• Dr Sadashivappa G C

Temples occupied a central position in the economic as well as religious life of medieval Karnataka. From the early medieval period through the age of the Kalyani Chalukyas, Hoysalas and Vijayanagara rulers, temples functioned not merely as places of worship but also as landholders, employers, centers of production, institutions of redistribution, and focal points of trade and urbanization. Their economic importance rested particularly on land grants, irrigation investments, agricultural production, merchant donations, craft activity, markets and the employment generated by temple institutions. In places such as Aihole, Lakkundi, Itagi, Evooru, Belavadi, Talakaadu, shrigeri, Gaddavalli, Belur, Halebidu Hampi, temples were closely connected with wider networks of villages, merchants, artisans and political authorities. Inscriptions constitute the principal evidence for reconstructing these activities. This article examines the major economic functions of temples in medieval Karnataka and argues that temples acted as important institutional links between agrarian production, craft production, commerce and political authority.

Medieval Karnataka, temple economy, social life, land grants, agriculture, trade, merchants, artisans, Badami Chalukyas, Gangas,Kalyani Chalukya. Vijayanagara inscriptions

"THE NATURE OF TEMPLES IN SOCIO- ECONOMIC LIFE OF MEDIEVAL KARNATAKA", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.13, Issue 1, page no.g149-g154, January-2026, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2601619.pdf

"THE NATURE OF TEMPLES IN SOCIO- ECONOMIC LIFE OF MEDIEVAL KARNATAKA", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.13, Issue 1, page no. ppg149-g154, January-2026, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2601619.pdf