fort fort fort

Kopeshwar Temple

history

The present temple was built by Shilahara kings who were native to Karnataka. Apart from the legend, the name might have originated from the ancient name of the town, which was "Koppam". The town witnessed two major battles. The first one took place in 1058 CE between Chalukya king Ahavamalla and Chola king Rajendra. The Chola king Rajadhiraja was killed during the battle, and the coronation of the second king, Rajendra Chola took place right on the battlefield.


There are about a dozen inscriptions on the inside and outside of this temple, out of which only a couple of inscriptions are in good condition now. These inscriptions reveal the names of few kings and their officers. All these inscriptions except one are in Kannada language and script. The only Devanagari inscription in Sanskrit language is by Singhan-II and is located on the outer wall near South entrance of the temple.


MAP

Goto GMaps
+−
Leaflet | © OpenStreetMap contributors

LEGEND


It is believed that Daksha, who did not like his youngest daughter Sati marrying Lord Shiva, conducted a Yagna to which he did not invite the couple. Sati visited her father's house on Shiva's Nandi to confront her father. Dakhsa insulted her in front of the guests present at the Yagna. Unable to bear any further insults, Sati jumped in the fire of Yagna and immolated herself. When Lord Shiva came to know about it he was infuriated. He punished Daksha by severing his head.


Lord Vishnu pacified Shiva whereupon he restored Daksha's head but with a goat's head. The furious Shiva was brought to this place by Lord Vishnu to calm him down. Hence the temple got its unusual name as Kopeshwar (wrathful god). This explains why Lord Vishnu is in the temple in the form of a ling along with Shivling and Nandi is not seen in this temple as Sati rode on the Nandi while visiting her parents' home.


FEATURES


Karul Ghat & Bhuibawada Ghat

The Kopeshwara, an ancient & artistic temple situated on the bank of Krishna is a fine example of ancient sculpture.The ceiling is semi-circular with matchless engravings. Inside there is a statue of Vishnu( Dhopeshwar) and Shivling " Kopeshwar " facing north. This is the only Shiva temple in India with an idol of Vishnu.


it is open to the sky with a circular opening. Looking at the sky one gets mesmerised and gets a feeling of looking at the heavens, justifies the name Svarga Mandap. At the periphery of the Svarga Mandap we can see beautifully carved idols of Lord Ganesh, Karthikeya swami, Lord Kubera, Lord Yamraj, Lord Indra, etc. along with their carrier animals like peacock, mouse, elephant etc. So at one glance we can see the Tridev ' Brahma Mahesh Vishnu '. A stone pedestal mounted east of the temple's southern door has a carved inscription in Sanskrit, written in Devnagari script . It mentions that the temple was renovated in 1136 by Raj Singhadev of yadav dynasty.