Harihar

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Harihara v • d • e Karnataka • India
Harihara
District(s)	Davanagere district
Coordinates	14.5167° N 75.8° E
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area • Elevation	11.77 km² (5 mi²) • 539 m (1,768 ft)
Population • Density	73,047 (2001) • 6,206.20/km²
Codes • Postal • Telephone • Vehicle	• 577 601 • +08197 • KA-17

Coordinates: 14.5167° N 75.8° E

Harihar is a small town in central Karnataka, located in Davanagere District. It is situated on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, 275km from north of Bangalore. It is connected by road and railway, and is located on national Highway 4 (Puna - Bangalore).

[edit] Description

It has historically been a temple city but also has n industrial base and many home grown industries. Some examples are Kirloskar and Birla. In 2005 Kirloskar chose to invest elsewhere, leaving thousands of people jobless.

The temple is the famous 15th century Harihareshwara temple built during Hoysala's time, from which the city derives its name.

The god Harihareshwara is a combination of god Shiva and Vishnu. There is an interesting story behind avatara of this god. In ancient days this place was known as Guharanya. A dense jungle and habitat of a demon Guhasura. He had a boon that no Human or Rakshasa or God can kill him. And he started harassing people around this place. Then Vishnu and Shiva came together in a new avatara called Hari – Hara (Harihara) and killed demon Guhasura. That’s how this place has got name Harihar. Every year the Car festival shall be celebrated with great enthusiasm and lots of people participate.

Also at Harihar there is Raghavendra Swamy Temple. And also hosts famous church.the uniqueness of this church is that it has built without any pillars and it is the second largest church in karnataka.The town serves as a major Industrial base also. Although Kirloskar Engineering company has closed down, resulting in a loss of nearly 15,000 jobs, there are still 2 units of Grasim Industries run by Kumaramangalam Birla - the first unit is named as Harihar Polyfibers and the other unit is Graslene division. Apart from these heavy industries, there are a number of other engineering and small manufacturing industries, not to forget the famous brick kiln Industries in the region. The major lifeline of this small town is the Tungabhadra river, which continues to be exploited and polluted as a result of heavy industrialisation.