Banashankari Amma Temple, Hindu temple in Badami, Karnataka, India

Banashankari Amma Temple stands at Cholachagudda near Badami, Bagalkot district, Karnataka. Its Vijayanagara-style structure, rebuilt in 1750, has a mukha mantapa, an ardha mantapa and a sanctum under a stepped tower. The sanctum holds a black stone image of the eight-armed goddess seated on a lioness trampling a demon. A 360 ft square tank, Haridra Tirtha, lies in front, with lamp towers on its west bank.

The original temple was built by the 7th-century Badami Chalukya kings, who worshipped Banashankari as their tutelary deity; inscriptions credit Jagadekamalla I with installing the image in 603 AD. A Kannada pillar inscription of 1019 AD on the north side records the bravery of the Rashtrakuta king Bhimadeva. The present temple was rebuilt in 1750 by Parusharam Agale, a Maratha chieftain, in Vijayanagara style.

The name combines the Sanskrit vana (forest) and Shankari (Parvati's epithet), changed to bana in Kannada; locals also call the goddess Balavva, Banadavva and Vanadurge. She is honoured as Shakambhari, the "Vegetable Goddess", who fed people during a famine. The annual Banashankari jatre runs about three weeks from the Rath yatra, starting on the eighth day of Pushya, with a chariot procession, boat festival and cultural programmes.

The temple stands at Cholachagudda near Badami, with a 360 ft (109.7 m) square tank, the Haridra Tirtha, in front of the entrance; stone mantapas line three sides of the tank and a circumambulatory path surrounds it. Lamp towers stand at the entrance and on the west bank of the pond. The annual jatre runs about three weeks from the Rath yatra, starting on the 8th day of Pushya masa.

The goddess holds a different object in each of her eight hands: a sword, bell, trident, and lotus on the right side, plus a drum, shield, a severed head, and a vessel on the left. These objects symbolize different aspects of divine power and are mentioned in rituals throughout the year.