Saudatti Renuka or Yellamma.
Renuka Raja (father of Renuka) performed a Yajna — a ritual performed to maintain peace and good health. He was blessed with a daughter, who originated from the fire of this yajna. Renuka was a bright and active child and became the most beloved child of her parents.
When she was eight, Agastya, who was the guru of the Renuka Raja, advised him to have his daughter married to Jamadagni when she reached maturity. Jamadagni was the son of Ruchik Muni and Satyavati and had obtained the blessings of the gods by performing severepenance. Renuka and Jamdagni Muni lived in the Ramshrung mountains, near the present day Savadatti area of Belgaum district. Renuka helped the Jamdagni Muni in all of his tasks of performing various rituals and puja. Gradually she became close and dear to Jamdagni. After a while Renuka Raj was blessed with another daughter called Anjana (Anjana Devi). Renuka would wake up early in the morning to bathe in the Malaprabha River with complete concentration and devotion. Her devotion was so powerful that she was able to create a pot to hold water made only of sand, one fresh pot every day. She would fill this pot, on the bank of the river and would use a snake which was nearby, turning it into a rope-like convolution and placing it on her head, so that it supported the pot. Thus, she brought the water to Jamdagni for his rituals of oblation. ("Renuka" is derived from the Sanskrit for "fine grain of sand".) Another temple of Renuka is situated at near Zamania, Ghazipur.
Renuka gave birth to five sons: Vasu, Viswa Vasu, Brihudyanu, Brutwakanwa and Rambhadra. Rambhadra was the youngest and most beloved, gaining the favour of Lord Shiva and Parvati and hence called Parashuram (the sixth incarnation of Vishnu). One day when Renuka went to the river, she saw Gandharva spirits playing. These were young couples carelessly frolicking in the water with abandon. For a moment, she lost her concentration and devotion to her husband faltered for a moment as she was physically attracted to one of the Gandharvas. As she was distracted, she lost her power of collecting water in unbaked pots, which she had gotten from her chastity. She lost the water which she had collected. Disappointed by this, she returned to the ashram in shame. Seeing Renuka returning empty-handed, Jamadagni became furious and angrily ordered her to go away.
After being cursed by her husband, Renuka went east and sat in the forest to meditate. In her penance, she met with the saints Eknath and Joginath; she prayed to them and asked to gain the mercy of her husband. They first consoled her, then instructed her to follow their advice exactly as told. They told her to purify herself, first bathing in a nearby lake, and then to worship a Shivalinga, which they had given to her. Next, she should go to the nearby town and beg for rice from the houses (this ritual, called "Joga Bedodu", is still carried out by women during a particular month in Karnataka). After collecting the rice, she was to give half to the saints and cook the remaining half, adding jaggery, partaking of the cooked rice with full devotion. They said that if she performed this ritual for three days, she would be able to visit her husband on the fourth day.
Knowing the anger of Jamadagni, they warned her that she may not be fully pardoned by him, and that she would have to experience the most difficult time of her life for a few minutes. "After that," they said, “you will be eternally revered and will be blessed with your husband. You will beworshiped by all the people henceforth." After blessing her this way, they disappeared. Renuka followed their instructions with devotion and worshipped the Shivalinga with full care and reverence. On the fourth day, she went to see her husband.
Renuka or Yellamma
In many traditions, Renuka and Yellamma are taken to be two names for the same goddess. However there is also an oral tradition that distinguishes between the two. According to these tales, Renuka fled to a low-caste community when her son Parushurama was coming to kill her. He found and beheaded her, along with a low-caste woman who had tried to protect her. When he later brought them back to life, he mistakenly attached the woman's head to Renuka's body, and vice versa. Jamadagni accepted the former as his wife Renuka, while the latter remained to be worshipped by the lower castes as Yellamma, the mother of all. Matangi, Renuka, and Yellamma are all names of the Goddess.
Savadatti fort
18th century Savadatti fort was built by the Sirasangi Desai with 8 bastions. Savadatti fort has aKadasiddheshwara temple, surrounded by four bastions. Around the Kadasiddheshwara temple in the inner chajja of the prakara there is a row of beautiful carvings of geometrical patterns with over two hundred designs, some painted.
Puradeshwara temple: The Puradeshwara temple in the later Chalukya style is a trikutachala with three ardhamantapas, a common navaranga and two mukhamantapas. Gurlhosur Chidambar temple is also an historical temple. All three garbhagrihas with pierced windows have Shivalingas. The shikhara, now damaged, over the central garbhagriha is in kadambanagara style and the navaranga pillars are lathe-turned. Inside the niches of the navaranga are images of parvati and veerabhadra. This temple has been renovated very crudely. On the day of Ugadi, the rising sun's rays fall directly on the main shivalinga. The outer walls have fine sculptures depicting Hindu Methology and there are inclined chajjas all round. The open mukhamantapa, a later addition, is also in the same style with massive pillars.
Ankeshwara temple
The Ankeshwara temple in Desaigalli, built by Rattas in 1048 is in the Western Chalukyas style and is below the ground level. There are steps descending to the mukhamantapa. In front of the temple, there is an inscription carved into the wall by the builder, Ratta Chief Ankarasa.
Parasgad Fort
Parasgad Fort is a ruined hill port in the Belgaum district of Karnataka state, India. magnificent fort of Parashghad, dating back to the 10th century and built by famous rulers of Ratta dynasty Parasgad Fort is located about two kilometres south of Saudatti village, and stands on the south-west edge of a range of hills immediately overlooking the black soil plain down below.
The hill which measures about 500 metres (1,640 ft) from north to south and about 300 metres (984 ft) from east to west, is irregular, and a good deal is covered with prickly pear and brushwood. Its sides are rocky and almost perpendicular. A deep gorge runs through it.
Atop the hill-fort is a small ruined shrine to the Hindu deity Maruti. The fort itself is uninhabited, and the remains of old houses are located in it.
A descent of several hundred steps leads to Yadravi village. This passes by a natural spring with a water tank measuring thirty by six metres called the Ramatheertha, and a cave housing statues of Hindu deities and mythological figures including Jamadagni, Parashuram, Rama and Sita, a Shivalinga with a Nandi. The village of Yadravi is referred to as "Elarame" in an inscription found on a platform near the Bharamappa temple of the village. The inscription is dated Shaka 901 in the Hindu Calendar.
The Malaprabha dam is the shortest dam in Karnataka. It was built across the Malaprabha River in Belgaum. It is a tributary of the famous Krishna River. It is located in small town called Saundatti in Belgaum. This dam has been designed to meet the drinking water requirements of the people of Belgaum, Dharwad, Gadag and Bagalkot.
Malaprabha dam and river are located in Saundhatti, a small town in Belgaum. Saundhatti has several ancient temples and is of great architectural and historical value.
Saundhatti was the capital of Ratta Dynasty, until the capital was shifted to Belgaum. Saundhatti has a fort of its own that was built in the ancient era and is of great architectural and cultural heritage. There are around 6-7 temples that several people go and visit from different places of India in order to find solace.
Malaprabha River originates in the Sahyadri mountains at an altitude of 792.4 meters at Kanakumbi village 16 km west of Jamboti village, Khanapur taluka, Belgaum district, Karnataka, India. At the origin of the Malaprabha is an ancient temple dedicated to Shree Mauli Devi. The temple is situated in R.S. No. 127 of Kankumbi which belongs to Yuvaraj Kurtkoti's family. Malaprabha birthplace is a pilgrimage center with mythological origins. A symbol in rock carved by hand near the source of the river Malaprabha depicts the origin of the river for the purpose of safety showered for the well being of human kind. It is a source of highly stable mineral water. Presence of discontinuities has major effects on properties of contours at source of river. Permeability is dependent on orientation of the region.