BENGALURU: As the state government is set to undertake excavation and restoration work at the historical village of Lakkundi in Gadag district. The archaeology department, along with National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), will start the work at Nagavi in Kalaburgi which was home to Karnataka’s first university.
Using satellite imagery data and historical literature, NIAS teams identified a 100-acre location in Kalaburagi where the excavation work needs to be done to identify the relics of the university, which belonged to the Kalyani Chalukya dynasty.
A Devaraj, the commissioner, the Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage, said at present the conservation of the Kali Masjid and Nagavi Temple is in progress at the location. A masterplan is being prepared for the restoration and excavation work. The excavation work will be easy as it is in an inhabited location unlike Lakkundi, he said.
Devaraj said the masterplan will be completed in six months, and it will be submitted to the state government for approval. However, until that time, surface restoration work around the temple and the identified 100 acres will continue. "According to preliminary information, the site had a convention centre of around 60 pillars. Each pillar had inscriptions in different languages. The centre was said to be big enough to house at least 600 students at a time. Four languages were used as a medium of communication and teaching with students, the data reveals," he said.
Devaraj was speaking to the TNIE on the sidelines of the 3rd edition of FKCCI's tourism convention-2026 on Thursday. This is one of the three excavation and restoration projects NIAS is working on with the state government. The other two are Lakkundi and Rajagadda – a Buddhist Chaitalya of Shatamana period in Doddaballapur. The state government has allocated Rs 80 lakh to NIAS for the projects.
Deavaraj said satellite images of the vegetative pattern in the area in 1965 were compared with the current information to locate the sites in Nagavi – If there is a structure below, the surface vegetation will not be very dense. It was then corroborated with historical data and literature before finalising excavation sites. Historical relics have been recovered from all sites identified so far, he said.
"Restoration work at the other two sites in Nagavi was started based on ground evidence. But now there is much more to be unearthed. What is different about Lakkundi is that it was a place where minting used to take place even though it was a village. But Nagavi is a university along with places of worship. The archaeological value is different in richness. As tourism has started in Lakkundi, in Nagavi it will start after seeking government approval. Also Lakkundi excavation project is spread across 500 acres, but since Nagavi is a smaller space, it will be faster and easier.
