After my trip to Hampi, I had a strong incomplete feeling.

During my last trip to

Northern Karnataka, I missed out the archeological destinations such as Badami,
Aihole and Pattadakkal. I did not have enough time that time.
Take it easy. My husband told me as I started rigorous planning and study for
visiting the archeological sites of Northern Karnataka. However, during my trip to
Hampi, I was bewitched by the antique temples. I planned to visit Badami, Aihole
and Pattadakkal from 5th of July to 10th of July 2016. Usually my husband
accompanies me on my trips. But this time, he couldnt make it due to his business
travel. I decided to travel with my mother. In the beginning I was apprehensive
about it, but it turned out to be a wonderful experience travelling with her.
Thankfully, my generous manager approved 3 days leave and I was all set to start
my next archeological pilgrimage. We started from Bangalore on 5 th July 2016 at
4:45pm IST. After getting into a dreadful traffic jam, we reached the railway station
just in time.
Golgumbaz Express is a train that runs between Mysore till Solakpur in Karntaka.
It is the ideal train to choose if one wants to visit Badami or Bijapur. I really
appreciate the Karntaka governments policy of scheduling trains between all
important tourist destinations with convenient timing.
As the train started moving slowly out of Bangalore, I felt so happy and excited. My
mother was equally excited as it was our first trip together. After a comfortable
journey, we reached Badami railway station at 7:30 am in the following morning.
Badami town is approximately 5km from the railway station. Transfer from the
railway station to the town is not difficult as there are a lot of autos(tuk-tuk), mini
vans doing service between Badami railway station and town.
For a charge of 120 rupees, one auto took us to our hotel Mayura Chalukya. It is a
hotel run by Karnataka tourism. It is an old property but its location is excellent. All
the important attractions in Badami are within 2km from the hotel. The room was
quite disappointing. It was old and congested. The A/C did not work. But the hotel
staff was courteous enough to upgrade us to a larger and better room, much to my
relief.
After a small rest we were ready for the first part of our itinerary. The first stop is the
Badami Cave temples. The hotel staff told us that it is just walkable distance from
the hotel, however we took an auto. I think it was a great decision. Badami is not a
clean city to walk around. There are a lot of stray pigs roaming around and the
walkways are littered. Also to reach the Badami cave temples, one need to cross the
Badami slum area, which is quite untidy.
However, as we enter the Badami cave temple complex, it looks like another world.
The complex looks so neat and tidy. Archeological Survey of India(ASI) is maintain
this archeological site with utmost care and sensitivity. Badami cave temples are a
group of four rock-cut cave temples with exquisite sculptures. These temples are
around 1500 years old and attributed to the Chalukya dynasty. These temples are
cut into the side of a huge red sandstone mountain and remains as the finest

examples of Indian temple architecture and art. One of them is a Shiva temple, the
second and third are Vishnu temples and the fourth is a Jain temple.
<Photo with overview of the temples>
After taking the tickets, we waited for few minutes for our English speaking guide to
arrive. Most of the guides in Badami are well versed with Hindi and Kannada. You
need to explicitly ask for an English speaking guide. Sometimes the guide claims to
speak English, but would only throw in a few English words. So it is better to engage
the guide in a small chitchat to measure the English knowledge. Also, Badami cave
temple area is notorious for aggressive monkeys. One need to take caution to avoid
these troublesome lot. Thankfully our guide Panchu that was his name was an
excellent guy. He was a BA in History and was so passionate about the archeological
sites. He started the tour with a small story to warm up our interest.
Chalukyas were a powerful dynasty that ruled most parts of North Karnataka from
the year AD 544. There is an interesting story behind the genesis of the name
Chalukya. Once Brahma one of the supreme God in Hindu trinity was doing his
morning prayers. Indra the King of Gods visited Brahma with a complaint. He said
the people on earth are deviating from faith and have stopped performing religious
rituals. Indra wanted Brahma to bring people back to faith and holistic living.
Suddenly a great warrior and guru emerged from the water pot of Brahma. This
water pot was used for religious rituals and was known as Chaluka in Sanskrit. As
the warrior emerged from a Chaluka(water pot) he was called Chalukya. According
to the legends, this is the story of the progenitor of Chalukya dynasty.
As we walked towards the first cave temple, our guide explained about the
etymology of Badami. According to the ancient inscriptions, Badami was known as
Vatapipura or Vatapi. The name Badami must be a modern and alternate
version of Vatapi. However, there is another theory. It attributes the name to the
almond colored rocks in this area. In Kannada, almond is called Badam and the
place with red rocks resembling almonds (even in texture) was named Badami.
<<Photo of the first cave temple>>
As we entered into the first cave temple, the first notable sculpture is that of an
eighteen handed Shiva. Shiva is performing the dance named Thandava. Each
hand of Shiva is a symbol from the Indian classical dance Bharatanatyam. NandiShivas vehicle - is at his feet along with the drummers and musicians. There is one
durmmer on the right side of the Shiva who is of great interest. He is the attendant
named Tandu. According to Hindu Mythology, Shiva instructed Tandu to teach this
dance to Sage Bharata(author of Natya Sastra). Hence this dance took the name
Tandava. It was a new knowledge to me. The guide also told that by combining
one hand from either side of Shiva, one can see 81 distinctive poses of
Bharanatyam A famous south Indian classical dance form. Our guide pointed the
complex hairdo of Shiva. It is a characteristic of Badami sculptures. Every figure has
a distinctive hair style.

<<Close up of Shiva performing dance>>

There is also the sculpture of Mahishasura Mardini The goddess who slayed the
bull shaped demon Mahisha. One thing is noteworthy, how the weapon of the
Goddess is piercing through the head of the bull and touching the ground. Such an
attention to detail is a specialty of Badami sculptures.
<<Mahishasura Mardini Photo>>

Just near the Goddess sculpture, there is a small figure of Ganesha. Usually Ganesha
is depicted with a pot belly, however in this sculpture, he is quite slim. This
sculpture is in the form of Vatapi Ganapathi. According to historians, there was a
famous idol of Ganesha in ancient Badami known as the Vatapi Ganapathi. During
the Pallava invasion of Badami under the leadership of great Pallava general
Siruthondar, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranjothi) , they smuggled this famous
idol to Tanjavore a place now in Tamilnadu. The ancient idol is still present in
Uthrapatheeswarar temple of Tiruchenkattankudi temple of Tamilnadu.
Ardhanarishvara Panel <Heading>
As we climbed the steps of the first cave temple, we found ourselves in a long
corridor with intricately carved pillars. Both ends of the corridor is decorated with a
magnificent piece of sculpture. On one side, we have the Ardhanarishvara.
<Photo>
It is a form that combines Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati. One side is of male
form and the other side is female. On closer observation, we can see that the right
half has anklet on the leg, other ornaments and a raised bosom. The hairdo and the
ear ring of the right side is also different. The right side depicts Parvati.
<< cut only the central figure>>
I have seen Ardhanarishvara depicted on the walls many ancient temples.
However, one distinctive feature of this grand sculpture is a skeletal figure on the
left most side of the sculpture. I wondered how such an austere figure ended up in
such a beautiful sculpture. Our guide had a good laugh at my bizarre question. He
told that skeletal figure is the central to the theme of the sculpture. He is a sage
named Bringi.
<< Artha nareeshware sculpture panel full with Bringi marked>>

Bringi was a great Shiva devotee. But he did not have high regard for Parvati as she
was a woman. Bringi wanted perform Parikrama or Pradakshina(in Hinduism, the
devotee walks around the god in a circle) only around Shiva. Shiva and Parvati
combined their bodies to become Ardhanarishvara figure so that Bringi cannot do
circumambulation around Shiva. Bringi did not budge, he was so determined to
worship only Shiva. This enraged Parvati. She took back from Bringi, all the vital

elements that comes from mother. According to Hindu philosophy, the hard parts of
the body line bone and nerves comes from the father and the soft parts like flesh
and blood from mother. Bringi become a skeletal figure after the curse of Parvati.
This incident is described in this magnificent sculpture panel. On the right most side
of the panel, we can see a women figure. She is the attendant of Parvati and she is
holding a jewel box. According to our guide, this figure is placed in the panel just to
maintain the symmetry.
Harihara Panel <Heading >
Another magnificient sculpture panel in the first cave temple is the Harihara panel.
This panel also depiects a similar theme as that of Arthanareeswara. In Harihara
Panel, the central figure is a combination of Hari means Vishnu and Hara means
Shiva. In the Harihara form, Shiva and Vishnu are fused to form a single figure. Even
though both the halves look same, on closer observation, one can see the on the
left hand, the idol has an Axe(Parasu) and serpent symbol of Shiva. On right
hand it is Shanka(A Conch, symbol of Vishnu). Even the hair do is different.
Shivas side (left) has a small moon depicted. Shiva has a serpent around the waist
and an anklet on his leg, but Vishnu side is different. It is a wonder how the
sculptors managed to bring about such a details into one sculpture.
<<Harihara Wikimedia commons photo>>
Our guide told us that the Harihara form was created to bring about harmony
between Vaishnavists and Shaivists (who follow only Vishnu or Shiva respectively)
There were two groups who fought bitterly in medieval India.

I noticed the highly carved pillars and roof of the temple. There were flying
Gandarvas and Apsaras on the roof, so intricately carved.

I wondered how much painful it might have been to carve on the roof. It is not
straight forward as carving on a wall. Each sculpture has the hand print of the
sculptor, along with his blood and sweat. The coiled Nagaraja on the roof is
extremely simple yet beautiful.
After seeing the Harihara panel, we entered into the interiors of cave temple. One
thing that was so odd is that, there were no sculptures or pillar decorations on the
inner side of the cave temple. Our guide explained about it. As they are cave
temples, sunlight only falls in the first corridor. The inner corridor and sanctum
would be in shade most of the times. The sculptors knew that it is not worthwhile
making the sculptures inside as, sunlight it is essential for anyone to appreciate the
beauty of a sculpture. Thus they saved time and energy and spent it on the
magnificent carvings on the front corridor.

As we started walking towards the second cave temple, our guide shared some
more history of the Chalukya dynasty. Chalukya dynasty originated from two
governors of Kadambas. They were Jayasimha and Ranaranga. They were not
independent rules, but the rebelled against the Kadambas. The first ruler of
Chalukya dynasty is Pulakeshi I. He founded the Chalukya empire in AD 544. He
selected Vatapi as his headquarters, mainly due to the secure geography of Vatapi.
Vatapi is surrounded by huge red sandstone cliffs on three sides. It would be difficult
for any enemy to stealthly approach it. Pulakeshi I also founded a fort on top of the
Badami cliffs. The most famous ruler of Chalukya line is the second Pulakeshi. He
was the grandson of Pulakeshi I. He defeated his uncle Mangalesha and captured
the control of Badami. He was an eminent ruler. He spread the Chalukya dynasty far
south towards Maharashtra and east towards Tamilnadu. There was a time when
Chalukyas controlled the entire Deccan plateau. However the Chalukya dynasty
started disintegrating in the late 8th century AD. Kirthivarman II is the last Chalukya
king. In AD 757, the Rasktrakutas conquered Chalukyas and gained control over the
major parts of Deccan.
It was Chalukyas who laid the foundation stones of south Indian sculptures and
temple architecture. All the dynasties who followed took inspiration from the design
and architecture from Chalukya temples.
The Second Cave temple Vishnu Shrine <<Heading>>
We walked towards the second cave temple. It is smaller compared to the first one.
Second temple is dedicated to Vishnu. Like the first cave temple, there is a corridor
in front of the cave temple, lined by highly ornate pillars. On either sides of the
corridor there are huge sculptural panels.
One of them depicts the Varaha Avatar of Vishnu. In his Varaha Avatar, Vishnu
takes the form of a wild boar. There is a slim lady in Varahas hands. It is the
Goddess earth. According to Hindu mythology an Asura named Hiranyaksha
abducted Goddess earth and placed her in abyss. Vishnu in his Varaha Avatar
rescued the mother Earth. This sculptural panel describes this story. There is a
coiled serpent near the foot of Varaha. It is Sesha Naga the attendant of Vishnu.
The next panel is of Trivikrama. It is also another Avatar of God Vishnu. This story
is related to a generous Asura King named Mahabali. King of Gods Indra was jealous
of the prosperity of King Mahabali and implored Vishnu to eliminate Mahabali.
Vishnu took the form of a young Brahmin sage and requested Mahabali to grant him
3-foot land for doing his penance. Mahabali readily agreed. The moment Mahabali
promised this, Vamana grew into a gigantic form Trivikrama. With his 2 foot
Trivikrama measured earth, abyss and sky. He asked Mahabali Where should I
place my third foot? Mahabali was true to his word. He showed his head and
prayed Vishnu to place his foot. This is the situation depicted in this sculpture panel.
There are also many sculptures on the roof of the second cave temple. One of them
is of special interest, it is Swastika shaped maze. There is not starting and ending
point for this maze. Also there are sculptures depicting the churning of the milky
ocean.

As I climbed the stairs leading to the third cave temples, I found myself in a
spacious courtyard. Looking down from this point in the hill, one can see a
panoramic view of the Agastya lake and the red sandstone cliffs of Badami. It was a
lovely view. Agastya is an artificial lake, which is very ancient. Historians believe
that the Chalukyas themselves had dug out the Agastya lake and built the stone
steps leading to it. Our guide also told that Chalukya workmen reused the stone
pieces that was carved out while creating the cave temples to build these
steps.From this courtyard, I had a good look at the third cave temple.
Third cave temple is the largest and most decorated in the Badami cave temple
group. Historically this temple is very important as there is an inscription found
inside this temple attributing its construction to Mangalesha- the third king of
Chalukya dynasty. The year and day of consecration of this temple is also clearly
marked. It is equivalent to the full moon day of 1 st November in AD 578. In fact, the
date was written in Saka year.
The first striking sculpture of the third cave temple is located on the faade opposite
to the entrance of the cave temple. It is the sculpture of Garuda. Garuda is an
eagle in human form. According to Hindu mythology, Garuda is the vehicle of Vishnu
and it is customary of Hindu temples that the vehicle of the main deity is carved
just outside the main sanctum.
The first corridor of the cave temple so much ornate that it resembles nothing less
than a royal court. At one end of this corridor, stand the iconic image of Badami. It is
a sculpture of lord Vishnu sitting on top of the coils of serpent Shesha. There are
no words to describe the beauty of this sculpture. It is also enhanced by the
intricately carved pillars on both sides.
Next to the Vishnu sculpture, there is also a sculpture of Varaha. It is almost same
as the sculpture we saw in the second cave temple.
On the other side of the corridor, there is an equally stunning sculptural panel
depicting Narasimha another avatar of Lord Vishnu. Narasimha is depicted with
four hands and heavily leaning on a club, which is broken now.
There is also a very clear depiction of Harihara in this cave temple.
Apart from these magnificent sculpture panels, the roof and pillars of the cave
temple is also decorated with sculptures and decorative carvings. The top portion of
the pillars are adorned with sculptures of common people of Badami. Some of the
interesting pillar sculptures are below.
1. The rich and poor couple.
Carved on to the pillars facing each other, there is a depiction of a royal couple
and a working class couple. The financial status of each of these couple is
evident from the type of cloths and ornaments. The working class has cloths only
till the knees, which enable them to work in the fields. The ornaments of the
working class are also very simple. The royal couple is characterized by full

length dress, with heavy ornaments including anklets. Their dress seems to be
made of fine cloth and embroidered.
2. A couple in mangrove
There is a sculpture of a couple, who seems to be in love. They are spending
time in the mangrove. There are smaller figures by the foot of the couple,
probably a symbol for cupid.
3. The drunk women and her husband
This hilarious sculpture depicts the scene that a woman has passed out after
drinking too much of local alcohol and a man (possibly her husband) helping her
to get on her feet. She had vomited and there is a dog licking the vomit at her
feet. This sculpture was of special interest as it also shows the cultural setting of
olden days Badami. As many sculptures depicts, women had a very strong
presence in the daily life and temple activities.
The sculptural panels on the ceiling of the third cave temple are also very
interesting. They depict Brahma, Kubera, Varuna, Shiva-Parvati, Indra etc.
Another striking feature of the third cave temple is that, it had mural paintings all
over the walls. Unfortunately, due to lack of protection they have all vanished. Our
guide told that in the early days of discovery of this temple, chemical wash was
performed to clean the temples, and much of the destruction of the murals are
attributed to this unscientific act. If the mural existed, then the cave temple 3 would
have been nothing less than a world wonder. There is some color left on some parts
of the murals. Also, in the archeological museum of Badami, there is reconstruction
of the Badami cave murals. It is indeed a disappointment for any art lover.
There stone inside this temple is naturally adorned with purple veins running along
them. It is the specialty of only this cave temple. Our guide is of the opinion that,
this area of the mountain with such beautifully designed stones might have been
reserved for making such a stunning cave temple.
Cave number 4
The fourth cave temple of Badami is quite different from the others in the group. It
is a Jain temple. Even though the Chalukya kings were Vaishnavas, many of their
subjects were Jains. Religious tolerance was one of the main principles of Chalukya
rulers. So, they created the fourth Jain temple in order to accommodate the Jain
population in their Kingdom. However, the fourth cave temple is situated inside a
high wall. I asked the guide about it. Many of the Jain sages were Digambars
meaning, they were practicing nudism. So, it might be uncomfortable for the Hindu
religious if they happen to see these Jain sages. Also vice versa. Hence it was
thoughtful on the part of Chalukya kings to include this high wall in their
construction.
The fourth cave temple is much smaller than the third one. The primary deity of the
fourth cave temple is Mahavira. As we enter into the cave temple, on the right side

there is a sculpture of Parshwnatha the twenty second Thirthankara of Jainism. He

is identified by the five hooded serpent over his head.

In the sanctum, there is an idol of Mahavira. Mahavira was the last Thirthankara of
Jainism. According to Jain beliefs, a Thirthankara is a great teacher. He is identified
by seating position and triple parasol over his head.

There is also a magnificent sculpture of Bahubali a Saint in Jainism. During my visit

to the fourth cave temple, I came to know about a ritual in Jainism named
Santhara or Sallekhana. It is kind of a fasting unto death. The devotee who
enters the Santhara Vrutha doesnt take any food or water and believe to attain
Moksha. There was a huge controversy over this ritual as Rajasthan High court
banned it. The court sited that this ritual is equivalent to suicide. However later on,
Honorable Supreme court of India removed this ban. There is an image of a lady in
the fourth cave temple, who has believed to attain Moksha by performing
Santhara.
It was almost 3 hours we were roaming around in the cave temples. Our guide did a
great job explaining us the archeological and religious importance of the Badami
cave temples. He charged five hundred rupees for 3 hours. However, I felt that it
was worth every penny. I walked around an clicked a few photos of the Agastya lake
and that of the Lower Shivalaya as seen from the Badami cave temples. Thankfully,
none of the monkeys took particular interest in us. We bid goodbye to the cave
temples by noon and proceeded with the next items in our itinerary.