JOIN USLying incognito, away from the patronage of worshippers and tourists, Lakkundi village is a heritage site with exquisite specimens of temple architecture. Situated about 11 km away from Gadag city, this nondescript village has more than 50 ancient temples, a few stepwells and many inscriptions on stone slabs.
Lakkundi, earlier known as Lokki-gundi, was a main city during the reign of Kalyani Chalukyas. Most of the temples found here were built by them. Later, the Hoysalas made it their capital. The ruins of the temples indicate that this locale was the core area of Chalukyan architectural activity during the 11th and 12th centuries. Jain influence is also seen here as evidenced by a beautiful jinalaya.
The jinalaya is built like a Hindu temple with garbhagriha, nava-ranga, mukha mantapa and a 28-pillared open mantapa. These pillars are exquisitely crafted. Just above the entrance to the garbhagriha, there is a carving of Gaja Lakshmi and Mahavira. The square garbhagriha has a small idol of Neminatha Thirthankara placed on a pedestal, with Yakshi Padmavati on his left and Yaksha on his right. Inside the nava-ranga, on either side of the antarala doorway, are placed statuettes of Padmavati and Brahma. A three-storied shikhara is built on top of the garbhagriha, with decorative motifs all around. A museum has been set up near the jinalaya, where many exquisitely crafted but broken idols are displayed.
A little distance from the jinalaya, the Kashi Vishweshwara shrine is located. This is actually a twin temple joined by a mantapa without roof. The larger temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva, facing east and the smaller one is dedicated to Surya, facing west. The linga inside the garbhagriha of the main shrine is intact, but the Surya idol is missing. There is a curved image of Surya with his chariot above the garbhagriha.
The Kashi Vishweshwara Temple is built in Kalyani Chalukya style of architecture, full of elaborate and intricate designs. The ornate doorways are true masterpieces of art with beautiful rock-cut perforated sections. The statuettes of Saptamatrikas and Ganesha are found on either sides of the doorway. Over the lintel of the entrance to the garbhagriha, there are statuettes of Lord Shiva and Parvati in the middle, flanked by Brahma and Vishnu.
The external walls of this shrine have many ornate carvings with themes drawn from mythology. Sadly, most of these have been subjected to mutilation.
Behind the Shiva shrine, across the road, the Nanneshwara Temple has been built on a raised platform. This has a small multi-pillared mantapa, antarala and garbhagriha. Another temple nearby, the Neelakanta Temple, is almost in ruins now.
The next noteworthy shrine is the Manikeshwara Temple, located near the bus stand. This is a fairly large temple complex, and almost intact now after restoration work by the Archaeological Survey of India. A small mantapa stands in front, having four pillars, and the Shiva Linga is installed in the garbhagriha. A beautiful stepwell called Muskin Bhavi can be seen near the temple.
A visit to this heritage village takes you back in time and makes you wonder at the architectural skills of the master craftsmen of old days.