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Chitradurga,Karnataka,India

Places to Visit in Hiriyur

The town on the Vedavathi south-east of Chitradurga — the 1907 Vani Vilasa Sagara (Mari Kanive) dam in its gorge and the Teru Malleshwara temple with its wooden car.

Chitradurga districtGet directions →
Vani Vilasa Sagara (Mari Kanive Dam), Hiriyur
Practical guide

Plan Hiriyur

Who's going?Tailor Hiriyur to your trip
DistrictChitradurga
RoleDam-and-temple base
Places to visit2
What to expect

Highlights

  • Vani Vilasa Sagara (Mari Kanive Dam) — Karnataka’s oldest continuously operating dam, built by the Mysore Wodeyars across the Vedavathi (Hagari) river in 1907 and set in a gorge between hills, with terraced theme gardens, a rare Krishna Ficus tree and long reservoir views — on the Hiriyur–Hosadurga border.
  • Teru Malleshwara Temple, Hiriyur — A Dravidian Vijayanagara-era Shiva temple on the bank of the Vedavathi at Hiriyur, known for its ornate wooden temple car (teru) and its annual car festival — the heritage anchor of the town.
Getting there

How to visit

  • Nearest airport: Hubballi (HBX) ~200 km; Bengaluru (BLR) ~200 km; a small airport at Vidyanagar/Toranagallu (Ballari) ~130 km
  • Rail gateway: Chitradurga (CTA) on the Bengaluru–Hubballi line, with trains from Bengaluru, Davanagere, Hubballi and Hospet; Hiriyur and Challakere are also on the line
  • NH-48 (the Bengaluru–Pune highway) runs through Chitradurga; KSRTC hubs at Chitradurga, Hiriyur and Challakere with buses across Karnataka. A car or auto is best for Jogimatti, Nayakanahatti and Molakalmuru.

Distance by road

  • Davanagere107 km
  • Shivamogga147 km
  • Ballari148 km
  • Hassan156 km
  • Bengaluru160 km
  • Mysuru214 km

Road distances measured on real routed roads to Hiriyur itself, not to the district headquarters, on 24 August 2026. Driving time is deliberately not published: free-flow routing badly understates a Deccan single-carriageway highway, so allow more than the distance suggests.

Timing

Best time to visit Hiriyur

Weather in HiriyurSeasonal guide

Live forecast loads in your browser.

Today at Hiriyur
Sunrise6:12 am
Sunset6:34 pm
Golden hour best light5:34 pm–6:34 pm
Blue hour after sunset6:34 pm–6:59 pm
Sun sets toward compass bearingW · 278°
Moon tonight🌗 Last quarter · 49%

Sunset is in about 3 hours.

South-west monsoon. June to September is the south-west monsoon in Karnataka. Expect heavy showers, mostly in bursts rather than all day — carry rain cover, allow extra time for getting around, and note that ferries and open-air sites are the first things affected.

Sun and moon are calculated for this location and shown in IST. Photography windows are the hour around sunrise and sunset; the sunset bearing is degrees clockwise from true north. Moon phase is accurate to about half a day.

Nearby bases

Where to go from Hiriyur

Chitradurga, ChitradurgaFort-city base
Town / base

Chitradurga

The district capital below the great seven-walled hill fort — the Kallina Kote and Onake Obavva cleft, the Satavahana Chandravalli caves, the Adumalleshwara cave-spring, the Jogimatti forest heights and the Murugharajendra math with its sculpture garden.

Chitradurga FortOnake Obavva KindiChandravalliAdumalleshwara
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Nayakanahatti Thipperudra Swamy Temple, NayakanahattiFeatured: Nayakanahatti Thipperudra Swamy Temple
Town / base

Nayakanahatti

The pilgrimage town in Challakere taluk — the Thipperudra Swamy shrine and its great Phalguna fair around the sage’s samadhi.

Nayakanahatti Thipperudra Swamy Temple
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Temple-town base
Town / base

Holalkere

The taluk town west of Chitradurga — the open-air monolithic Bayalu Ganapati venerated across the region.

Bayalu Ganapati Temple, Holalkere
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Matha base
Town / base

Sirigere

The monastery town north-west of Chitradurga — the Taralabalu Jagadguru Brihanmath, a Lingayat centre of learning heading a wide network of schools and colleges.

Sirigere Taralabalu Brihanmath
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Edict-and-silk base
Town / base

Molakalmuru

The border town near Andhra Pradesh — the Ashokan rock edicts and megalithic graves of Brahmagiri and the handwoven Molakalmuru silk sarees.

Brahmagiri Ashokan Edicts & Megalithic SiteMolakalmuru
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In the district

Where Hiriyur sits in Chitradurga district

Nearest airportHubballi (HBX) ~200 km; Bengaluru (BLR) ~200 km; a small airport at Vidyanagar/Toranagallu (Ballari) ~130 km
Rail gatewayChitradurga (CTA) on the Bengaluru–Hubballi line, with trains from Bengaluru, Davanagere, Hubballi and Hospet; Hiriyur and Challakere are also on the line
Bus / road accessNH-48 (the Bengaluru–Pune highway) runs through Chitradurga; KSRTC hubs at Chitradurga, Hiriyur and Challakere with buses across Karnataka. A car or auto is best for Jogimatti, Nayakanahatti and Molakalmuru.
District HQChitradurga
LandscapeA fort-and-boulder district of the central Maidan plateau of Karnataka, on the granite country between the Tungabhadra and Vedavathi basins, carved smaller when Davanagere was split off in 1997

Chitradurga district is known for: The seven-walled Chitradurga hill fort and the Onake Obavva legend, the Chandravalli caves, the Adumalleshwara spring, the Jogimatti heights, the Vani Vilasa Sagara dam, the Nayakanahatti and Sirigere maths and the Ashokan edicts of Molakalmuru.

Chitradurga FortChandravalliVani Vilasa Sagara (Mari Kanive Dam)
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Places in Hiriyur

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Places to visit

The places themselves, around Hiriyur

The best tourist places to visit in Hiriyur — temples, viewpoints, lakes, heritage and nature, each with a full guide, how to reach it and what to see nearby.

Vani Vilasa Sagara (Mari Kanive Dam), Hiriyur
PlaceVani Vilasa Sagara (Mari Kanive Dam)

Karnataka’s oldest continuously operating dam, built by the Mysore Wodeyars across the Vedavathi (Hagari) river in 1907 and set in a gorge between hills, with terraced theme gardens, a rare Krishna Ficus tree and long reservoir views — on the Hiriyur–Hosadurga border.

Open guide →
Teru Malleshwara Temple, Hiriyur, Hiriyur
PlaceTeru Malleshwara Temple, Hiriyur

A Dravidian Vijayanagara-era Shiva temple on the bank of the Vedavathi at Hiriyur, known for its ornate wooden temple car (teru) and its annual car festival — the heritage anchor of the town.

Open guide →
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Vani Vilasa Sagara (Mari Kanive Dam), Hiriyur#1
Hiriyur · dam

Vani Vilasa Sagara (Mari Kanive Dam)

Karnataka’s oldest working dam (1907) in a gorge near Hiriyur — best after the monsoon; stay behind the railings and do not swim.

HiriyurdamChitradurga
Read before you go

Hiriyur guides, stories & itineraries

Stories & history of Hiriyur

Written about Hiriyur itself — its history, its legends and the arguments about them.

Nearby in Chitradurga

Wider reading from Chitradurga. The stories about Hiriyur itself are above.

More from Chitradurga

Wider guides to Chitradurga — its coast, its culture and the routes through it.

See all 12 Chitradurga guides & stories →

Map

Where things are in Hiriyur

FAQ

Hiriyur travel FAQs

What are the best places to visit in Hiriyur?

Top places to visit in Hiriyur include Vani Vilasa Sagara (Mari Kanive Dam), Teru Malleshwara Temple, Hiriyur — each has a full guide with how to reach it and what to see nearby on this page.

How do I reach Hiriyur?

The nearest airport to Hiriyur is Hubballi (HBX) ~200 km; Bengaluru (BLR) ~200 km; a small airport at Vidyanagar/Toranagallu (Ballari) ~130 km. The rail gateway is Chitradurga (CTA) on the Bengaluru–Hubballi line, with trains from Bengaluru, Davanagere, Hubballi and Hospet; Hiriyur and Challakere are also on the line. NH-48 (the Bengaluru–Pune highway) runs through Chitradurga; KSRTC hubs at Chitradurga, Hiriyur and Challakere with buses across Karnataka. A car or auto is best for Jogimatti, Nayakanahatti and Molakalmuru.

What is the best time to visit Hiriyur?

October to February is the coolest, most comfortable season to visit Hiriyur and the rest of Karnataka. March to May is hot on the plains, and the June–September southwest monsoon brings the main rains, heaviest along the coast and Western Ghats.

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