Srikalahasteeswara Temple, Srikalahasti

The devasthanam's former website attributes the temple's construction to a Chola king in the 12th century. Incredible India says the inner temple is said to date to the 5th century and credits the Cholas, including Rajendra Chola I and Kulottunga Chola I, with building the outer temple and main structure, noting Chola-period inscriptions inside. Wikipedia lists inscriptions of several Chola kings in the temple and records contributions from the Reddi and Vijayanagara rulers as well.

The great entrance tower, the Rajagopuram, was built by the Vijayanagara king Krishnadevaraya, according to The Hindu as reproduced by Hinduism Today. A crack that first appeared about 25 years earlier had widened into a deep vertical fissure, and the tower collapsed in May 2010. Wikipedia records that the Rajagopuram was rebuilt in its original form on the same site and consecrated in January 2017.

Architecture and sacred features

Incredible India describes the temple as built in the Dravidian style, rich in carvings and sculpture, with a sacred banyan tree (sthala vriksha) in the premises. Wikipedia notes that the temple faces south while the sanctum faces west and that it stands at the foot of a hill; the devasthanam's old website notes that the Swarnamukhi turns north here and almost washes the temple's west wall.

According to Wikipedia, the main linga is a tall white stone, with the spider, the elephant's tusks and the serpent depicted on it, and the sanctum is lit only by lamps. Wikipedia also records a rock-cut Ganesha shrine below ground level, a large shrine of Gnana Prasunambika, smaller shrines to deities including Kasi Viswanatha, Annapurna, Surya and Murugan, and the Surya and Chandra Pushkarani tanks.