Doddabasappa Temple, Dambal

The Doddabasappa temple at Dambal is a Western Chalukya Shiva temple of about 1124 CE, unusual for its rare 24-point stellate (star) plan.

Doddabasappa Temple, Dambal, Dambal
Practical guide

Plan Doddabasappa Temple, Dambal

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Before you go to Doddabasappa Temple, Dambal

Check entry arrangements. Ask temple staff about visitor entry, dress requirements and access to the inner shrine before you travel, especially if you are visiting as a non-Hindu.

Dress respectfully and follow the institution’s admission and photography rules.

Typetemple
Nearest baseDambal
DistrictGadag
Best timeOctober to February
Time needed45 minutes to an hour
EntryFree

The polygonal, many-angled vimana is wrapped in bands of carving and fronted by the large Nandi ("dodda basava") that gives the temple its name.

What to expect

Highlights

  • The 24-point star-shaped vimana.
  • The concentric bands of carving.
  • The big Nandi (dodda basava) in front.
Getting there

How to visit

  • At Dambal in Mundargi taluk, about 24 km from Gadag; reached by road, a car is easiest.
  • Remove footwear at the sanctum and do not touch the carved plinth.

Distance by road

  • Hubballi55 km
  • Koppal55 km
  • Bagalkot95 km
  • Hosapete90 km
  • Bengaluru420 km

Road km to Gadag; ghat roads and traffic vary — allow extra.

Timing

Best time

October to February; morning light picks out the star plan.

Weather in Doddabasappa Temple, DambalSeasonal guide

Live forecast loads in your browser.

Today at Doddabasappa Temple, Dambal
Sunrise6:19 am
Sunset6:04 pm
Golden hour best light5:04 pm–6:04 pm
Blue hour after sunset6:04 pm–6:29 pm
Sun sets toward compass bearingW · 260°
Moon tonight🌔 Waxing gibbous · 58%

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.

Visitor notes

  • A protected monument in a quiet village — plan transport ahead.
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Before you go

Doddabasappa Temple, Dambal — at a glance

TimingsTemple hours
Best timeOctober to February; morning light on the star plan

Entry: Free

Getting here

How to reach Doddabasappa Temple, Dambal

At Dambal in Mundargi taluk, ~24 km from Gadag; by road, a car is best

Getting back

If you are travelling by bus or ferry, check the return service with the operator before setting out. Leave time to reach the stop or jetty after your visit.

Ask at the bus stand for the time of the last service back, not the next one. If you miss it, an auto or app cab is the fallback — agree the fare before you get in.

Getting around Doddabasappa Temple, Dambal

If you need step-free access, contact the site before travelling. Ask about a level entrance, steps along the route, the nearest drop-off point, seating and accessible toilets.

If you need help at Doddabasappa Temple, Dambal
112All emergencies (police · fire · medical)The single number to call in any emergency (ERSS).

Emergency numbers are verified against official government and state tourism sources. 112 works anywhere in India.

Nearby

What’s near Doddabasappa Temple, Dambal

templeKasivisvesvara Temple, Lakkundi

The marquee of Lakkundi (c. 1087 CE) — a twin temple whose Shiva and Surya sanctums face each other across a shared mandapa, its walls a lacework of Kalyani-Chalukya carving blending Dravida and Nagara styles.

11.2 km · ~19 min by cab · straight line
templeNanneshwara Temple, Lakkundi

A compact Chalukya Shiva temple at Lakkundi, considered a stylistic forerunner to the grander Kasivisvesvara that stands close by — finely proportioned and richly moulded.

11.2 km · ~19 min by cab · straight line
museumLakkundi Archaeological Museum

An ASI gallery in Lakkundi displaying sculptures, hero-stones and inscriptions recovered from the town’s scores of Chalukya temples and stepwells — a useful key to the whole heritage cluster.

11.3 km · ~19 min by cab · straight line
heritageBrahma Jinalaya, Lakkundi

The oldest and largest temple at Lakkundi, an early-11th-century Jain basadi dedicated to Mahavira and built by the poet-patron Attimabbe — a landmark of the Chalukyan "city of 101 temples and 101 wells".

11.5 km · ~19 min by cab · straight line
templeManikeshwara Temple, Lakkundi

A Chalukya Shiva temple at Lakkundi paired with the ornate Musukina Bhavi stepwell, one of the finely carved kalyanis for which the old capital is famed, with niched shrines around the water.

11.5 km · ~19 min by cab · straight line
wildlifeKappatagudda Wildlife Sanctuary

A range of dry-deciduous hills spanning the Gadag, Mundargi and Shirahatti taluks — notified as a sanctuary in 2019, rich in medicinal herbs, wolves, hyenas and blackbuck, with the Nandiveri math at its foot.

15.3 km · ~26 min by cab · straight line
templeTrikuteshwara Temple, Gadag

A Kalyani-Chalukya Shaiva complex in Gadag town enshrining a three-linga (trikuta) pedestal, famous for its adjoining Saraswati shrine with intricately lathe-turned stone pillars — a masterwork of 12th-century Deccan carving.

20.7 km · ~34 min by cab · straight line
templeVeeranarayana Temple, Gadag

An early-12th-century Vishnu temple in Gadag town, linked to the Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana, where the 15th-century poet Kumaravyasa is said to have composed his Kannada Mahabharata (the Karnata Bharata Katha Manjari).

21.2 km · ~35 min by cab · straight line
wildlifeBinkadakatti Zoo

A small state zoo and deer park at Binkadakatti on the edge of Gadag, opened in 1972 in a dry-scrub reserve — spotted deer, blackbuck, birds and a green picnic stop for families.

22.6 km · ~38 min by cab · straight line
wildlifeMagadi Bird Sanctuary

A wetland tank near Magadi in Shirahatti taluk that draws thousands of migratory bar-headed geese and 130-plus bird species each winter — a Conservation Reserve and a Ramsar site of international importance.

29.4 km · ~49 min by cab · straight line
templeSomeshwara Temple, Lakshmeshwar

An 11th-century Chalukya Shiva temple in the walled compound of Lakshmeshwar (ancient Puligere), carrying scores of old Kannada inscriptions — a major centre of the Chalukyan temple country.

37.5 km · ~62 min by cab · straight line
heritageShankha Basadi, Lakshmeshwar

The Sankha Jinalaya at Lakshmeshwar, an 8th-century Jain basadi to Neminatha (whose emblem is the conch, shankha), built under the Chalukya queen Kumkuma Mahadevi and holding a monolithic Sahasrakuta pillar of a thousand Tirthankaras.

38.3 km · ~64 min by cab · straight line
On the map

Where Doddabasappa Temple, Dambal is

Good to know

Doddabasappa Temple, Dambal — frequently asked

When is the best time to visit Doddabasappa Temple, Dambal?

October to February; morning light picks out the star plan.

What are the entry fee and timings at Doddabasappa Temple, Dambal?

Entry: Free. Timings: Temple hours.

How do I reach Doddabasappa Temple, Dambal?

At Dambal in Mundargi taluk, about 24 km from Gadag; reached by road, a car is easiest. Remove footwear at the sanctum and do not touch the carved plinth.

How much time do I need for Doddabasappa Temple, Dambal?

45 minutes to an hour.

What else is near Doddabasappa Temple, Dambal?

Nearby you can pair Kasivisvesvara Temple, Lakkundi (11.2 km), Nanneshwara Temple, Lakkundi (11.2 km), Lakkundi Archaeological Museum (11.3 km), Brahma Jinalaya, Lakkundi (11.5 km).

Image credits

Photographs: P. Madhusudan, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0), Siddharth Pujari (CC BY-SA 3.0), Ganesh.Subramaniam85 (CC BY-SA 4.0), Original uploader was Dineshkannambadi at en.wikipedia Later version (CC BY-SA 3.0). Wikimedia Commons.