Explore the Badami-Aihole-Pattadakal circuit

After a long time, I’ve found some time to write about another archaeological marvel in Karnataka. As you already know from the title of the post, it is the Badami-Aihole-Pattadakal circuit.

Being a budget traveller, I would like to minimize my cost but at the same time would like to maximize my experience level at any given destination. I was accompanied by my cousin Arun. He is fascinated by the history and architecture of India. He loves to visit the sites and learn more about them.

History :

BADAMI

Badami was the capital of the Chalukyan dynasty, the dynasty that has made its presence in the southern and central India between 6th and 12th century.  The early Chalukyan dynasty was known as “Badami Chalukyas” as they had their capital at Badami. Pulakesi II was the ruler during this time. The rise of this empire saw the birth of efficient administration, overseas trade. The most important development was the new style of architecture called "Chalukyan architecture".

Kannada literature, which had enjoyed royal support in the 9th century found eager patronage from the Western Chalukyas in the Jain and Veerashaiva traditions. The 11th century saw the birth of Telugu literature under the patronage of the Eastern Chalukyas.

Badami was founded in 540 A.D. by Pulakeshi I. His sons Krithivarman and brother Mangalesha I constructed the renown cave temples at Badami. The greatest ruler among the Chalukyas was Pulakeshi II who had defeated many kings, except had faced a defeat against the Pallavas in Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu).

The rock-cut Badami cave temples were sculpted between the 6th and the 8th century. The four cave temples represent the secular nature of the rulers then, with tolerance and a religious following that inclines towards Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Cave 1 is devoted to Lord Shiva, Caves 2 and 3 are dedicated to Lord Vishnu, whereas cave 4 displays reliefs of Jain Theerthankaras.

Deep caverns with carved images of the various incarnations of Hindu gods are strewn across the area, under boulders and in the red sandstone. From an architectural and archaeological perspective, they provide critical evidence of the early styles and stages of the southern Indian architecture.

AIHOLE

Early inscriptions call this town Āryapura. According to mythology Aihole is the place where Parashurama washed his axe after killing the killing of the Kshatriyas. Aihole has historical significance and is called as “The Cradle of Hindu Architecture”.

Aihole was the first capital of the early Chalukyas. Here they built over 125 temples in various styles and it is believed to be a laboratory of experiments in rock cut architecture. Pulakesi I, one of the greatest rulers of this dynasty, moved the capital to Badami nearby. Badami was then known as Vatapi. It is from these temples that the Chalukyas gained their experience and went on to build the great temples of Pattadakal.

PATTADAKAL

Pattadakal (place for Chalukyas crowning ceremony), the capital of the Chalukya dynasty of Southern India, who built the temples in the seventh and eighth centuries. There are ten temples including a Jain sanctuary surrounded by numerous small shrines and plinths. Four temples were built in Dravidian style, four in Nagara style of Northern India and the Papanatha temple in mixed style. At Pattadakal, the Chalukyan kings were crowned, in the middle of the 7th century, temple building activity shifted from Badami to Pattadakal.

What to see:

At Badami:-

1) Cave Temples – accessible from the main bus stand by walk or by auto-rickshaw.

2) Agastya Lake

3) Bhoothanatha Temple

4) Archeological Society of India Museum

At Aihole:-

Group of monuments

At Pattadakal:

Group of monuments

TRAVELLER’S NOTE: While going from Badami to either Aihole or Pattadakal, do visit the Banashankari temple.

Our journey – detailed

There are several trains from Bangalore which reach Badami. These trains start from Yeshwantpur railway station. The frequent trains running are:

06535 Bijapur Express (Tue, Wed, Fri, Sun)

16535 Solapur Express (Mon, Thu, Sat)

The sleeper class fare from Bangalore to Badami is Rs.244 for an adult passenger. The trains depart Yeshwantpur at 19:45 and arrive the next day in Badami at 07:33.

There are several hotels around the bus stand at Badami. We chose to stay at Hotel Rajasangam International. We got ourselves a standard non-AC room for Rs.800 per day. Check-in at 11:00 and check-out is at 12:00 the next day. There was nothing international about the hotel though the hotel name brags about it. So, I suggest any traveller not to expect too much out of it. There are AC rooms also available. It is better to book the hotel in advance. If you want a star accommodation, then narrow your choice down to Badami Court. They are pricey, but most of the foreigners choose to stay here cause of the facilities and ambience.

Once we reached Badami, we took an auto to the hotel. We checked in, had our shower and set out. We had our breakfast at the restaurant attached to the hotel. NOT GOOD. Definitely not a match for Bangalore’s fast food centres. We then decided to walk to the caves as advised by the hotel personnel. It was hardly a 2km walk. We managed to reach there and visit the ASI Museum. We then took a walk around the Agasthya lake. It was a hot day. Visited the small sites around the ASI Museum. The heat had us walking slow and we had not slept well in the train. So, we decided to head back to our room and it was time for our lunch too.

One thing me and my cousin loved in Badami was the local food eat-outs called “Khanavalis”. These are like mess. They serve lunch and dinner which has the culinary specialities of the North Karnataka – Jolada Rotti and Enagai (Corn Rotis and brinjal gravy) along with chutney powder, onions and some curd. Also with this you get rice served, with pappad, a curry and some pickle. Yummy!!! They are not that costly and they are good for health.

After our siesta, we decided to cover the cave temples during the evening time. We decided to take a rick to the caves. Once we reached there, we saw a massive crowd of school children from more than 5 schools who had come to visit the caves. Lot of commotion. I hate crowded places, but had to live up to it. Life is full of surprises. We visited the caves and watched the red ball of fire set in the West. The auto driver who we had hired was enquiring with us if we wanted to visit Aihole-Banashankari-Pattadakal the next day. We were not sure if we wanted to go by bus or by a rick.

After a lot of discussion about the pros and cons, we decided to hire the rick for the next day’s sight seeing. He quoted Rs.600 for the entire day, we bargained it, but succeeded to bringing it down to Rs.550 only. After having our dinner we retired for the day. Next day we left early, for two reasons. One, is to avoid the heat, and two is to avoid the school crowd as far as possible.

We visited the Banashankari temple first, which is 5km from Badami town, enroute Aihole. Once we finished our darshan, we had our breakfast at a hotel near the temple. Again, not up to the mark. We then headed to Pattadakal, finished our sightseeing there and on our way back, we visited Aihole. We decided not to hire a guide as we felt it was going to be a sure shot cheating attempt by any unregistered guide.

We were amazed by the architectural details but I was not satisfied. I felt Hampi to be more exciting and explore-worthy than this circuit. My cousin had his own reasons to justify they were different experience. I could not disagree. We had our train booked for the next day from Badami back to Bangalore. The same trains run to and fro. Our train was scheduled to depart at 20:00 and reach Bangalore the next day at 09:15.

For those who can spend more time can travel from Badami to Bijapur, visit the sites there and take the direct train from Bijapur to Bangalore. There are trains and buses to Bijapur and it is a 3 hours journey.

Until my next post, Bonne Journee!

People Portraits

Most of the time when I travel, I’m appealed by the appearances of few people. I approach them with much ease and click a few pictures. Here are some of the recent portraits I’ve clicked:

My post-graduation study tour - 2011

Day 1: 25^th January 2011

We reached Yesvanthpur railway station and had to board Sampark Kranti Express to Delhi. Before we boarded the train, we ensured all our baggage were tagged with a fluorescent orange ribbon in order to identify our baggage as a group in case they were misplaced or forgotten by someone. After boarding the train, we allocated the seats so that all the girls and the lecturer were seated in same cabin and the boys on the other. The train was scheduled to reach Delhi on the 27^th January morning.

Day 3: 27^th January 2011

We reached Delhi (H. Nizamuddin) on time. No delays by the railways. After reaching around 4 of the boys went to check for transportation to Delhi railway station as our next train was from this station the same night. We queried for taxis, autos and even buses. We felt taxis were the feasible option as we had humongous amount of baggage and had to transport them safely. We hired a couple of taxis and headed to Delhi railway station. After which we put our baggage in the cloak room. Few of us wanted to freshen up. We used the waiting room and freshened up. Our plan was to visit Red Fort for the day and return to the railway station. Red for t is not far away from the station. We had breakfast and headed to Red Fort.

Ashish and Aravind headed to New Delhi railway station to check for the accommodation for 6^th February 2011. Unfortunately due to poor management by the railway authority, we could not get any rooms vacant. Luckily they were approached by a third party who said there are rooms available. They were taken to Konark travels and were given the details for the accommodation and local travel for sightseeing as a package. They paid advance for the accommodation after having a look at the rooms after which they headed to the Red Fort.

After reunion with the gang, entry tickets were purchased. But little did we know that we would be late and have very little time to see the place. We hurried inside the Fort and managed to see most of the fort by 5:30PM. The police asked everyone to vacate making way for the light and sound show crowd to enter the fort. We could not take tickets as we had a train in the night.

Once the sun had set, the temperature dipped and most of us had to switch to heavy woollen attires. Ashish and Aravind were keeping a track of the train to Kalka which had to arrive from Howrah. We were told at around 8:30PM that the train is expected to arrive only by 2:30AM. Ashish suggested we take a bus to Kalka so that we do not miss the next train. We agreed and head to the bus stand after collecting our baggage from the cloak room. We managed to finish our dinner by 10PM. We had to find transportation to ISBT (Inter State Bus Stand). We managed to get three auto rickshaws to leave the gang at ISBT. Our bus was leaving in 15 minutes. We had to rush and buy the tickets and also place our baggage in the bus. We managed to get the tickets on time and get everyone on board the bus.

Once the bus departed, everyone was so tired, that they fell fast asleep.

Day 4: 28^th January 2011

We reached Kalka around 4:30AM. We got auto rickshaws to leave us at the railway station. We reached the station and headed straight to the waiting room. Our train from Kalka to Shimla was at 12:30PM. We had ample amount of time. Most of us slept, while some of them decided to freshen up at the station. The time flew and we were ready to board the train to Shimla. Once we got in the train and the train departed, we forgot all our tiredness as the train moved through amazing scenes of nature passing through lots of tunnels and over many bridges.

We reached Shimla by evening 5:30PM. The sun was setting at a fast pace and the temperature dropped very fast. We had not booked accommodation. Ashish, Ebin, Tahir and Sumit set off to find out accommodation. While Aravind and Prejoe waited with the girls and lecturer at the station. No restaurants or waiting rooms at the station. Very chilled weather, most of them at the station were getting a little impatient. There was no one else at the station other than us.

The boys managed to get accommodation for both Shimla and Manali along with sight seeing transportation as a package. This package worked pretty cheap as we were 11 members and students too. A vehicle was sent to the station to transport us and the baggage to the hotel. We checked in and settled down.

Day 5: 29^th January 2011

We got up early and our schedule was to visit Kufri, a snow point in Shimla. A Maruti Alto and a Scorpio was arranged for Shimla sightseeing. We had our breakfast on our way along with our first view of the snow while on our way. Once we reached Kufri, we were approached by many touts who had horse service to the top of the hill. Many of them told an exorbitant price and also informed us that we had to walk more than 10km top hill. We decided to check with the Tourism police of Kufri. They informed that it was just a 3 km walk to the hill top and advised us to go on foot as we were capable.

We also had to wear snow boots in order to protect our feet from snow. Once we bargained with one of the vendors, we had a tough time selecting shoes that fit us. We set off together to the hill top, trekking through a very slushy path. This slush was the cause of horse goo and water. We had to be very careful as the path was slippery and few of us had a good fall in the slush. There was a thin layer of snow here and there. Once we were nearing the top, we saw beautiful snow covered spots. Aravind, Mrs. Reena and Mubashira could not proceed due to defective shoes and pain in the toe. They returned to the car parking after taking rest for about an hour.

The others proceeded to the hill top. Here, one can have a beautiful view of the hill ranges of Shimla. There also Yak rides. If one wants to take photo while sitting on the yak, it is possible for a small fee. There are small eateries available here. In about three hours, we returned to the car parking. After which we were transferred to the Mall road. Here, one can choose to go on a shopping spree. Both budget and premium shops are present. Apart from this, the street eateries are an amazing treat to the taste buds.

The centre of the Mall Road is a very beautiful location and very picturesque. There is an ISO certified hotel named GOOFA-ASHIANA followed by the municipal corporation building and the tourist information office opposite to it. All the buildings are well lit in the night and are a treat for the eyes. Once we were done roaming and shopping, we head back to the hotel. Our day ended after a very light dinner.

Day 6: 30^th January 2011

We were ready to be transferred to Manali. We were given a Tata Sumo. Once we loaded the baggage onto the vehicle, we had our seating arrangement to the best comfort possible. It was difficult as 11 people had to be seated in the vehicle. On our way to Manali, we visited a dam at Sunder Nagar. After this, we stopped at Pandoh Dam. Then we visited Mata Hanogi temple. We then stopped at a shawl factory outlet as few of them wanted to shop for shawls. It takes 12 hours approximately to reach Manali from Shimla. Around 8:30PM, we reached Manali and were transferred to our hotel. After checking in our rooms, we then went to the mall road to have our dinner. We retired for the day.

Day 7: 31^st January 2011

This day was completely reserved for visiting Solang valley. Rohtang pass was closed for the public. Our driver was suggesting few places to rent the snow robes and skiing equipment. The first few ones were very costly. We decided to go to the valley and find out the price and bargain. Once we reached the valley, passing through some of the most amazing views given by God, we managed to rent the snow robes at very decent price. This included the main coat, gloves and boots too. Once everybody got their robes, we wanted to have some food. Once we found a cosy place to eat, we found that the guy in that place could help us in getting skiing equipment and also train us. We got all these for a nominal cost. We sealed the deal.

Once we reached the valley, we saw an ocean of people who were busily involved in adventure sports. Since we had arranged for couple of skis, few of them decided to venture first. The rest of them set off in a different direction where manual slide through the snow was present. After we enjoyed the manual slides, we decided to venture on the tube slides downhill. The charges for the tube slides were pretty nominal. Zorbing and paragliding was a costly affair. So, we could only watch them perform the activity. We also tried our hands on target practice. After a fun-filled day at Solang valley, we were transferred to the mall road. We spent some time shopping and had our dinner. We went back to out hotel.

Day 8: 1^st February 2011

We decided to visit the tourist spots in and around Manali. We first head to Hadimba temple. This is a cave temple amidst thick forest. Once we finished our darshan, we then headed to the Himachal Museum of Culture, very near to Hadimba temple. Entry tickets are nominal. After this, we proceeded to Vashisht Temple, where there is also a hot water spring. There is a separate section for men and women to take bath in the hot water spring. After this we proceeded to the Buddhist monastery in the Manali town. We returned to our rooms with the evening to be spent in leisure. We had to leave early the next morning to Joginder Nagar.

Day 9: 2^nd February 2011

We vacated the hotel in Manali at 5:00AM and we head to Joginder Nagar to board the toy train to Chamunda Marg. The train stops at Baijnath Paprola and resumes the journey after two to three hours. Otherwise, the journey from Joginder Nagar to Dharamshala can be covered in less than 2 hours. Once we reached Dharamshala we had to hunt for accommodation. We enquired at three hotels and one of them seemed to give us a good deal. We agreed upon and booked the rooms for a day. We checked in, most of them wanted to take rest. We had dinner and rested for the day.

Day 10: 3^rd February 2011

We had arranged for a Tata Sumo vehicle to take us to the prominent tourist spots in Dharamshala. Couple of our classmates fell ill and could not travel with us. So, we had to ensure they had everything required and then the rest of us proceeded for the sight seeing. We reached view point and had our breakfast here with a beautiful view of the mountains. After which on our way, we were shown the Dal lake. It was totally dry as some construction was taking place in order to renovate the area.

We visited the St.John’s church. It is a very old church and is struggling to maintain itself. It is a beautiful church and was built by the Brits. The church is now in need of external funds to renovate and maintain this architectural marvel of the Brits.

We then visited the Bhagsunath temple. It is a very nice place indeed. Supported by the army, this temple is abode of Lord Shiva in the form of Lingam. There is also a swimming pool in the vicinity of the temple. People can take bath before entering the temple premises. Not too far away from here is Bhagsu waterfall. Due to time constrains, we could not make it till the waterfall, but managed to get a glimpse of it from near the temple.

We then reached Namgyal Monastery which is also called as Dalai Lama’s seat. We visited the monastery. This was the first monastery which prohibited photography inside the shrine. After this we visited the Tibetan Museum next to the monastery. Dharamshala’s population consists 90% of Tibetans and the rest 10% is a mix.

Whilst few of us wanted to go to Chamunda Devi temple, the others wanted to rest at the lodge. We went by bus and finished the darshan and returned to Dharamshala by 8:30PM. We had dinner and head back to our rooms.

Day 11: 4^th February 2011

We checked out early morning at around 4:00AM and head straight to the bus stand which was less than half a kilometre away. Our bus to Amritsar was at 4:30AM. We managed to get tickets and load the baggage on the bus. It takes approximately 5 hours by bus to reach Amritsar. We reached Amritsar at around 10:30AM. We had our accommodation booked at the Gurudwara complex. We hired auto rickshaw and went to the temple premises. We were welcomed by Ashish’s friend who had personally arranged for accommodation at the Gurudwara. We managed to get two family rooms, one for the women and the other for the men.We freshened up and head for lunch. We had booked a vehicle to transport us to Wagah border and back to the Gurudwara. We managed to reach Wagah border right on time for the flag retreat ceremony between India and Pakistan. The crowd was amazing. Aravind had been here a couple of years ago, but not witnessed so many people, especially on the Pakistan side. The air was filled with shouts of slogans for India. Any slogan against Pakistan is prohibited. The same is followed on the Pakistan side too. It is kept very professional.

After returning from Wagah border, we reached Jalainwala Bagh, but the gates were closed. We then spent time shopping around the market area. We visited the Golden temple and had a beautiful night view of the temple. It was an amazing experience. The temple premise is very clean and the administration is very vigilant. After visiting the shrine, we had ‘Langar’ the food served at the temple. Few of us decided to involve in seva. We washed plates, bowls, and vessels which were used by people to eat. After a sufficient amount to seva, we were given sweets and some tea. Anyone is welcome to perform a service and any kind of service. No restrictions to any cast or creed. The only rule for both men and women is that the head must be covered at all times.

We hung around the temple for sometime and then head back to the rooms. We had an early train to catch the next morning.

Day 12: 5^th February 2011

We had a Tata Winger arranged for transfer to the railway station. Our train was at 5:30AM. We vacated early and made the due payments. We even donated a small amount to the temple. We reached the station on time and boarded the train to New Delhi. We reached New Delhi by afternoon. Once we reached, we approached Konark Travels as we had booked our accommodation booked through them. They guided us to the hotel in Pahar Gunj. We checked in the hotel. Had our lunch and as the sun was setting over the horizon, the ladies got ready for shopping.

We head to Palika Bazaar. It is a hub for different items under one roof and one can bargain for the items and get huge bargains if talented. Few others split and proceeded towards Chandni Chowk. After all the shopping spree got over, we head back to our rooms, had dinner and retired for the day.

Day 13: 6^th February 2011

Konark Travels had arranged for a Force Traveller. We had agreed to go sight seeing in Delhi before leaving to Bangalore. The first place to visit was India Gate. We took photos as fast as possible and headed to Indira Gandhi Museum. We spent some quality time here and clicked lot of photos. We got to know a lot about Nehru’s family. We then had our lunch and headed straight to Qutub complex. It is a marvellous architectural example of the Mughals. After spending a lot of time here, we then headed to another architectural marvel, though it is modern. It is the Lotus Temple or also called the Bahai Temple. As it was the weekend, it was very crowded and not managed properly.

We tried to go to the light and sound show at Red Fort. But the timings was not in our favour, so we had to drop the plans. We then managed to visit Jama Masjid. The architecture of the masjid is marvellous. The inside premise was good. Payer was going on, so we could not enter the main area. One of the most shabbily maintained approach roads. Their management was poor.

We were then transferred to the railway station. Our train was at 9:30PM by Karnataka Express. While returning, Aravind and Ashish chose to stay at Ashish’s hometown in Himachal Pradesh while the others returned to Bangalore. The others returned to Bangalore on 8^th February 2011.