Dharmaraya Swamy Temple, Hindu temple in Old City, Bangalore, India

Dharmaraya Swamy is a Hindu temple in the Old City, distinguished by a monumental entrance gateway decorated with intricate sculptural work and carved reliefs. The decorations depict deities from the Hindu pantheon and scenes from the Mahabharata epic.

The temple was built over eight hundred years ago by the Vahni Kula Kshatriyas, tracing their line to the Chalukya dynasty; King Someshwara appears in a stone inscription at Hottal taluk, Nanded district, Maharashtra. Its architecture shows features of the Western Ganga, Pallava and Vijayanagara periods. It stood before Kempe Gowda I founded Bangalore in 1530 and built his mud fort.

The Karaga festival starts from this temple on a full-moon day in March or April. A priest dressed as a woman carries a tall, decorated clay pot on his head and dances through the old city streets, followed by acrobats and musicians. The ritual draws on the Mahabharata, especially Draupadi's trials. In 2009 Shankar Narayan became the first woman to lead the festival.

Visitors must remove their footwear at the entrance and should maintain respectful silence while inside the temple grounds. The best time to visit is early morning or evening, when fewer people are around and the spaces feel less crowded.

The Karaga pot is carried by a priest dressed as a woman, a role tied to Draupadi. On 9 April 2009 Shankar Narayan, president of the temple trust, became the first woman to lead the festival and carry the pot.