The Chalukya Heartland – Badami

Some times the history, the geography, the weather and the people of a place adds to the dynamics of a travel experience, often enriching it. That’s what happened to us at Badami.

After being to Ajanta, Ellora, Kanheri, Pandavleni and the Elephanta cave temples, we have remained overawed by the sheer ability of human beings to ‘create.’ Intricate carvings, artworks, massive lifelike statues, astounding temples carved out of rock … all thousands of years back, without any sophisticated tools and technologies. Badami was no different and only added to that awe. The carvings were fuller and realistic, perhaps because of sandstone being softer.

Badami might not have the status of Hampi; nonetheless it is of a similar class. Poetry in stone. Badami has both rock-cut cave temples and rock temples. The current small town is around the hills with its old temples and caves. Two fortified hillocks facing each other and a lake in between add to the beauty. One of the hills has cave temples while the other has rock temples.

Badami was the capital of the Chalukyas and the temples were built between 500 and 700 AD. The architecture is distinctively Chalukyas. The first three cave temples are dedicated to the vedic gods while the last one is a Jain temple.

We traveled to Badami during monsoons. The red stones, when wet, changes to a different hue. An intermittent waterfall and the greenery complete the beauty—that’s the contribution by the weather

Climbing up to the hilltop rock temples on the other side too was an experience. The pathway weaves up through the deep wedges between massive rocks—some times as high as the hill itself—reminding us of the canyons seen in Mackenna’s Gold.

The Bhootnath temple at one end of the lake with the waterfall in the background is perhaps the most beautiful. The placid green lake. Half of the perimeter covered by neatly laid steps. One can spend hours by the steps enjoying the cool breeze and calmness.

There is a museum at the base of the hill; our visit was on its weekly holiday.

Badami is in Bagalkote district of Karnataka, around 160 km from Belgaum and about 38 km from Bagalkote town. There are hotels in Badami. We stayed at the Mayura Chalukya by Karnataka Tourism Development Corporation. A day is good enough to cover Badami. Apart from the 3–4 months during summer, one can travel anytime. For the history and archeology buffs, there is more stuff online to read about Badami.