Just 200kms from Bengaluru and 35 kms from Chikkamagalur, Halebidu or "ruined city" is a town located in Hassan District, Karnataka, India. Historically known as Dorasamudra or Dwarasamudra, Halebidu became the regal capital of the Hoysala Empire in the 11th century CE. In the modern era literature it is sometimes referred to as Halebeedu or Halebid as the phonetic equivalent, a local name after it was damaged and deserted after being ransacked and looted twice by the forces of the Delhi Sultanate in the 14th century.