas are said to have practised penance. A one-day temple yatra is held each February or March.