The Mahalakshmi temple, whose cream-painted sanctuary towers soar above the town, is thought to have been founded in the seventh century by the Chalukyan king Karnadeva; following damage inflicted by the Moghuls. However, what you see today probably dates from the early eighteenth century. It is built from bluish-black basalt on largest of five domed towers. The mandapa hallways leading to the main shrine hold figures of garuda, Vishnu’s bird vehicle, and Ganapati, which devotees circumambulate prior to approaching the goddess, flanked by the goddesses Mahakali and Saraswati. Four-armed Mahalakshmi, in black stone, holds a mace and shield, fruit and a cup. Her head is crowned with a cobra whose hood stands over a shivalingam. A second storey above contains another shivalingam, Nandi and a yantra, or sacred diagram, intimately associated with the tantric rituals of the goddess cult.

On Fridays the devi is brought out from the sanctum, seated in a palanquin, to process around the temple precincts.