Romancing the stone in Badami

Bhutnath temple, Badami

Winter morning in Chennai is nothing special for people like us who love chilly air and colourful wollens. But passion die hard and so the heart goes off in holiday mood as soon as the calender page turns to the last month of year. Memories crowd mind, nostalgia bites hard and I try to relive those olden days.

 

Difficult, rather impossible to go back to those days. But the heart breaks free and cross the barrier of daily life; it wants to touch the untouchable, the most desirable love lost along the path already crossed long back. 

Last December I was bitten by this deadly virus called nostalgia and went that extra mile to have a holiday all by myself. Denying all invitations from friends, I went out all by myself, destined to a place where I could go back in time and have some dreams of my own.

This time I packed my bag and boarded an early morning bus out of Chennai to Bangalore and then boarded a night train to my ultimate destination with my nostalgia safely packed in my mind.

On a bright winter morning I reached Badami, the capital of the early Chalukyas, who ruled much of Karnataka & Andhra Pradesh between the 6th and 8th centuries. It was founded in 540 AD by Pulakesi I (535-566 AD), an early ruler of the Chalukyas.

Badami is famous for rock cut and other structural temples. It is located in a ravine at the foot of a rugged, red sandstone outcrop that surrounds Agastya lake. It is also believed that name Badami has come from colour of its stone.

A casual glance around the Railway station took me back in memories. I took an auto rickshaw to reach the town approximately 6km. away. The country side landscape and the winter breeze completed my transformation to my childhood which was spent in remote village in West Bengal.
 
After a quick shower and breakfast I started off for the legendry Cave temple sculpted mostly between the 6th and 8th centuries. The four cave temples represent the secular nature of the rulers with tolerance and a religious following that inclines towards Hinduism, Buddhism & Jainism.


Way to Badami Cave temple complex

Cave temple 1 may be the oldest in Badami. It is made of red sandstone and has a hall with numerous pillars and a square shaped sanctum hollowed in the control back wall. There are paintings of amorous couples on the ceiling. Other features include Shiva and his consort Parvati with a coiled serpent and the 18 armed lord Nataraja in 81 dancing poses.

Cave temple 2 is dedicated to Vishnu with one foot mastering the Earth and the other the sky.


Mahavishnu In Badami Cave temple

Cave temple 3 dates back to 578 AD. The façade of the cave is nearly 70 feet wide, with carvings of Ganesh on the plinth. It contains examples of Deccan art, illustrating the culture and clothing of the 6th century.


Badami Cave temple

Cave temple 4 relates to 6th century Jainism. There is a carving of the Tirthankara Parshavnatha (with a serpent at his feet). Mahavira is depicted in a sitting posture.

The Cave temple complex is situated on the bank of  beautiful Agasthya lake. On the opposite side of the lake, lies Badami Fort atop a cliff. The entrance to this is right through the Badami museum. It is a steep climb with many view points and dotted with little shrines. The path is laid with neatly cut stone, the same that adores all the architecture around.


Agasthya Lake and the locales

On the western side of this cliff  is Bhutanatha group of temples facing the Agasythya Tank. The Bhutanatha group of temples is a cluster of sandstone shrines dedicated to the deity Bhutanatha. There are two major temples here. Temple No.1, on the east side of the lake, called the Bhutanatha temple. It has a superstructure that resembles early South Indian style or North Indian style with its open mantapa (hall or veranda) extending into the lake, while the smaller Temple No.2 on the north-east side of the lake, sometimes called Mallikarjuna group of temples, has a stepped superstructure, commonly found in Kalyani Chalukya constructions.
 

Lying Vishnu

I spent the first day in and around the Cave Temple and Bhutnath Temple complex. Once again I witnessed my childhood in the school children thronging the Cave complex throughout the day. My nostalgia was far away, nestled somewhere deep inside my heart and wanted to come out with every passing hour.


Little Historians in Badami Cave Complex

During the end of the day, I came down the steps of Agasthya lake and sat next to the water. The setting Sun was casting its magical spell, everything on the planet was getting ready for another night. All of a sudden I felt my nostalgia, my muse, my passionate love descending on me with its fascinating charm. For a moment I was possessed, I could hear those sounds, I could smell and even see those lovely days I wanted to go back to; I was just short of extending my hands and touch it when someone's cell phone started ringing in a high pitch. I shuddered back and it was halogen lights all around me glowing in harsh reality; nothing else was there. It was very short lived rendezvous but still my longing to meet my muse was answered and my mind attained some kind of peace I was dying for.



The Magical Sunset over Agasthya lake

I returned to my hotel and found that I had taken many pictures not only during the day but also in that magical evening.

 Photographically my favourite image of the day was the picture of a Buddhist cave which can be entered only by crawling on the knees.



Buddha in a small cave

 Apart from the historical values Badami is also famous for its red sand stone cliffs which are popular amongst local and international climbers. This is great location for free and sport climbing and bouldering.

Next day very early morning I started off for Aihole and Pattadakal, the two other prominent cities of Chalukya dynasty. Although I reached the famous Aihole Durga Temple Complex before Sunrise, I had to wait for the official opening time for entry.

 Aihoḷe is one of the most notable places in the history of art of Karnataka. The village has 125 temples divided into 22 groups by the archaeological department. Aihoḷe has been described as one of the cradles of temple architecture. Of late some brick structures of pre-Chalukyan times have also been excavated. It was the first capital of thye early Chalukyas.






An water tank in Durga temple complex

According to mythology, Aihole is the place where Parashurama washed his axe after killing the Kshatriyas.

The first phase of temple building in Aihole dates back to the 6th century CE, the second phase up to the 12th century CE. Some temples were even built as early as the 5th century CE.




Durga temple in Aihole

Durga temple or fortress temple is the best known of the Aihole temples and is very photogenic. It is apsidal in plan, along the lines of a Buddhist chaitya, a high moulded adisthana and a tower - curvilinear shikhara. A pillared corridor runs around the temple, enveloping the shrine, the mukhamantapa and the sabhamantapa. All through the temple, there are beautiful carvings. The temple appears to be of the late 7th or early 8th century.


Sculpture in Durga temple, Aihole

I was there when the rising Sun was painting the planet with its magical light. The curvings of the temple seemed to come alive by the touch of those first rays of Sun and I remained the only witness of the drama. It was my dream come true and I tried my best to capture few of  the dream moments.



Morning lights on Durga temple corridor

On the Southern side there is Lad Khan temple consisting of a shrine with two mantapas in front of it. The shrine bears a Shiva lingam. The temple is built in a Panchayat hall style, indicating a very early experiment in temple construction. The windows are filled with lattice style which is a north Indian style. The temple was built by the Chalukya kings in the 5th century. This temple was named after a general who lived here. The west, south and north walls have beautifully carved stone lattices. On the lintel of the sanctum is a Garuda image and in the shrine a Shivalinga.



An unknown temple in Aihole

Some other beautiful temples in Aihole are:
Ravana Phadi
Jyothirlinga Group of temples
Meguti Jain temple
Galaganatha group temples
Suryanarayana temple
Chakra Gudi temple
Badigera gudi temple
Triyambakeshvara Group of temples.
Ambigera Gudi Group of temples
Chikkigudi Group of temples
Huchimalli (gudi) temple
Gaudara gudi
Rachi gudi
Huchappayya Matha temple
Halabasappana Gudi
Kontigudi group of temples
Charanthimatha Group of temples
Huchappayya (gudi) temple
Group Of Yeniar Shrines
Ramalinga group of temples

My next destination was Pattadakal. It lies on the banks of the Malaprabha river in Bagalkot district. It is a village 22 km from Badami and about 10 km from Aihole. The group of 8th century monuments in Pattadakal 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. UNESCO in 1987 included Pattadakal in its list of World Heritage sites. Pattadakal  is a great centre of Chalukyan art, noted for its temples and inscriptions.

There are in all 10 major temples here, nine Shiva and one Jaina, situated along the northern course of the River, which is considered as very auspicious according to Holy Scriptures.


Pattadakal

The major temples in Pattadakal are
Virupaksha temple
Sangameshvara temple  
Mallikarjuna temple
Kasivisvanatha temple
Kadasiddhesvara temple
Jambulingeswara temple
Galganatha temple
Jain temple
Chandrashekara temple
Mahakuteshwara temple
Papanatha temple

Naganatha temple

By the time I returned to Badami, it was late afternoon. I spent some time on the banks of Agasthya lake and tried a few moonlit frames.



A moonlit night on Agasthya lake

I wanted to go back to the Cave temple complex again and spend some more time. Next day provided me the opportunity. I spent the morning there. As happened with me many times, on the second day I made some better frames. I tested the capability of my newly acquired camera, lens and the remote control unit; I missed a good tripod but after all that’s the rule of the land, tripod is not allowed inside any ASI site.


A Sunny day in Badami

The market is the place which portrays the character of any town. I spent some time in the small market of Badami which sells mainly vegetables and fruits and talking to those simpleton people selling their produce. 


The vegetable market in Badami

A visit to Badami can not be completed without a visit to the famous Banashankari Amman Temple. On my last day, I took little time off and visited this temple, a little out of the city.

I had a ticket by that night’s train back to Bangalore and then to Chennai. This trip was somewhat different for me. One reason was definitely my new camera but the other and most important reason was my nostalgia which I was longing to meet for years. May be I would again find it in some unknown land on the banks of another lake and hopefully for a longer time. My quest will continue.....