Badami - The land of Golden Age, Architecture and Art

Wow what a spectacular beauty Badami is.... On a breezy monsoon day with a 9 hrs long drive from Bangalore we reached Badami and trust me its a spectacular wonder... The cave temples, The hill complex, the lake and the waterfall on a peak monsoon is an amazing site to be seen.. 

There are at-least 10 plus monuments to see and explore there.. Plan to be there for a day so that u can see and cover all the places around...Stay can be done in Badami city...Badami Chalukyas left a big marvel for everyone of us...Badami can be combined with Aihole, Patadakkal and Mahakoota on a weekend...

Places to see :

Bhutanatha temple complex, next to a waterfall during the monsoon

Agastya Lake

Vishnu seated on Adishesha

Brahma on Hamsa in Cave 3 ceiling

Bahubali in cave 4

Jain Parshvanatha in cave 4

Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma in a small rock carving monument

Yellamma temple at Badami, early phase construction, 11th century

Mosque in Badami

Northern Fort Temple

Badami, formerly known as Vatapi, is a town and headquarters of a taluk by the same name, in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka, India. It was the regal capital of the Badami Chalukyas from AD 540 to 757. It is famous for its rock cut structural temples. 

         

It is located in a ravine at the foot of a rugged, red sandstone outcrop that surrounds Agastya lake. Badami has been selected as one of the heritage cities for HRIDAY - Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme of Government of India.

Inscriptions

Badami has eighteen inscriptions, among them some inscriptions are important. The first Sanskrit inscription in old Kannada script, on a hillock dates back to 543 CE, from the period of Pulakeshin I (Vallabheswara), the second is the 578 CE cave inscription of Mangalesha in Kannada language and script and the third is the Kappe Arabhatta records, the earliest available Kannada poetry in tripadi (three line) metre. 

one inscription near the Bhuthanatha temple also has inscriptions dating back to the 12th century in Jain rock-cut temple dedicated to the Tirtankara Adinatha.

Kingdoms

Badami Chalukyas was founded in AD 540 by Pulakeshin I (AD 535–566), an early ruler of the Chalukyas is generally regarded as the founder of the Early Chalukya line. An inscription record of this king engraved on a boulder in Badami records the fortification of the hill above "Vatapi" in 544. Pulakeshin's choice of this location for his capital was no doubt dedicated by strategic considerations since Badami is protected on three sides by rugged sandstone cliffs. 

His sons Kirtivarman I (AD 567–598) and his brother Mangalesha (AD 598–610) constructed the cave temples. Kirtivarman I strengthened Vatapi and had three sons Pulakeshin II, Vishnuvardhana and Buddhavarasa, who at his death were minors, thus making them ineligible to rule, so Kirtivarman I's brother Mangalesha took the throne and tried to establish rule, only to be killed by Pulakeshin II who ruled between AD 610 to 642.[7] Vatapi was the capital of the Early Chalukyas, who ruled much of Karnataka, Maharashtra, parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh between the 6th and 8th centuries. The greatest among them was Pulakeshin II (AD 610–642) who defeated many kings including the Pallavas of Kanchipuram.