Yellamma Temple, Saundatti

Common card · No. 236980

Yellamma Temple, also known as Renuka Temple (Kannada: ರೇಣುಕಾ ಯಲ್ಲಮ್ಮ ದೇವಿ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ), is a temple of Goddess (Devi) Renuka and a pilgrimage destination located about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) away from the town of Saundatti in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is situated on a hilltop known earlier as Siddhachal Parvat and now known as "Yellammanna Gudda", named after the temple. The deity in the temple is the goddess Yellamma or Ellama or Renuka, revered as a fertility goddess. The temple is associated with the ancient Devadasi practice of dedicating girls to the temple, which the Government of Karnataka eradicated in 1982 through Devadasi Prohibition Act. The hill, a part of the Sidhachal or Ramagiri hill range which overlooks the Malaprabha river, contains archaeological evidences of occupation dating to the mid-8th to mid-11th centuries of the early Rashtrakuta or late Chalukya period, and includes megalithic tombs which predate these periods.

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