Badami

Badami once a royal capital of the Chalukyas is now a sleepy town in Bagalkot district of Karnataka. The town was known as Vatapi previously. It is settled in a valley at the base of a furrowed, red arenaceous rock that rings Agastya lake. Badami is a place which is full of cave temples, entryways, fortresses, dedications and carvings.

The Chalukyas who had ruled Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh during 6th and 8th centuries had Badami as their capital. The greatest among the Chalukyas was Pulakeshi II who ruled between 610-642 AD. He defeated many kings and Mahendra Verman I, the Pallava king, was one among them. The state was founded by him in 540 AD.

The ancient Chalukyas of Badami are accredited with some of the best customs of Dravidian architecture admitting an observational fuse of older South Indian temple construction and ornamentation and the Nagara mode of North India. This beautiful blend of south and north passed on into the Dravidian temple building pattern.

Badami is the site of the 6th-7th century Brahmanical and Jain cave temples. The temples are cut out of solid rock with elaborate interior decorations that speak volumes of art and architecture of that period. There are 4 cave temples connected with each other with a flight of stairs.

Fast Facts

Temperature

Summer 20 to 40 C
Winter 13 to 33 C

Best Season

Sept - Feb

Getting to Badami

AIR

The nearest airport to Badami is Belgaum, which is about 190 km away. Belgaum is connected to Mumbai by domestic flights. Bangalore 454 km is the nearest International Airport, from where it requires about 12 hours travel to reach Badami by taxo or buses.

RAIL

Nearest major railhead is Hubli, which is about 100 km away. Hubli is well connected to Delhi Nzm Link Exp, Mumbai Chalukya Exp, Chennai Vsg Chennai Exp, Bangalore Jan Shatabdi Ex and Kolkata Vsg Howrah Exp. There is a small station near Badami which is about 5 km from the heart of the city.

ROAD

Badami is connected by state transport KSRTC to Hubli and Bijapur. Tourist buses are available from Bangalore to Badami daily.