Talagunda

Talagunda
village
Pranaveshwara Temple (4th century) at Talagunda
Talagunda Location in Karnataka, India
Coordinates: 14°25′N 75°16′E / 14.42°N 75.26°E / 14.42; 75.26Coordinates: 14°25′N 75°16′E / 14.42°N 75.26°E / 14.42; 75.26
Country	India
State	Karnataka
District	Shimoga District
Languages
• Official	Kannada
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	577 450
Telephone code	08187
Vehicle registration	KA-14

Talagunda is a village in the Shikaripura taluk of Shimoga district in the state of Karnataka, India. Many inscriptions found here have provided insights into the rise of the Kadamba Dynasty.

Talagunda was earlier known as Sthanagundur and it was an agrahara (a place of learning). This is the earliest known agrahara found in Karnataka. An inscription found at Talagunda indicates that 32 Brahmins were relocated from a place called Ahichchhatra to Sthanagundur by Mukanna (or Trinetra), thereby creating an agrahara. Mukanna was an ancestor of Mayurasharma, the founder of the Kadamba Dynasty. The extensive remains of Ahichhatra, the Capital town of Northern Panchala have been discovered near Ramnagar village of Aonla Tehsil in the district of Bareilly in the state of Uttara Pradesh. The word Ahi means snake or Naga in Sanskrit. Nagas were a group of ancient people who worshiped serpents. The word khsetra means region in Sanskrit. This implies that Ahi-kshetra was a region of Nagas. This could mean that the region was populated originally by Nagas, Nairs, Bunts of Kerala and Tulu Nadu who claim Kshatriya descent from the nagas as well as Namputhiri of Kerala, Havyaka Brahmins of North Canara and Tuluva Brahmins of Mangalore and Udupi, Hindu philosophers Adi Shankara and Madhvacharya belonging to these communities) trace their origins to this place.