In my previous post, i spoke about HAMPI and also shared some incredible pictures captured by us. Now this post will talk more about BADAMI caves and Pattadakal. In my next post, i will talk about Aihole and Sangama.
BADAMI CAVES:
After having breakfast around 8AM, we left to BADAMI caves. We were first on that day to visit the caves. We parked our car, took entry tickets. The climate was little cooler as Sun was still on its way :)
First, let me tell you what exactly this place is:
Badami was the capital of the Early Chalukyas (6-8 Century AD), who had ruled much of Karnataka at that point of time. It lies at the mouth of a ravine with rocky hills on either side and a town tank in which water from the ravine flows.
The Badami cave temples are a complex of temples located at Badami, a town in the Bagalkot District in the north part of Karnataka, India. They are considered an example of Indian rock-cut architecture which is carved out on cliff of the sandstone hill.
There are 5 caves in total and among those, 1 is a natural cave. The caves are not very deep inside but OK type.
Cave 1: This cave is dedicated to Shiva.
Cave 2: This cave is dedicated to Vishnu.
Cave 3: This cave is dedicated to Vishnu.
Cave 4: This cave is dedicated to Jain Gods.
We saw a mill stones near 3rd cave. These are huge ones, you can see picture below.
Some of the carvings were not completed and i was wondering what could be the reason for the incompletion.
There were few markings which i found and assumed these were some sort of game which people used to play to pass their time. There were old Kannada inscriptions as well at many places.
From the cliff, we can see many temples and buildings of chalukyas all over. One among them is the "Agasythya Tank" which really gives us a picturesque scene.
After wondering about all these carvings, we were now ready for our next destination "Pattadakal". I was really happy with Badami caves and was never disappointed :)
The road condition to Pattadakal was horrible. The sun was really hot and we could feel the heat. Badami to Pattadakal is around 22kms. On the way, we got a V-junction road, before we could open the glass ask the exact route, the villager staight away pointed the route to Pattadakal :-). We continued towards the pointed route, Ahhh!!! there you go.... we were blocked by a drove of bullocks as if they were doing a protesting for something. We waited till the way became clear to pass through.
We reached the destination after driving for 30 minutes. The sun was on high and we did not have a shaded place park our car.
PATTADAKAL:
Pattadakal lies on the banks of the Malaprabha River. These group of monuments are from 8th Century AD which are the culmination of the earliest experiments in the vesara style of Hindu temple architecture. The town displays both Dravidian (Southern) and the Nagara (Northern, Indo-Aryan) styles of temple architecture.
Pattadakal consists of Virupaksha Temple, Sangameshvara Temple, Mallikarjuna Temple, Kashivisvanatha Temple, Kadasiddhesvara and Jambulingeswara temples, Jain temples and Galaganatha temple.
We bought the entry tickets and proceeded. Ah!!! we stopped seeing Pattadakal architectures and were driven by bird watching. There were different species of birds there. We started gazing at those birds and spent around 30-45 minutes. I am not a bird-watcher, but really i don't know how i started to show interest in bird watching :-). It was a new experience for me.
Later, we went on the see those amazing architectures.
You can also view some ancient window carvings pictures in one of my posts as i have already posted too many pics in this post itself (Link will be udpated shortly).
After coming out, we ate village food offered by an village lady (jolada rotti oota - A typical north Karnataka unleavened indian bread made out of Jowar) + a small bottle full of Butter milk. We were full and went back to take our positions in the car. OMGGGGG!!!!! We were inside a oven.... It was so hot inside and i could feel my base and back burning due to heat. We opened the windows and turned on A/C. After travelling in the oven for sometime, we were little ok and finally were back on track.
Now what next? It is Aihole and Sangama... Wait for my next post :-)
You may also like to read :
North Karnataka Road Trip in Car - Part I
North Karnataka Road Trip in Car - Part II
BADAMI CAVES:
After having breakfast around 8AM, we left to BADAMI caves. We were first on that day to visit the caves. We parked our car, took entry tickets. The climate was little cooler as Sun was still on its way :)
First, let me tell you what exactly this place is:
Badami was the capital of the Early Chalukyas (6-8 Century AD), who had ruled much of Karnataka at that point of time. It lies at the mouth of a ravine with rocky hills on either side and a town tank in which water from the ravine flows.
The Badami cave temples are a complex of temples located at Badami, a town in the Bagalkot District in the north part of Karnataka, India. They are considered an example of Indian rock-cut architecture which is carved out on cliff of the sandstone hill.
There are 5 caves in total and among those, 1 is a natural cave. The caves are not very deep inside but OK type.
Cave 1: This cave is dedicated to Shiva.
Cave 2: This cave is dedicated to Vishnu.
Cave 3: This cave is dedicated to Vishnu.
Cave 4: This cave is dedicated to Jain Gods.
We saw a mill stones near 3rd cave. These are huge ones, you can see picture below.
Some of the carvings were not completed and i was wondering what could be the reason for the incompletion.
There were few markings which i found and assumed these were some sort of game which people used to play to pass their time. There were old Kannada inscriptions as well at many places.
From the cliff, we can see many temples and buildings of chalukyas all over. One among them is the "Agasythya Tank" which really gives us a picturesque scene.
After wondering about all these carvings, we were now ready for our next destination "Pattadakal". I was really happy with Badami caves and was never disappointed :)
The road condition to Pattadakal was horrible. The sun was really hot and we could feel the heat. Badami to Pattadakal is around 22kms. On the way, we got a V-junction road, before we could open the glass ask the exact route, the villager staight away pointed the route to Pattadakal :-). We continued towards the pointed route, Ahhh!!! there you go.... we were blocked by a drove of bullocks as if they were doing a protesting for something. We waited till the way became clear to pass through.
We reached the destination after driving for 30 minutes. The sun was on high and we did not have a shaded place park our car.
PATTADAKAL:
Pattadakal lies on the banks of the Malaprabha River. These group of monuments are from 8th Century AD which are the culmination of the earliest experiments in the vesara style of Hindu temple architecture. The town displays both Dravidian (Southern) and the Nagara (Northern, Indo-Aryan) styles of temple architecture.
Pattadakal consists of Virupaksha Temple, Sangameshvara Temple, Mallikarjuna Temple, Kashivisvanatha Temple, Kadasiddhesvara and Jambulingeswara temples, Jain temples and Galaganatha temple.
We bought the entry tickets and proceeded. Ah!!! we stopped seeing Pattadakal architectures and were driven by bird watching. There were different species of birds there. We started gazing at those birds and spent around 30-45 minutes. I am not a bird-watcher, but really i don't know how i started to show interest in bird watching :-). It was a new experience for me.
Later, we went on the see those amazing architectures.
You can also view some ancient window carvings pictures in one of my posts as i have already posted too many pics in this post itself (Link will be udpated shortly).
After coming out, we ate village food offered by an village lady (jolada rotti oota - A typical north Karnataka unleavened indian bread made out of Jowar) + a small bottle full of Butter milk. We were full and went back to take our positions in the car. OMGGGGG!!!!! We were inside a oven.... It was so hot inside and i could feel my base and back burning due to heat. We opened the windows and turned on A/C. After travelling in the oven for sometime, we were little ok and finally were back on track.
Now what next? It is Aihole and Sangama... Wait for my next post :-)
You may also like to read :
North Karnataka Road Trip in Car - Part I
North Karnataka Road Trip in Car - Part II
