Ikkeri

Ikkeri was a capital of the Keladi Nayakas in the forested Malnad country. Its name means “two streets” in Kannada, but the place once governed a kingdom reaching from the interior hills toward the western coast. The great Aghoreshvara temple, dedicated to Shiva, preserves the craftsmanship of its rulers. Within its enclosure stand the main shrine, a pavilion for Nandi and a separate temple to Parvati.

The Nayakas, originally subordinate to Vijayanagara, made Ikkeri their capital in the sixteenth century. Their court remained here into the seventeenth century, when the capital moved to Bednur. The Aghoreshvara temple combines a large pillared hall with finely worked stone architecture, a lasting monument to the dynasty’s patronage. The Keladi kingdom survived the disintegration of Vijayanagara until Haidar Ali conquered it in 1763.