Arsikere
Arsikere is a town and taluk in the Hassan district in the state of Karnataka, India. This region is known for its coconut production and second largest coconut market in Karnataka after tiptur along with Malekallu Tirupathi hill. Arsikere is the taluk headquarters, a major railway junction on the South Western Railway which links Mangalore and Mysore to North Karnataka and a central place for tourists who visit nearby places that do not have rail access, such as Belur, Halebidu and Shravanabelagola.
History
The name Arasikere originates from one of the princesses of the Hoysala Dynasty, who built a lake near the town. Arasi means queen in Kannada. Therefore, it is 'Arasiya+kere' which means "queen's pond". Arasikere was also called Udbhava Sarvajna Vijaya and Ballalapura at various times.Under the rulers of Vijayanagara, it was under the administrative control of Jagadevaraya of Channaptna and later placed under Thimmappa Nayaka of Tarikere. It was finally under the rule of Shivappa Nayaka of Ikkeri and was acquired from Ikkeri rulers by the Mysore Wodeyars in 1690.
Under the rule of the Wodeyars of Mysore, the area suffered from the raids of the Marathas, and was subsequently turned over to the Marathas by the Wodeyars as security for the payment of tribute.
Geography
Arsikere is located at. It has an average elevation of.Arsikere is situated about from Hassan and from Bengaluru on the Bengaluru-Miraj railway line and National Highway 206 passes inside the city which is known there as Bengaluru-Honnavara road .
Climate
The winter temperature averages between and. Summer temperature average between and.Education
Notable educational facilities in Arasikere include the following:School's and Colleges
- Sri Adichunchanagiri English School, Higher primary school, Arsikere
- St marys school
- Niveditha English Higher primary school
- St Mary's English Higher primary school
- Aashirvad Public school
- Sharadha English school
- Sri Basvarajendra High School
- Sri Gouramma School
- Sri Vasavi School
- Sri Vidyashankara Public School
- Anubhava Mantapa
- Rotary school
- Basaveshwara higher primary school
- Sri Vidya Shankara Public School
- Ananth international school
Colleges
- St. Mary's Composite Pre University College
- Adhichunchanagiri Science PU college
- Prathiba College
- JSKPU College
- Vivekananda College of Education
- Government Boys Junior College
- Hoysaleshwara pu college
- Ananthasadvidya College of Education
- Al Ameen College
- Hoysaleshwara degree College
- Vivekananda BEd College
- Govt first grade college Arasikere
- ANANTH PU COLLEGE
Transportation
Nearly 87 trains stop here and is around 166 km from state capital Bengaluru. It has three trains starts from here to Bengaluru, Mysuru and Hubballi. Around 30,000 people travel from Arsikere to other parts every day.
It lies on NH-206 that runs between Bengaluru and Honnavara along with two state highways SH-7 which connects Arsikere to Srirangapatna and SH-102 which runs from Huliyar to Keralapura. Also NH-234 passes 15 away from Arsikere, near Banavara.
Festivals
Various festivals are celebrated in Arasikere, including the following:- Ganapathi Pendal, Ganapathi Chathurti, and Ganapathi Visarjana which has been celebrated from past 72 years. During these festivals, Sports, cultural, and spiritual activities are organized.
- Undiganalu "Sri Kariyamma Devi Jatramahotsava" is the biggest festival in Arasikere taluk which is held in the month of April.
- Yadhapura "Sri Jenukallu Siddeshwara Swamy Jatramahotsava" is a big festival held every month during full moon day.
- Malekallu Thirupathi Fair takes place annually for the god Venkataramana and Govindaraja.
Places of interest
Temples and architecture
- The Kalameshwara Temple, also known as Kattameshvara and Chandramoulishvara by devotees, is a monument in the Hoysala style of architecture. It faces east and dates to 1220 A.D.
- Sahasrakuta Jinalaya has a Hoysala building from 1220 A.D. and was constructed by Vasudhaika bandhava Recharasa, a minister of Veera Ballala II.
- Malekal Tirupathi Hill, also called is three kilometers from Arsikere and has two temples:, which are frequently visited by pilgrims. Malekal Tirupathi Hill has 1,300 steps and a standing Venkateshwara idol.
- Sainatha and Ganapathi temples are of modern design and construction.
- Jenukallu Siddeshwara swamy hill
- Arasikere is home to naturally built elephant stone, situated at heart of the town in Shri Subrahmanya Ane Betta.
- Sri Siddarameshwara Temple in Sunkadahalli,
- Sri Siddarameshwara Gadduge is located 12 kilometers from Arsikere, near Banavara.
- Sri Devamma Devi Devalaya T Kodihalli near Thalalur is located 10 kilometers from Arsikere town.
- Sri Veerabhadra Swami and Honaldajji Temple of Jajur is located 2 kilometers from Arsikere center.
- Shree shyla Mallikarjuna temple, Challapura is located 8 kilometers from Arsikere
Others
- The Nagapuri fortress, built on the Hirekal hill, is eleven kilometres north of Arasikere and is said to have been constructed by Hyder Ali.
- A state branch of the Kastur Ba Gandhi National Memorial Trust is located at Kastur Ba Gram.
Nearby towns and places of interest
- Undiganalu which is the village located in between Arasikere and Javagal there are historical temples called Kariyamma Devi Temple, Chamundeshwari Temple, Gavisiddeshwara temple, Bhalu Basaveshwara Temple. There are many festivals in that the Kariyamma Devi Jathramahothsava is the one of the popular festivals in Arasikere Taluk. Unidiganalu is located 28 km from Arasikere and 11 km from Javagal.
- Javagal, the hobli, is about 33 km from Arasikere and about 35 km from Hassan. It has a temple dedicated to Lakshminarasimha, which is a good specimen of Hoysala architecture with an outer entrance. This temple is attributed to the middle of the 13th century A.D.
- Haranahally is a big village about eight kilometres south of Arasikere; there are remains of an old fort that is said to have been erected in 1070 A.D. by a chief named Someshvara Raya. There is a large Nagarti tank, which was named after his daughter.
- Bannavara is a nearby town where on can see an old forts and a temple.
Notable people
- Balakrishna, Kannada actor
- David Johnson, cricketer
- Javagal Srinath, Indian cricketer and pace bowler
- Ashok Haranahalli, Former Advocate General to Govt. of Karnataka
- Haranahalli Ramaswamy, Former Irrigation Minister and founding member of the Malnad Education Trust
- Channa Keshava Sharma, Freedom fighter and Tamra Pathra Awardee
- Narayan Gowda, Chief of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike
- Chandrika, a heroine in Kannada Film Industry
- Aparna, actor, host and widely acclaimed Kannada anchor
- Dr.H.R.Swamy, A rationalist, environmentalist, Theatre person, Thinker
- D.S. Ramaswamy, Poet, Writer
- Rajanand, Kannada actor
- D Shankar Singh, Kannada producer/director
- Dr M Seshagiri Rao, Former Chairman and Managing Director, RITES, IITian, Engineer, Researcher, Scholar
- Dolly Dhananjay, Kannada actor.
- Arsikere Doddanna, Kannada actor.
- Ravi Kashyap, Serial Entrepreneur, Venture Capitalist, and Kannada Movie Producer.
- Manjunatha A N, Entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of Bangalore Best Cars, Used Car Buying & selling Company in Bangalore.
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