The Chalukyans were a very important dynasty that ruled from 5'th - 8'th century A.D . While they ruled a good part of central-south India, the relics of that culture are concentrated in three important towns - Badami, Aihole and Pattadkal . Chalukyan period dates much back compared to the other famous temple places in karnataka - such as the Belur/Halebid or Hampi . It was always on the back of my mind that I had never visited such important places of historical interest while being in close proximity to them and decided that i would do it this time around.
we decided almost at the last moment to hire a Toyota Innova cab , especially given my concerns of the quality of roads which my Honda can't deal with. This was to be a father and son trip only - due to obvious constraints. Since we departed from Dharwad , the Planned route to Badami : SH-28 to Hebsur which then joins the Hubli-Bijapur-Gulbarga highway NH-218 , then Navalgund , Nargund , a right after Nargund on SH-134 also called the Badami Road.
The view of SH-28 from the hired Innova cab - the early morning sun rays gleaming through the trees . The state highways - provided the roads are good make for a very refreshing drive.
The North Karnataka belt has very characteristic Black soil .
On the Badami Road , we stopped to let Nachiket touch the cotton plant.
The Pearl Millet is grown and consumed extensively in North Karnataka - called Sajje/Sajji in Kannada and Bajra/Bajri in rest of India . I don't actually recall having noticed this before , so a welcome change to see a different kind of grain .
Our cab driver suggested that we directly go to Pattadkal first. A while after Badami the road reaches a junction, keep to the right to go to Pattadkal . The left leads to Guledgud and the sign post isn't very clear , so exercise caution here . Pattakdkal is another 22 kms from Badami.
Pattadkal - the name means "Coronation stone" . There's just one big area having many many temples with a well maintained garden , on the bank of river Mallaprabha . Pattadkal was the sacred place and was used for the coronation of many Chalukyan kings.
The temples at Pattadkal are built by Chalukyans of the latter period - from 7'th-8'th century AD. Shaivism was dominant after Vikramaditya-I who turned Shaivite from being a Vaishnaivite . All the following kings were Shaivites too - Hence, every temple here is dedicated to Lord Shiva going by various names : Galganatha , Virupaksha , Mallikarjuna etc
Among the 3 sites , Pattadkal is the only one that's declared a world heritage site . The temples built here are in both the North-Indian RekhaNagar style ( seen as in temples of Puri , Jagannath , Konark ) and South-Indian Dravid-Vimana style ( seen in Tamil Nadu ) . Again , we see temples in both Sandara and Niradhara forms differentiated by whether or not we have a Pradakshina pathway surrounding the Garbha-Griha.
The other interesting aspect of temples are the symmetrical art-forms used for the windows and the concept of interlocking stones used to build these structures standing tall even today. The guide also explained the intricacies of the Platform on which the Lingam is built upon having square , hexagonal and circular forms within !
Only the Virupaksha temple is Pooja-worthy and we are required to remove the footwear before entering this temple . The temple has a variety of sculptures depicting many interesting episodes from Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagavata , as well as popular Janapada stories . It was interesting to get a peek into what aspects of Hindu beliefs and lifestyle was in vogue during those periods.
The Shiva Linga in the Virupaksha form is all resplendent in surrounding darkness :
The Large Nandi opposite to the Virupaksha :
Father and Son pose :
The Malaprabha River wasn't full given the low Monsoon this time around :
From here, after sampling the taste of good sliced guava fruits , we set out to Aihole which is another 13 kms from Pattadkal.
Aihole has actually got the biggest dispersion of Chalukyan temples - some 120 odd in total . The whole town is interspersed with temples - we found the town dirty and could be maintained much better to attract more tourists .
Aihole in fact has the most varied and interesting forms of temples and has been called one of the cradles of Indian temple architecture. Here, most temples were actually being used as residences when the archaelogical society started to preserve them as monuments - hence many temples go by names of people who resided there - such as Lad Khan temple etc.
The RavanaPhadi cave temple below is astounding and goes back to 6'th century AD.
There is one major temple complex area in the centre of Aihole maintained by the ASI and has similar temple complex surrounded by well maintained gardens.
The famous Durga Gudi - also called "Parliament temple"' is the important attraction here. The locals claim that the Indian Parliament is modelled after this ! The temple actually resembles a Buddha Chaitya in construction .
The other temples as glanced from the Durga Gudi :
Exquisite pillar craftsmanship :
Outside the complex , i had a chance to taste a long tradition still available in parts of North karnataka : Curds prepared in small pots at home , brought/sold with a spoon of sugar - a real healthy treat in the hot regions . I hope this stays in days to come ...
After this, we drove back to Badami. On the route back we pass the MahaKoota and the Banashankari - i decided to give both places a miss this time around.
Just on the outskirts of Badami, we stopped at the Badami Court Hotel - we ended up having a good Lunch buffet in an AC restuarant at 350/- per head .
we decided to visit the main attraction in Badami - the stupendous rock cut cave temples , also called "Menada Basadi" in local lingo. There are four sets of cave temples , each accessed by climbing staircases carved out in the rocky hill .
The first temple is a Shiva temple :
The wall of the first cave temple has a depiction of Shiva as NataRaja - Dancing with 18 hands. Other sculptures depicting Ardha-Narishwara , HariHara and GajaVrishabha also are depicted.
The second temple is also a shiva temple :
I found the scuplture reproducing the wheel with Fishes (aimed at by Arjuna) remarkable :
Varaha(Boar) reincarnation of Vishnu was widely worshipped in those times :
So was the Vamana(dwarf) or Trivikrama incarnation . Both these are virtually obsolete from the present day Hindu worship ...
Climb again !
The third cave : the vishnu cave temple.
An amazing pillar perspective with the Narasimha(Human+Lion) incarnation of Vishnu inside can be seen. The Vishnu on Adishesha is on the opposite end.
The final and fourth cave has the Jain temple : Parshvanath , Bahubali with creepers growing on him while in meditation (shown below) in the walls and Mahavira in the Garbha Griha .
The picturesque Agasthya Tirtha Tank and Bhootnath temple can be seen from the very top . The wedding in the film Guru was shot here .
The opposite hill and the shiva temple on the top can be seen. This hill and the ramparts are very popular with films Rowdy Rathore and others having been shot here .
we descended down and bid adieu to the grand historical places.
As the fields again whizzed past, i couldn't help but reminisce about how human beings are creatures of their times - their efforts to imprint forever in the sands of time - in order to remind future generations of how they lived and what they achieved .
