Religious/ Spiritual

This is one of the must-sees in the region. It is the largest mosque and covers an area of 10,810 sq m and rises up to 120 ft.

There is a fountain at the center and a lot of well designed arches and rooms. There is a big hall and a huge dome with 33 domes surrounding it. There are 12 arches constructed with 12 interleaving arches. There is an elaborately designed gateway designed by Aurangzeb.

It has the unique distinction of being one of the first mosques in India. The mosque contains a copy of the holy Koran inscribed in gold.

Gurudwara Bidar is one of Holiest Place for Sikhs. Every Year this place attracts lots of tourists from all parts of the country particularly during the months of November and March. Legend has it that Saint Guru Nanak visited the palce while the land was in the grip of a famine The Guru performed a miracle at the request of the locals and a spring of water from the laterite rock mountain burst out. Till this day crystal clear water flows from the laterite trap.The belief is that drinking of this water cures many ailments.

It attracts lots of tourists in the Month of December at the time of Annual Celebrations. On the same ocassion every year a Night long Classical Musical function will be held and till now the likes of Bhimsen Joshi, Zakir hussain and many others have come here for this annual jatra mahotsav.

At this place the Powerful diety as per the belief here is situated in cave of nealy 300 meters. One has to wade through water upto chest height to have darshan of the diety. It will be thrilling experience with bats and owls sitting on the roof toop of cave but they will not do any harm to the devotees. In the year 1999 with efforts of an young IAS Officer Mr. M Maheswar Rao who was working as Assistant Commissioner and was incharge of this temple comittee got the cave Air conditioned and Electrified.

As per the local traditional saying, the Shiva Linga idol in this temple is one of those installed by Shri RAM during the time of his journey back from Lanka. The location of the temple in a valley is mesmerising to the eyes. Every year at the time of Shivrathri festival lot of tourists visit this place. A natural spring flows into a pond in front of the temple which is called 'Papnasha'.

Two very ancient temples of Lord Veerbhadreshwara in Humnabad Taluk one at Humnabad and one at Changlara village attract lakhs of tourists in the Month of January and November respectively for the yearly Jatra and cart pulling Mohotsav's. The temple at Humnabad constructed in 1725 is famous for its moving pillar.

Most visitors to Bhagamandala are pilgrims coming to offer prayers at the renowned ancient temple complex known as Bhagundeshwara Kshetra. There is an old stone with a ‘Shasana’ (edict) engraved in Tamil. The complex consists of four temples. The deity of the main temple is Shiva, and the three other temples are dedicated to Vishnu, Subrayanya and Ganapathy. The small Bhagamandala town surrounds the complex. Most of the activities of the town are centered around the activities of the temple.

The temple is a holy house for sculptures showcasing innumerable variety of ornaments, the doorways, the ceilings, the birds, the animals, dancers and other figures are fully decorated as if they are full of life and vigour with variety of actions and movements. The doorways are guarded on either side by the gorgeously decorated dvarapalaka (doorkeepers).

Hooli is a place with rich antiquity and is perhaps one of the oldest towns in the district. One of the striking monuments of the place is the huge Panchalingeshwar temple. The temple has four inscriptions i.e. two slabs in the navaranga and two outside, of which one is broken.

Hooli has many other old temples, most of them are now in ruins due to negligence. One can amazed by the sculptures and carvings on the stone. Most of the temples have their floor dug up for the hunt for treasure so much is lost and stolen.

Of the churches, the St. Mary's church awes one with its imposing gothic stone structure built in 1869. Light filters through the gorgeous stained glass windows and doors to enhance the fine Biblical drawings on the walls.