Badami

Our next Indian tourist place is Badami popular as royal capital of Chalukyas. However, today it’s the sleepy town comes under Bagalkot region, Karnataka. Earlier this municipality was known as Vatapi. Badami is world-known for cave shrines, entryways, citadels, devotions and monuments.

Chalukyas Empire ruled Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka between 6^th to 8^th centuries. Badami town was declared as capital at Chalukyas ruling period. Greatest ruler of Chalukyas was 2^nd Pulakeshi who administered the town from 610 to 642 AD. Badami is also known for many battles as Pulakeshi defeated countless kings. He also defeated Mahendra Verman 1^st, the Pallava king and some more big rulers of south India.

Dravidian architecture style was the followed by Chalukyas rulers which makes the monuments special in structural designs.

Jain cave shrines of Badami are made after cutting the solid rocks and their interior is full of art and designs. The 4 cave shrines of Badami are linked to each other through stairs.

Local language spoken in Badami is Kannada, though people also know Hindi and English languages. People wear traditional Indian cotton clothes hence their appearance is different. Voyagers will definitely like to spend more time by taking pleasure of local markets, shrines, art and structural designs in Badami.

Attraction of Badami:

Badami Fort: because of peace and attraction Tipu Sultan built a fort on hills of Badami in 18^th century. Tipu visited Badami for first time and got so impressed and order to construct a fort in Badami. Glorious shafts were placed in fort after the fight with Marathas. Constructed shafts are charming, sleek, smooth and harder.

Open Air Museum: next spot to visit in Badami is the museum located on hills constructed in 1979. Stones used to build the museum are from 6^th to 16^th century. Four galleries of museum are special to view the complete museum.

Cave Temples: Badami is popular for holding the Jain cave temples though there are 4 shrines all in caves and all are linked to each through stairs. Cave temples are located on the opposite hill of Badami fort. However, the first 3 cave temples are built of Brahmanical style and last one is made of Jain structural design. Voyagers have to use 2000 steps to reach the cave temple.

Religious spot: people have faith in god should reach Badami for Durga Devi Temple located and Lad Khan Shrine located at Aihole. These both shrines are oldest religious spots of Aihole in which Lad Khan Shrine is devoted to God Shiva. Temple of Lord Shiva is named after the Muslim prince spends his valuable time in Badami.

Sangameshwara temple: located at Pattadakal is our next tourist destination. This temple was constructed under the ruling period of Chalukya King Vijayaditya. The shrine Sangameshwara is listed in oldest temples of Karnataka so voyagers must visit the shrine. The structure of temple is designed in Dravidian style and past name of shrine was Vijayeswara temple.

Aihole: experts suggest Aihole is the birth place of Hindu stone structural design. This small metropolis is located under Bagalkot region, Karnataka. Approximately 125 temples in Aihole makes it special religious destination.

Pattadakal: next spot that listed in World Heritage sites is Pattadakal located at only 29 kms distance from Badami. River Malaprabha is also close to Pattadakal which means visitors will get plenty of tourist destinations in Pattadakal.

Attaining to Badami:

From Hyderabad Badami city is 413 kms away, from Pune its 435 kms distant, from Mangalore is 452 kms, from Bangalore is 454 kms, and from Mumbai its 584 kms away.

By Train: closest big railway station to reach Badami is Hubli located at only 100 kms distance. Trains for Hubli are available from Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata. Taxi from Hubli is available for Badami, though some tiny railway stations are also located close to Badami. However, passenger train from Hubli can be hired to reach such stations. Few big stations offering train services for Hubli are Ahmedabad, Bijapur, Dharwar, Solapur, Yesvantpur Jn, and Bangalore. 

By Air: close air hub for Badami is Belgaum located at only distance of 190 kms. Belgaum is directly linked through domestic flights from Mumbai. Bangalore and Mumbai International Airports are closest big air hubs allowing foreign visitors to reach the spot easily.

By Bus: Karnataka State Transport (KSRTC) is having buses for Hubli and Bijapur. Luxury buses are accessible from Bangalore for direct Badami. Buses from Mangalore and Mysore are also available to reach spot.