Sri Hidambeswara Gudi - Hindu temple in Chitradurga - Chitradurga, India

Ancient temple said to be built around 8 CE, later additions were made during different periods. A must visit for every Hindu.

So nice architecture on the top of the hill ...view from here is so amazing. Entire city can be viewed from here .temple also so beautiful. Beware of the monkeys .steps to this temple is slippery. Yet manageable. Inside this temple also beautiful architecture we can see. Doors stairs piller are stunning.

A very beautiful temple on the top of the rock in the Chitradurga fort. A big piece of bone has been kept in the temple and is shown as the tooth of the demon Hidambasura, and a cylinder of iron plates, six feet high and ten feet in circumference, as the bheri or kettle-drum of Bhima. A figure of Hidambasura is sculptured on the Vimana. In the Siddheshwara Temple also is kept a piece of bone much larger than that kept in the Hidimbeshvara temple, which also is believed to be as the tooth of Hidambasura. In Mahabharat after the Lakshagrah event Pandavs were hiding and they came to South India and visited Karnatka. Here Bhima Killed Hidmbasura and married Hidimbi (his sister) who was the mother of Ghatochkacha. The temple in Chandravalli caves was also established by them and they stayed there for sometime. After the marriage they left Bihma with Hidmbi and went to south. If you go little south there is a place called Kunti Beta near Mysore (good hiking place) where they stayed for a while and where Bheam Killed Bakasur, all this story is in the Mahabharat serial. Karnataka had a very important place in both Ramayana and Mahabharat history.

The temple is situated inside the chitradurga fort . This is open only 3 times a year and those are during bheema jayanthi and rest of the time we can just see the outside beauty of the temple. Hidambeswara is none other than ghatodhgaja , son of bheema .. The story goes lik this ,, it's love story between the demon hadimba and bheema. Elder brother of hadimba was angry about that , and challenges to defeat bheema ,but bheema smashes his mace (gadha) and hadimba's brother collapses , and he accepts the defeat and while he was in the death bed ,he asks bheema to name their kid as hidambeswara if boy or hidambeswari if girl child . However bheema keeps his son name as Ghatodhgaja.

We visited this monument in February 2018. This temple is located on top of a hill inside the Chitradurga Fort itself. It is one of the 18 temples inside the fort so there is no separate entry fee. According to a story in the epic Mahabharata, a man eating demon named Hidimba and his sister Hidimbi lived on this hill. Hidimba would terrorise the people around while Hidimbi was peace loving. When the Pandavas were passing from here in the course of their exile, with their mother Kunti, Bhima fought and killed Hidimba. Bhima then married Hidimbi, and they had a son named Ghatotkacha, who had magical powers. According to legend the boulders that we saw lying around the hill was part of the arsenal used in the battle. We had to climb up some steps to reach the top of the hill. The temple is built in stone but not used for worship any more. It is surrounded by a protective railing and you can get a good view of surroundings from the top. The city of Chitradurga can be seen in the valley below, and we enjoyed the stiff breeze blowing across the hilltop.

You will get clear view of the lower portion of the temple. Hidambeswara temple shows the tooth of hidamba . Its a believe that Hidimba and his sister Hidimbi, a giantess, used to live in this temple.

Of the eighteen temples in the fort, this is the most prominent temple. It is associated with an incident in the Mahabharata. A Rakshasa named Hidimba lived here, terrorizing the people by killing them and eating their flesh. Bhima, the second of the Pandava brothers, and the strongest of them all, killed Hidimba in a duel, and married his sister Hidimbi. Ghatotkaja was their son. The rocks around the town are said to have been part of the arsenal that Bhima and Hidimba used against each other. The Hidimbeshwara temple displays a tooth of the Rakshasa Hidimba. There is a huge drum here that is said to have belonged to Bhima.

Every stone here tells a story and glory !! You can get top view of fort court yard and city view from here