Doddagaddavalli Lakshmi temple Hassan
was founded by Kullahana Rahuta, a merchant and his wife Sahaja Devi who got the temple of Mahalakshmi constructed in 1113 AD during the reign of Hoysala Vishnuvardhana (1106-1142 AD).
It is the only example of the chatuskuta (four-shrined) order of temples built during the Hoysala period.
On plan, the temple has four sanctums in the four directions, each of which is connected.
Of the four shrines, the east has an image of Lakshmi, the west has a Siva-Linga, the north has an image of Kali and the south one is devoid of any image now.
All the towers, except that on the Lakshmi shrine (east) are of simple stepped pyramidal variety of the Kadamba Nagara type.
all the four towers accommodate the mahanasa projection crowned by the earliest examples of Hoysala royal emblem of Sala striking a tiger.
The ceiling of the main hall is supported by eighteen lathe-turned pillars. Inside the main hall, there are two sculptures of large demonic living corpses called betala.
The main shrine facing east has a 3-foot-tall (0.91 m) image of the goddess Lakshmi with an attendant on either side. The image holds a conch in the upper right hand, a chakra (discuss) in the upper left, a prayer bead in the lower right and a mace in the lower left.
In the shrines facing north, south and west respectively are the images of Kali (a form of Durga), the god Vishnu, and Boothanatha Linga (the universal symbol of the god Shiva).
A sculpture of Tandaveswara (dancing Shiva) exists in the circular panel at the center of the ceiling of the mantapa. Other important sculptures are those of Gajalakshmi (form of Lakshmi with elephants on either side), Tandaveshwara and Yoganarasimha (avatars of Vishnu) found on the doorway of the temple..