The temple’s history is uninterrupted from about the 7th century. The Virupaksha-Pampa sanctuary existed well before the Vijayanagara capital was located here . Inscriptions referring to Shiva date back to the 9th and 10th centuries.] What started as a small shrine grew into a large complex under the Vijayanagar rulers. Additions made to the temple in the late Chalukya and then the Hoysala periods, though most of the temple buildings are attributed to the Vijayanagar period.
It is part of the Group of monuments , designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temple is dedicated to Lord Virupaksha, a form of Shiva. The temple was built by Lakkan Dandesha, a nayaka (chieftain) under the ruler Deva Raya II of Vijayanagar in the 15th CE.
Under the Vijayanagara rulers, in the middle of the 14th century, there began a flowering of native art and culture. When the rulers were defeated by Muslim invaders in the 16th century, most of the wonderful decorative structures and creations were systematically destroyed.
The religious sect of Virupaksha-Pampa , however did not end with the destruction of the city in 1565. Worship there has persisted throughout the years. At the beginning of the 19th century there were major renovations and additions, which included ceiling paintings and the towers of the north and east gopura.
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