11th century Kasivisvesvara (Kashivishvanatha) Shiva temple at Lakkundi, South India

Kasivisvesvara temple, with the Sun
temple far right, Lakkundi,
Karnataka

In continuation to my earlier post on the beautiful ancient temples of Lakkundi, I am posting another beautiful temple from Lakkundi.

This 11th century temple in Lakkundi, Gadag, is dedicated to lord Shiva. This temple is also known as the Kashivishvanatha temple.

This is one of the most elaborate and beautiful temples of Karnataka. The interesting part of this temple is how it connects to another temple, the Surya temple. The Surya temple is known as Suryanarayana temple, and as the name suggests it is dedicated to the Sun God. The interesting thing to note is that usually the Sun temples face east but Suryanarayana temple faces west. I will post some pictures of the Surya temple in my next post.

Kasivisvesvara and Surya temples are connected

Beautiful doorway Kasivisvesvara Shiva temple

Elaborate work on the doorway of the temple

Simple and beautiful work

Carvings on the wall of the temple

Motifs and decoration on the wall of the Kasivisvesvara Shiva temple

Elaborate work on the temple

Shiva inside an elephant with an Asura at his feet