Tourists from almost every corner of the world are reaching Indian tourist places to make their holidays special. Various destinations of India are available for tourism and Pattadakal is one of them. This small village of Karnataka, India lies near the river Malaprabha in Bagalkot region. Pattadakal city is only 22 kms away from Badami and 10 kms away from Aihole station. The village Pattadakal is famous religious spot of Karnataka having countless historic shrines.
The structural designs of temples of the town are unique as some are made of Southern (Dravidian) style and few are Indo-Aryan (Nagara) style. Because of unique architecture of temples the town was listed in World Heritage Sites in 1987 by UNESCO.
The temple Sangameshvara is oldest temple of town made before 8th century. It was constructed by Ruler Vijay Aditya among 696 to 733. Town is holding around 10 temples include the Jain shelters by countless shrines and pedestals. The location is having four temples constructed in Chalukya Dravidian structural design, 4 in Nagara style. However, the Papanatha shrine is made of mixed style that makes it unique then other temples.
Because the town is located near to Malaprabha River and its having many religious spots so it becomes the vital tourist destination of the state. Tourist reaching to Pattadakal from Bangalore has to cover the distance of 514 kms.
Chalukyan art is presented on the temples wall which is different experience for visitors. As per records the town was having two other names such as Kisuvolal and Pattada Kisuvolal. Pattadakal town turned as the main city for other small areas of state. Rulers of Sindhas ruled the town for a small period. The town holds 10 major shrines in which nine temples are dedicated to Lord Shiva and one temple to Jain religion.
The primary language of the town is Kannada so visitors must take the conversion or dictionary to understand the local language. Virupaksha Temple is constructed among 733 to 745 AD, though the structure is still solid and can manage for many years from now as well. Victory pillar is the one must watch spot located in Sangameshvara shrine constructed during the ruling period of King Vijay Aditya.
Virupaksha temple: the shrine constructed by Queen Lokamaha Devi is next religious spot of Pattadakal of 745 AD. She built the temple to honor the victory of her husband Vikramaditya II. The battle between Vikramaditya with Kanchi’s Pallavas was the big achievement of the king. This shrine is built with amazing sculptures similar to Nataraja, Lingodbhava, Ugra Narasimha and Ravananugraha.
Sangameshvara Temple: the shrine Sangameshvara is another oldest temple of Pattadakal constructed by king of Chalukya Empire Vijayaditya Satyashraya. The architectural design is of Dravidian style consists Sanctum, Hall and Inner passage. The exterior wall of temple is having sculptures of Ugranarasimha and Nataraja. The design of Sangamesvara temple and Virupaksha temple is almost same.
Mallikarjuna Temple: this holy shrine is the tiny version of Virupaksha temple and construction was done under ruling period of Vikramadiyta. It was built by 2nd queen Trilokyamaha Devi in 745 AD. The temple is close to Virupaksha temple so visitors can take blessings of Lord shiva two times by visiting both temples.
Kashivisvanatha Temple: the last temple constructed in Chalukya style is Kashivisvanatha temple. Constructed by Rashtrakutas in eight century is special with design. The material used to construct the temple is best in quality that temple is still able to serve the city for many more years.
The other famous temples of Pattadakal are Vishwanatha temple (built in Nagara style), Kadasiddhesvara temple and Jambulingeswara temple. The two temples (Kadasiddhesvara and Jambulingeswara) are constructed in 7th century.
Jain Narayana temple and Galganatha temple are also important shrines of Pattadakal. Galaganatha shrine was constructed in next year of Jain temple. This shrine contains the idol of Lord Shiva in killing position.
Jain Temple: this is one more must visit tourist place situated on Badami- Pattadakal Road. The style is again Dravidian applied by Rashtrakutas constructed by Amoghavarsha in 9th century.
Papanatha temple: this vesara style temple was constructed in 680. The half of construction is made of nagara style and half of Dravidian style. Sculptures on the wall of temple are taken from Mahabharatha and Ramayana. This shrine is almost similar to Navabrahma temples of Alampur, Andhra Pradesh.
Learning the history of Pattadakal is possible by visiting the museum having plains and statuette gallery. Museum is managed by the ASI (Archeological Survey India) group located on Bhutanatha temple road.
There are many other small and big shrines where tourist can visit and take blessings of God.
Attaining to Pattadakal:
The town is linked through road properly, though link buses from various states are available. The distance of town from Hyderabad is 401 kms, from Bangalore is 449 kms, from Pune is 480 kms, from Mumbai is 653 kms, and from Chennai is 682 km. By Rail: nearby station to reach location is Badami and distance between Pattadakal and Badami is only 20 kms. Tourist can hire auto from station to reach the location as they are cheap and easily available transport medium for Pattadakal. Train from Mysore and some different cities are available for Badami.
By Air: nearby airport is Bangalore located at good distance of 449 kms. Frequent buses from Bangalore to Pattadakal are available, though taxies are accessible from Bangalore and Mysore city to Pattadakal.
By Bus: charted and government buses are present for Pattadakal from Bangalore. Bus is the easy transport with cheap rates so tourist can attain to Pattadakal in affordable prices with no hurry.