Galaganatha Temple

Galaganath is a small village located in Haveri District, Karnataka. The famous Galageshwar Shiva Temple is located here, and is near to the Tungabhadra River. The Temple was built during the rule of the Western Chalukyas during the 11th century. The inscription here informs about the prevalence of the tradition of dance and music. The temple is built on a plinth with three highly ornate mouldings depicting dwarfs in playful mood and chaitya-arch motifs.

The outer walls of the circumambulatory path have devakoshta pavilions at cardinal points. The temple has two round-shafted pillars with vases and foliage at their bases and capitals. The sculpture housed in this pavilion is that of Siva slaying Andhakasura. The eight-armed god wears a wreath of human skulls like a sacred thread and is depicted as piercing the demon with the trident. Windows on either side of this image are divided into square and triangular perforations by bars. Some interesting figures are carved in the box-like projections of the basement moulding to the east.  One of these boxes depicts the story of the mischievous monkey from the Panchatantra and the figure of a two-faced bird in another box seems to narrate yet another story from the same work.