Day 0:
Took a VRL bus from Bangalore to Bagalkot in the night
Day 1: Banashankari, Aihole, Kudala sangama, Pattadkal & Mahakoota
Reached Bagalkot @7:30am; took a bus to Badami - reached there @8:15.
Stay: Booked a room at Mookambika Lodge (550/- per day) - decent room, basic facilities, service - OK
Breakfast: Hotel next door; costly but manageable
Transport: Hired an auto driver (Abdul Razzaq) paying 700/- for the day (costly, but no better options)
Banashankari: A nearby village (5km). Has an old temple with a large kalyani. People say the devi is Shakambari. Nothing fancy; you can go near the deity (10 feet) - good start
Aihole: Chalukyas used this place for experimentation of different temple construction techniques. It is a village with ~100 temples (most of them are unique). Most of them don't have any deities. The place was explored by an englishman in 18th century and he named the temples on the people living there. Most intriguing ones are - Darga temple (there was a fort around this; confused for a durga temple), Laad khan temple(a muslim saint stayed here), hut temple, surya temple, Huccha malli temple & the cave temple on the hill. A great place if you are intrigued by history as I am.
There is a museum inside which is worth
Kudala Sangama: Another place ~40kms from Aihole. This place is the one where Basavanna meditated. It is a sangama of 3 rivers. Reached there at 2:30 pm - it was hot. You can take a bath in the river. The temples are neat (only shiva lingas & nandi; no other idols). You have to walk on the bridge & will see an underground enclosure & if you walk down 3 stories you will find the basava linga - superb place. Had lunch @ Kamat nearby (60/-); decent food.
There is a sharana park in the enterence don't miss it
Pattadkal: It was a bad road & could reach Pattadkal (~10km from Aihole) only @5:30. Hired a guide for 100/-(Akki Yeeranna; good guy). Pattadkal is a UNESCO world heritage site & has 5 main temples - 2 in aryan style & 3 in dravidian. Also chalukyas were Vishnu devotees (=> 2 hari temples) & later became shivites (=> 3 shiva temples). The temples are grand with depictions of Ramayana, Mahabharatha & Panchatantra. You find lot of inscriptions about details, donors.. Only one shiva temple is under worship currently. The Malaprabha river outside was pleasant. It is such an irony that only telugu film makers seem to be interested in this place (Magadheera has a scene)
Mahakoota: 10kms from Pattadkal; this place has a lot of shivalingas in a yard with old (200 years) baniyan trees. It was night & I wanted to bathe in the 2 theerthas here; I decided to return the next day
Dinner: Reached Badami @8pm; had dinner in the restaurant next door (1jeera rice + 1dal costed me 100/-)
Day 2: Badami, NaganathaKolla, Mahakoota & Lakkundi
Had booked AR for another trip for 300/-; so vacated the lodge @7am. Had breakfast at the hotel next-door.
Took a VRL bus from Bangalore to Bagalkot in the night
Day 1: Banashankari, Aihole, Kudala sangama, Pattadkal & Mahakoota
Reached Bagalkot @7:30am; took a bus to Badami - reached there @8:15.
Stay: Booked a room at Mookambika Lodge (550/- per day) - decent room, basic facilities, service - OK
Breakfast: Hotel next door; costly but manageable
Transport: Hired an auto driver (Abdul Razzaq) paying 700/- for the day (costly, but no better options)
Banashankari: A nearby village (5km). Has an old temple with a large kalyani. People say the devi is Shakambari. Nothing fancy; you can go near the deity (10 feet) - good start
Aihole: Chalukyas used this place for experimentation of different temple construction techniques. It is a village with ~100 temples (most of them are unique). Most of them don't have any deities. The place was explored by an englishman in 18th century and he named the temples on the people living there. Most intriguing ones are - Darga temple (there was a fort around this; confused for a durga temple), Laad khan temple(a muslim saint stayed here), hut temple, surya temple, Huccha malli temple & the cave temple on the hill. A great place if you are intrigued by history as I am.
There is a museum inside which is worth
Kudala Sangama: Another place ~40kms from Aihole. This place is the one where Basavanna meditated. It is a sangama of 3 rivers. Reached there at 2:30 pm - it was hot. You can take a bath in the river. The temples are neat (only shiva lingas & nandi; no other idols). You have to walk on the bridge & will see an underground enclosure & if you walk down 3 stories you will find the basava linga - superb place. Had lunch @ Kamat nearby (60/-); decent food.
There is a sharana park in the enterence don't miss it
Pattadkal: It was a bad road & could reach Pattadkal (~10km from Aihole) only @5:30. Hired a guide for 100/-(Akki Yeeranna; good guy). Pattadkal is a UNESCO world heritage site & has 5 main temples - 2 in aryan style & 3 in dravidian. Also chalukyas were Vishnu devotees (=> 2 hari temples) & later became shivites (=> 3 shiva temples). The temples are grand with depictions of Ramayana, Mahabharatha & Panchatantra. You find lot of inscriptions about details, donors.. Only one shiva temple is under worship currently. The Malaprabha river outside was pleasant. It is such an irony that only telugu film makers seem to be interested in this place (Magadheera has a scene)
Mahakoota: 10kms from Pattadkal; this place has a lot of shivalingas in a yard with old (200 years) baniyan trees. It was night & I wanted to bathe in the 2 theerthas here; I decided to return the next day
Dinner: Reached Badami @8pm; had dinner in the restaurant next door (1jeera rice + 1dal costed me 100/-)
Day 2: Badami, NaganathaKolla, Mahakoota & Lakkundi
Badami: Was the capital of Chalukyas. Places of interest are the 4 caves, hill & bhootanatha temple. I reached the caves @7:30am => nobody was there (not even the menacing monkeys). The caves are mesmerisingly huge.
1st cave - Dedicated to shiva; has a dancing Nataraja
2nd cave - Dedicated to Vishnu; has intricate carvings of various avataras
3rd cave - Biggest of the four; has majestic statues. No words to describe this one (photos should speak)
4th cave - Dedicated to jain deities; has a Mahaveera statue inside
I climbed the hill opposite visiting the museum in between. I saw the gaurd towers and went to the temple above with my Mysore gang. There are 3 ammo silos & a cannon which are intact.
Came down went to the Bhootanatha temple at the end of Kalyani (photogenic); there are carvings on the wall & finally a buddha carving in a cave. I was done but it was 11am
Naganatha Kolla: A temple almost in ruins; is inside jungle adjacent to the Badami hills. It was locked & habitated by bats; nice sorroundings but forgotten
Shivayoga Mandira: 9 kms from Badami this place is another Shiva complex within a large campus. Has a good temple & they serve lunch everyday (I didn't go inside)
Mahakoota: I always wanted to go here; simple, serene & mesmerising. Went in, took a dip in Kashi theertha & went in dripping wet into the inner kalyani. The water was shoulder high and inviting. I tried my partial swimming (read survival) skills - was in there for a good 1 hour. Came out, took a few snaps visited the mahakooteshwara temple & came out satisfied.
Note: there is a walkable way from Badami hills to Mahakoota of about 5kms
Places I missed-out:
a. Caves near Badami railway station having pre-historic paintings
b. Huliammana Kolla: a waterfall near-by
Had lunch at Badami; wanted to go to Hospet. AR suggested there is Lakkundi in between & offered to take me to Gadag via Lakkundi. He was slightly drunk & agreed for 200/-.
I took a risk here. We started @2:45 and the guy drove all the way to Gadag (~70kms). Both of us were tired. Being gritty wanted to go to Lakkundi (it was getting dark as well).
Lakkundi: 6kms from Gadag. Has 4 main temples & a museum. 1st temple is a Jain temple and has been maintained (very well) by a muslim chacha. Then there are 2 temples facing each other - dravidian style (both were locked). There is one more near the bus stand which I skipped.
Took a bus to Koppal & from there to Hospet. This Koppal to Hospet is notoriously crowded with mining lorries. My luck was good so I reached Hospet in 1 hour (~9pm).
Hospet: This is taluk HQ and is overflowing with lodges. Malligi is the best; Krishna Int'l, Shanbaug, Priyadarshini are others. I chose Pai comforts (400/-)- no AC, clean spacious room with a TV. Had dinner near-by and dozed
Snaps:
* Day1 * Day2
