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Chitradurga,Karnataka,India

Places to Visit in Molakalmuru

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

Chitradurga districtGet directions →
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Molakalmuru
Place
Practical guide

Plan Molakalmuru

Who's going?Tailor Molakalmuru to your trip
DistrictChitradurga
RoleEdict-and-silk base
Places to visit2
What to expect

Highlights

  • Brahmagiri Ashokan Edicts & Megalithic Site — At the base of Brahmagiri hill near Molakalmuru stand 3rd-century-BCE minor rock edicts of Ashoka (naming the provincial capital Isila) alongside Neolithic–megalithic cist graves — the "Brahmagiri culture" type-site excavated by Mortimer Wheeler, one of Karnataka’s most important archaeological landscapes. (Distinct from the Western-Ghats Brahmagiri peak in Kodagu.)
  • Molakalmuru — The border town of Molakalmuru near the Andhra Pradesh line, famous for its handwoven Molakalmuru silk sarees — a distinctive pure-silk weaving tradition of intricate zari borders — and for the temple fairs of the surrounding taluk.
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

  • Ballari59 km
  • Davanagere148 km
  • Shivamogga191 km
  • Hubballi239 km
  • Hassan256 km
  • Bengaluru260 km

Road distances measured on real routed roads to Molakalmuru 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 Molakalmuru

Weather in MolakalmuruSeasonal guide

Live forecast loads in your browser.

Today at Molakalmuru
Sunrise6:11 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 Molakalmuru

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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Vani Vilasa Sagara (Mari Kanive Dam), HiriyurFeatured: Vani Vilasa Sagara (Mari Kanive Dam)
Town / base

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.

Vani Vilasa Sagara (Mari Kanive Dam)Teru Malleshwara Temple, Hiriyur
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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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In the district

Where Molakalmuru 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 Molakalmuru

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Places to visit

The places themselves, around Molakalmuru

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

PlaceBrahmagiri Ashokan Edicts & Megalithic Site

At the base of Brahmagiri hill near Molakalmuru stand 3rd-century-BCE minor rock edicts of Ashoka (naming the provincial capital Isila) alongside Neolithic–megalithic cist graves — the "Brahmagiri culture" type-site excavated by Mortimer Wheeler, one of Karnataka’s most important archaeological landscapes. (Distinct from the Western-Ghats Brahmagiri peak in Kodagu.)

Open guide →
PlaceMolakalmuru

The border town of Molakalmuru near the Andhra Pradesh line, famous for its handwoven Molakalmuru silk sarees — a distinctive pure-silk weaving tradition of intricate zari borders — and for the temple fairs of the surrounding taluk.

Open guide →
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Top Molakalmuru experiences

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Brahmagiri Ashokan Edicts & Megalithic Site
Place
#1
Molakalmuru · heritage

Brahmagiri Ashokan Edicts & Megalithic Site

The 3rd-century-BCE Ashokan edicts and megaliths near Molakalmuru — pair with the silk town; do not touch or chalk the inscriptions.

MolakalmuruheritageChitradurga
Read before you go

Molakalmuru guides, stories & itineraries

We have not published a story about Molakalmuru itself yet. These cover Chitradurga, the district it sits in, and travel in Karnataka generally.

Nearby in Chitradurga

We have not published a story about a place in Molakalmuru itself yet. These are the nearest things we have written.

More from Chitradurga

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

See all 12 Chitradurga guides & stories →

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Where things are in Molakalmuru

FAQ

Molakalmuru travel FAQs

What are the best places to visit in Molakalmuru?

Top places to visit in Molakalmuru include Brahmagiri Ashokan Edicts & Megalithic Site, Molakalmuru — each has a full guide with how to reach it and what to see nearby on this page.

How do I reach Molakalmuru?

The nearest airport to Molakalmuru 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 Molakalmuru?

October to February is the coolest, most comfortable season to visit Molakalmuru 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.