Badami Fort

Badami fort was in the other side on the top of Hill.Path following the fort is between the rocks,with very narrow openings and stairs taking you to the top of the hill.




Some ruins at the top



From one end of the fort entire Badami town is visible.There i spotted a Canon guarding the walls of the fort


My guide


On the other side there is Malegitti Shivalaya, perhaps the oldest temple of the lot.The temple is placed on the rocky hill and made out of stone, finely joined without mortar, & with Dravidian tower.





Agastya Lake

Cute kid..with little posergiri




Bhootnath temple

Bhootnath is another form of Lord Shiva as God of souls, spirits and ghosts. Bhootnath temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva, the destroyer. The temple all dark inside has an image of Shiva in an angry and irate temper.Unfortunately i was too late,Temple gets closed by 6PM.





There is one Buddha cave nearby




I was too tired..took my bike and went back to the Hotel.Had couple of canes of beer and slept in peace.

MORE TO COME
DAY 2 LOG

Cheers
Biru

DAY 2

The Guide, who showed me around the places in Badami, promised me that he will take me to the Aihole, Pattadkal and Mahakuta in the morning.He agreed with a nominal charge of 50 rs for all these places.
I showed him my hotel and asked him to come early morning 6 AM to wake me up. And he was right on time. He started shouting outside the room in the local language, later he started banging the door. I decided to give up the laziness and open the door.
I asked him to wait for couple of mins so that I can get refreshed and have a bath.
We started for Mahakuta at 7 Am which was the nearest destination to be visted.Around 12-15 Kms.
Mahakuta TempleMore to Come
Pattadkal
Aihole
Back to Mumbai

Pattadakal



Pattadkal temple complex is set along the banks of the Malaprabha River, the beautiful village of Pattadakal is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its ancient temple complex.The sacred temple complex of Pattadakal consists of 10 major temples, each filled with beautifully textured carvings and pillars.

Galaganath Temple

A typical Nagara temple with the curvilinera shikhara,the galaganatha is assigned to the 8th century AD.The finial has a an Amalaka and Kalasha.It has a slanting roof.The plinth is 40 feet in length and 30 feet in breadth.The garbhagriha lintel has a fine dancing shiv and images of Ganga Jamuna on the doorframe.The southern wall has a huge vigorous Andhakasura Vadha sculpture.Its unique design and imposing shikhara are very impressive.





Sangameshwara Temple

Temple was buit by chalukya emperor Vijayaditya (696-733) and Orignally called Vijayeshwara,the Sangameshwara temple impresses one by its striking simplicity.The huge temple has main shrine and two subsidary ones.The nine lattice window allwoing light into the circamambulatory path are unique in thier geomatrical patterns and skilled workmanship.The thick and heavy walls of the temple have unfinished images of Vishnu,Varaha , Gajasuramardana,siva accompanied by nandi etc.Queer dwarf looks like carrying the weight of the temple.



The Kashi Vishveshwara temples

Buit with Nagara (Curvilinear ) Shkhara and about 40 feet in length and 25 feet in breadth,this temple is a 8th century creation.



Mallikarjuna Temple

Its is a smaller version of the Virupaksha temple and was built by Vikramadiyta's second queen Trilokyamahadevi in 745 CE. The ceiling has panels of Gajalakshmi & Nataraja with Parvathi. Pillars in the temple depict the birth & life of Krishna. There are sculptures of Mahishasuramardini &
Ugranarasimha







Virupaksha temple

It was built by the queens of Vikramaditya II in honor of his victorious battle against the Pallavas of Kanchi in the year 735 CE and the temples were named by them after themselves as the Lokeshwara (by Lokadevi) and Trailokeshwara (by Trailokadevi), which came to be known as the Virupaksha and the Mallikarjuna respectively. The temple is rich in sculpture like those of Lingodbhava, Nataraja, Ravananugraha & Ugranarasimha. Built in the southern Dravida style, it is the largest temple in the enclosure.
The Virupaksha temple, probably the most beautiful of all temples here is in the south Indian style and is almost a replica of the Kailasanatha temple of Kanchi. The 18 pillars in the temple has carvings depicting scenes from the puranas in each of them. There are also carvings of Ravananugrahamurthy, Narasimha, Gajendramoksham, the dance of Shiva.















Papanatha temple

It is built in the vesara style dated to 680. The temple was started in nagara style but later changed to a more balanced Dravidian style. Sculptures here speak of scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharatha. This temple has many similarities with the Navabrahma temples in Alampur, Andhra Pradesh, which were also built by Badami Chalukyas.





Cheers
Biru

Aihole

Aihole is around 15-20 kms more from Pattadkal.Aihole was the first capital of the early Chalukyas. Aihole is to the west of Badami, along the Malaprabha river, while Pattadakal is to the east.

Durga Temple

The Durga (Fort) Temple is notable for its semicircular apes, elevated plinth and the gallery that encircles the sanctum. The interior is filled with fascinating carvings. Chamundi Devi trampling the buffalo demon, Narasimha - the half-man, half-female deity. Then there is image of the fearsome Mahishasuramardini or the Mother Goddess Durga destroying the demon Mahisha. The temple appears to be of the late 7th or early 8th century. Then there is image of the fearsome Mahishasuramardini or the Mother Goddess Durga destroying the demon Mahisha.





Suryanarayan Temple





Ladkhan Temple

The temple was built in late 7th or early 8th century.The oldest temple here is, perhaps, the Lad Khan temple located south of the Durga Temple. It consists of a shrine with two mantapas in front of it. The God here is Lord Shiva.The temple was built in a Panchayat style, indicating a very early experiment in temple construction.The windows were filled up with lattice work in the northern style and the sanctum was added later on.In front of the sanctum there are a set of 12 carved pillars.Above the center of the hall, facing the sanctum, is a second smaller sanctum with images carved on the outer walls.




Gaudar Gudi



Chakra Mandir







Ambigera gudi complex

Bang opposite to Durga Temple.The temple stands on a elevated platform and appears to be a 10th century creation.The complex has got its name from the Ambigera community which stayed near it.



On our way back we spotted the Galganatha group of temple 1 Km inside the road.Again on the bank of the river Malaprabha.







Aihole has many more other temple's and one cave to be visited but i was out of time.It was already Sunday afternoon and i had to get back to Mumbai by
Night.
I left the Guide to Badami,with the kind words of Thankyou and 50rs note.I offered him lunch.Together we had lunch and i started on my way back to Mumbai.

While coming to Badami,I knew that i took the long route which was via Bagalkot.So i enquired a bit about the shortest route possible to Yergatti.Most of them suggested to go via highway to avoid bad roads.Alternatively they didn't knew the short cut.Finally my effort gave me some positive results and came to knwo about the below route.

Yergatti <- Lokapur <- Batkurki <- Kerur <- Badami ( Road is in OK OK condition )

This saved almost 50 extra kms,zero traffic and most important thing no irritating speed breakers.
Rest of the route was very familiar for me.Yergatti to Sankeshwar and then get to the NH4 to reach Mumbai.

I drove all the way to Mumbai with Hardly 3-4 breaks in between and managed to reach home at 9 PM.
Another beautiful dive into the historical places of North Karnataka completed with ease.

Cheers
Biru