Betageri appears to have thrived by the side of Gadag, not far from Gadag railway station, has a group of memorial stones, know as a Viragals or Virakalas, or Vira-sasanas. There are fifteen stones, fourteen of which are very large some standing from twelve to thirteen feet out of the ground, with a width of about four feet six inches. The tops of most of these great slabs are finished off like the topmost ridge roof member of the gopuras of Dravidian temples. The only difference is, it has instead of a row of many kalasas, there is but one kalas. These Viragals have the symbols of the man’s trade or caste sculptured at the bottom, e.g., plough, a mason’s mallet and block of stone and oil-mill. Some of these are affiliated to Shaivism and others Vaishnavism. One of the memorial stones referred to above bear an inscription of Rashtrakuta King Krishna II, dated 893.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA

Dharwad Circle

Hero stone on land of the Hatagara Mallaraya; also inscribed memorial stones in a walled enclosure in the village. (The collection of stones sixteen in number and enclosed by a mud by wall locally known as Mallarayankatti.)

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Hero stone on land of the Hatagara Mallaraya; also inscribed memorial stones in a walled enclosure in the village. (The collection of stones sixteen in number and enclosed by a mud by wall locally known as Mallarayankatti.)

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