Halasi

Halasi (Kannada: ಹಲಸಿ, also Halsi or Halshi, in earlier times also called Halasige or Palasige) is a town in Khanapur Taluk, Belgaum District in Karnataka, India. It is 14 km from Khanapur and about 25 km from Kittur. As known from inscriptions, the ancient name of the town was Palāśikā. A centre of the early Kadamba Dynasty (c. 500), it was a minor capital of the Goa Kadambas (980-1025). The town is notable for a series of medieval temples. The most famous are the Varāha Narasiṃha temple and Suvarṇeśvara temple in the town, and a third temple of Rāmeśvara. On a hill about 1.9 km. south-west of the town is a pilgrimage place known as Rāmatītha.

==History== thumb|left|Copper-plate charter of Harivarman (c. 500-15) from Halasi, Karnataka, recording a grant of land, see https://siddham.network/inscription/ob01057/ Of the ancient settlement of Palāśikā no architectural remains have been found, but A. Sundara has noted traces of brick structures near the Kalleśvara temple (also known as Kalameshwar) on the west side of the town. The main evidence of early Palāśikā is a series of copper plates discovered in the 1850s at a location then known as Cakratīrtha. Fleet states that the plates "were found some sixteen years ago in a mound of earth close to a small well called Chakratîrtha, a short distance outside Halsi on the road to Nandigaḍ." The charters all record Jain grants and range from the time of Kākutsthavarman (c. 405-430) through Ravivarman (c. 465-500) and Harivarman (c. 500-15).