Harihar

Harihar ( also called Harihara) is a city located in Davanagere District in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is also the administrative headquarters of the Harihar Taluk. Harihar also spelled Hari-hara, in Hinduism, is a syncretic deity, combining the two major gods, Vishnu (Hari) and Siva (Hara). Images of Harihara (also known as Sambhu-Visnu and Sankara-Narayana, variants of the names of the two gods) began to appear in the classical period after sectarian movements, which elevated one god as supreme over the others, had waned sufficiently for efforts at compromise to be attempted. The region of Harihar had been under the control of the Hoysalas from the 11th to 13th centuries AD. Harihar is famous for a Harihareshwara temple, which is also known as "Dakshina Kashi".