Chalukyan gems - Badami, Aihole & Pattadakal and Kudalasangama

If you are visiting Hampi to see the glorious Vijayanagaran kingdom, journeying north-westwards for about 150 KMs, will take you back another 8 centuries to the Chalukyan cities of Badami, Pattadakal and Aihole (6th to 12th century).

Bhoothnatha temple by the Agasthya Lake, Badami. It's magical to sit on the lake steps on the western end and see the sun lighting up the hills and the Bhoothanatha temple on the eastern side close to the sunset time.

The history around the Chalukyan empire is a simple 'survival of the fittest'. Feudal lords under Kadamba kingdom established an empire of their own (Badami Chalukyas) taking advantage of weak Kadamba leadership and similarly owing to weak kings, the Badami Chalukyas not only split into independent dynasties of Eastern Chalukyas and Western Chalukyas but eventually the kings became feudal lords again under the Rashtrakutas. 

The Chalukyas in their period of rule controlled the region between Kaveri and Narmada rivers and for the huge kingdom that it was, they did all the right things - administered effectively, facilitated trade and commerce and patronised art, architecture and local language literature. And like the Vijayanagara empire all that remains today are the monuments that they built and the works of literature that they had encouraged.

The temple building started off with building of cave temples in Aihole in early 6th century and then the beautiful cave temples in Badami which are UNESCO world heritage monuments. Then they started experimenting with temple building using locally available red sandstone at Aihole and then as the capital was shifted to Badami(called Vatapi back then) the temple building continued there. Many different styles of architecture were experimented upon in Aihole - the South Indian Dravidian, the North Indian Nagara, the Buddhist and Jain styles - there are around 70 temples spread over a large area in Aihole that have been excavated so far, little wonder then that the place is called 'the cradle of Indian temple architecture'.

Durga temple, Aihole

The temples that were built later in 8th century in Pattadakal shows progressively complex designs and is where the Chalukyan architecture blossomed. There are 10 temples in the Pattadakal compex, in Dravidian style, Nagara style as well as fusion of the two. This is another UNESCO World heritage site. 

Archaeological Society of India ('ASI') has as everywhere else, done a great job of preserving the monuments within the complex but it's the abject indifference to the immediate surroundings that left me disturbed. A small village of Pattadakal and such it would have remained but for the world's discovery of the Chalukyan monuments. What was once the village's 'toilet zone' was usurped and a road built on it which now runs parallel to the complex but as no alternate arrangement was made for villagers the place continues to be used by the villagers as their restroom and the visitors are left to precariously make their way through it all to the complex cursing the uncouth villagers perhaps but lets spare a thought for the villagers - what circumstance force them to take position on an open road in the wee hours of the morning facing these heritage monuments.  

R to L-8th century Sangameshwara temple and towers of 7th century Jambulinga and 8th century Galaganatha temples, Pattadakal

I found the temples at Aihole and Pattadakal to be beautiful but the cave temples in Badami are just magnificent. The caves were sculpted in the red sandstone mountains to make temples, then the walls, ceilings and pillars were carved and sculpted upon. The 'Agastya Thirtha' (an artificial pond, surrounded by the cave temples and hills), Bhoothnatha temples at the farther end of this pond all make Badami very special.

Agasthya Lake, Bhoothnatha temple and the surrounding sandstone hills in Badami in the evening light

The Western Chalukyas became the conceptual link between the Chalukyan architecture and the lovely 13th century Hoysala architecture of Belur, Halebeedu and Somanathapura fame.

5th century Gaudaragudi temple, Aihole

9th century Badigere temple, Aihole. 

Sculptures in Durga temple in Aihole temple complex

The temples in Aihole, Pattadakal and Badami remarkably escaped the fate that befell Hampi. In fact, the temples in Aihole were even occupied by local people and today are identified by the people who had occupied them. But of all the temples, the Virupaksha temple in Pattadakal is the only functional templ. The idols are missing from most other temples.

7th century Kada Siddheswara temple, 8th century Kashi Vishveshwara temple(both in Nagara style) and the Pattadakal temple complex.

8th Century Virupaksha temple in Pattadakal built in Dravidian style of architecture by the queen to commemorate the king's conquest of Kanchi

8th century Mallikarjuna temple in Pattadakal, a replica of the Virupaksha temple, built by the younger queen to commemorate the same victory over the kingdom of Kanchi. 

Badami cave temples

4 temples carved out in the sandstone hills - non-load bearing decorative pillars with carvings on them, the front portion of the caves with natural light to brighten them have huge sculptures of Gods on the walls and similarly decorated ceiling. The interior of the temples with less or no light have no such beautifying carvings and so are the now empty sanctum sanctorums. 

Cave 1: The oldest of the cave temples, dedicated to Shiva and carved in 543 AD. There are huge sculptures on the walls of 18 armed Nataraja, Mahishasura Mardina, Ardha Narishwara and Harihara. Also popular are the flat-tummy Ganesha ('Vatapi Ganesh') who is popular with performing artists and a sculpture of Elephant and Bull which share a head. 

Cave 2: Dedicated to Vishnu, has sculptures of incarnations of Vishnu - Vamana and Varaha.

Cave 3: Dedicated to Vishnu as well and built by Mangalesha, the king's brother. This cave is very wide and has a beautiful sculpture of Vishnu sitting on Adishesha. Also has sculptures of a standing, victorious Vijaya Narasimha and another standing Vishnu. 

Cave 4: A Jain temple

There are many other temples surrounding the Agastya lake as also traces from pre-historic times. 

Cave temples of Badami - the 'Shaiva' cave temple is visible and also can glimpse the Vishnu cave temple higher up. 

Interior of the Shiva cave temple, Badami 

Sculptures in the Badami Cave temples - Clockwise from Top left- MahaVishnu sitting on Adishesha and the pillared view from the other end of the temple, an 18-armed dancing Nataraja(supposedly this sculpture covers all the possible 108 hand postures in Bharathanatya)  with Ganesha dancing with his father while Nandi is nodding his approval and the percussionist(I don't remember who this is) is drumming up the beats, Varaha, the boar incarnation of Vishnu rescuing mother earth and a victorious Narasimha after killing the demon king, Hiranyakashyapu.

Vamana in the Badami cave temples and Mr Raju, an excellent guide to tour these temples with

The Jain cave at the highest level, Badami

Clockwise from Top: De-husked corn laid out to dry, a village house with a dog snoozing on the cart, a millet field with onions laid out to dry and dry stalks staked up for future use as fodder, a Sunflower field and nomadic sheep herders. 

Agstya lake, Badami 

All the monuments in Badami, Aihole and Pattadakal are open from 6AM to 6PM everyday and museums in Aihole and Badami are open from 10 AM to 5 PM and closed on Fridays. The entrance fee to each of the monument is very nominal but the guide fees is not as nominal but definitely worth the cost especially if one is lucky to have a good guide. In October 2016, we paid Rs 400, Rs 400 and Rs 500 for guides in Aihole, Pattadakal and Badami respectively.  Of course, one can negotiate with the ASI registered guides and could also split the cost by taking the tour along with another family/group.

Places close by worth a visit:

Banashakari temple: The goddess has been worshipped since before the Chalukyan period, a temple was built by Rashtrakutas in 9th century and the present day temple belongs to the Vijayanagara period.

Mahakuta: Temple of Muhakuteshwara with temple probably belonging to the Chalukyan era.

Kudalasangama: Temple of Sangameshwara with the temple built in the Chalukyan era which has been almost completely renovated today, situated at the confluence of Krishna, Ghataprabha and Malaprabha. It was an important centre for learning in the 12th century, the Lingayat guru, Basaveshswara studied here and then later on left for his heavenly abode on the shores of the confluence of the rivers. A beautiful monument has been built at the place ('Aikya Mantapa') where he is buried and the spot is also marked by a 'self manifested' linga.

Kudalasangama

Ilkal: If you are in Kudalasangama, do visit this town en route for beautiful and unique 'Ilkal' cotton sarees.