Kuknur
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Kuknur Kukanooru |
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| town | |
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 Kuknur
 Kuknur
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| Coordinates: 15°29′23″N 75°59′38″E / 15.48972°N 75.99389°ECoordinates: 15°29′23″N 75°59′38″E / 15.48972°N 75.99389°E | |
| Country |
 India
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| State | Karnataka |
| District | Koppal |
| Population (2001) | |
| • Total | 15,718 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Kannada |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| PIN | 583232 |
| Telephone code | 08534 |
| Vehicle registration | KA 37 |
| Nearest city | Koppal |
| Lok Sabha constituency | Koppal |
| Vidhan Sabha constituency | Yelburga |
| Climate | Tropical (Köppen) |
| Website | www |
Kuknoor (also known as Kuknur, Kukkanur or Kukanoor) is a village in the Yelbarga taluk of the Koppal District. It is located about 40 km from Hospet and 7 km from Mahadeva Temple (Itagi), Kuknoor is renowned for its temples of the Rastrakutas and Chalukyas times, of these the Navalinga group of temples is famous.
Kuknoor town was an important place in the early and mediaeval days and is rich in antiquarian remains of the later Chalukya style of architecture and these buildings range from the 8th to the 13th century A.D. and illustrate the building tendencies of the age. The group of temples that represents the early Chalukya school is called Navalinga (Navalinga Temple). Two other important temples are those of Kalleshvara and Mallikarjuna.
As of 2001 India census, Kuknoor had a population of 15718 with 7978 males and 7740 females.
9th century old Kannada inscription of Rashtrakutas at Navalinga temple in Kuknoor, Karnataka.
There is a MahaMaya Temple in the middle of the town. The temple has great historical value & is mentioned in the Indian Epic Mahabharata. There are 3 deities in the GarbhaGudi. Two female deities:-Laxmi & Parvathi/MahaMaya.One male Deity:-Harihara.Harihara means Half-Shiva and Half-Vishnu. All the 3 idols are south facing, which is a rare thing, as most idols in temples face the north. South-facing deities are considered to be more powerful.
The reference to this temple in Mahabharata suggests it was built before 8-9th century BC. There are rumours that there is a hidden underground temple below the current existing temple. The underground temple was dedicated to the Indian Goddess Kali. This is the same Kali temple where King Chandrahasa comes to in the Mahabharata story. As per the priest of the temple, there was Narbali(Human Sacrifice) done in the ancient times in the Kali Temple Underneath. That would make it one of the oldest continuously worshipped Kali temple's(which has a tradition of NarBali(Human Sacrifice) in India. There was Digbandhana(Kind of virtual security fence to contain evil spirits) done around the ancient Kali Temple & the temple was buried underground. There were plans to unearth this Kali temple 25 years ago, but the plan was abandoned due to the insistence of the villagers as they were scared of unleashing the spirits buried there.
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Wikipedia