Visiting Badami-Aihole-Pattadakal
We visited Badami-Aihole-Pattadakal in Nov 2021. This is the preferred time of the year to visit as the weather is suitable between October and January. Rest of the year, this region will be very hot and will be tiring to walk in hot sun.
Badami is roughly 450 Kms from Bangalore. Options to reach there is via train (night train) or by road. If we start early morning at 5am, we could reach Badami by 2pm depending on traffic and weather conditions. Breakfast option is near Tumkur. After Tumkur, there are very few food options. One could plan accordingly based on time of the day.
Day-1
We started from Bangalore at 5am. Badami is 450Kms from Bangalore and will take around 9 hours (with break of around 60 minutes). By 6:30am, we had reached Khyatasandra for breakfast. Pavitra Idli Hotel is good to eat idli and dosa. This hotel opens at 6:45am. The place got crowded really fast as this is the most popular breakfast place for travellers on AH47 (popularly called NH4). We finished our breakfast by 7:15am and continued our drive.
We took a deviation towards Hospet at Chitradurga. Exit left towards Hospet which will eventually head North-east. There are limited restaurants and rest area between Chitradurga and Hospet. One option we found was Anand Vihar (in Hulikere) that is few minutes before Hosahalli on NH50. We had a quick coffee break and continued our journey in NH50. The road to Badami is good, only limitation being, its a State Highway and average speed is 40kms/hr. Though we could hit 80kmph in few stretches, it will take 2-2.5hrs to cover 80kms. On the way, one could see colorful sunflower patches.
Our destination in Badami was Krishna Heritage that is located 5 minutes from Badami bus stand. After reaching the resort at 2pm, we had a simple lunch and took rest. At night, we wanted to experience the local food, specially, jowar roti (jolada rotti). We went to one local Khanavali and had very soft and tasty jowar rotti along with dal and lentils. The sweet (peanut/shenga hoLige) in the end added extra flavor to our dinner.
Day-2
Our Day-2 plan was to visit Badami Cave temples and also the fort. One recommendation we got is to start the day early. By 8am, we finished breakfast and headed the cave temples which is 5 minutes away from town's center. Later in the day, crowd picks up and we won't be able to enjoy in the place to full extent. Taking a Guide is always interesting as they can explain the stories behind these UNESCO heritage centers. Without a Guide, it would be like watching a movie in mute and reading a story of the movie later.
Badami Cave temples were built during 6th and 7th century. There are 4 cave temples. The lowermost cave is dedicated to Shiva, 2nd and 3rd are dedicated to Vishnu, and uppermost cave temple is dedicated to Bahubali (son of first Tirthankara, Rishabhanatha). One will wonder how these 1500 years old man made caves were built! Usually, stone temples were built in parts and assembled. But, these cave temples were carved out-to-in. Badami was the capital of Chalukyas whose prominent king was Pulakeshi II. They ruled most of South and Central India between 6th and 12th century. They were later succeeded by Rashtrakutas and Eastern Chalukyas. More about Chalukyas, here.
Badami Cave temple visit will take about an hour to 1.5 hours. There is bit of climbing to be done. Not recommended for senior citizens who cannot climb the stairs. No wheelchair access.
Tips:
1. Badami Cave temples are West facing. For best photography, one could visit during sunset. If one visits these caves early morning for sunrise, other side of the lake (view similar to above picture) would look beautiful.
2. There is sufficient parking (again, reach early to avoid any parking hassle).
3. Carry water bottles. Biscuits and other refreshments too if required.
4. There are monkeys all around. Always hold your bags securely. Any miss from your side will have your bag end up in monkey's hands. We saw it happen right in front of our eyes to other visitors!
Badami Museum & Fort
By 10am, we were done with Cave temple visit. With more than 2 hours left for us before lunch, we went to museum area and also the fort where there are 2 Shiva temples (lower Shiva temple and upper Shiva temple). To reach Museum and Fort, one could walk in the narrow bylanes from Badami Cave Temple parking lot. Museum is 5 minutes walk from the cave temples. Museum has nominal entry ticket of Rs. 15 per head. Walk inside the fort will take an hour to reach the peak (Upper Shivalaya). Carrying water and refreshments is recommended as there are no shops or outlets in this trail. When we visited, it was mid-day and sun was beating on us. Cap and sunglasses helped us from this scorching heat. There is limited parking near the museum. It is good to avoid driving to this place as the roads are narrow from the town to here.
We concluded our visit to fort and museum by visiting Agasthya Lake and Bhootanatha Temple.
Sidilu Padi - Natural Rock Arch
One of the less known places to visit in Badami is Sidila Padi - A cave or natural arch. One has to walk about 3Kms in the forest area to reach this place. You could find remains of old painting on the wallks of this arch. Looks like these paintings are nearly 1500 years old. There is walk trail that will lead us to this place that is at slightly higher elevation. We did this mini-trek between 4pm and 6:30pm. It took us about 60 minutes to reach the arch. After spending few minutes, we started our descent.
- You would need 1-2 days to cover Badami. Another day is sufficient to visit Aihole and Pattadakal. One could cover all 3 in 2 days. If you are visiting Hampi, these 3 places could be added in the travel plan by arranging your stay in Badami.
- Accommodation is limited. Krishna Heritage, The Heritage Resort, Badami Court, Hotel Mayura Chalukya. These could be booked via travel portals or directly online with the property.
- October to January is best time of the year to visit.
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