Badami Caves Temples

Badami caves temples located in Badami town of the Bagalkot district of Karnataka state are a complex of Hindu and Jain temples. They were built during the Badami Chalukyas reign around 6th to 8th century CE. There are a total of four caves cut out of Red Sandstone and they overlook the Agastya Theertha Lake which also has the Bhootanata temple. The first 3 caves are dedicated to Hinduism and the 4th one is dedicated to Jainism.

Cave 1 is dedicated to Lord Siva and has linga in the main enclosure. There are sculptures of Harihara on the left and Ardanariswara on the right. It also has the sculpture of 18 handed Nataraja strking 81 poses with different combinations of left and right hands. The roof has Nagadevata sculpture and there are statues of dwarfs below the pillars at the entrance. The whole architecture is intricately done.

Cave 2 is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and has multiple sculptures of different avatars of Lord Vishnu like the Vamana avatara, Varaha avatara. The roof has a matsya chakra surrounded by Swastika patterns and also the depiction of Samudra Manthana.

Cave 3 is at the next level and we need to take a few steps to reach there. This is the biggest and best of all caves. This has the sculptures of Lord Narasimha Swamy in standing position(this is rare to see the idol of Narasimha standing) on one side of the wall and Lord Vishnu in seated on a serpent(sesha sarpam).

Cave 4 is dedicated to Jainism and has a sculpture of Lord Mahavira in the sanctum and idols of other Jain Tirthankaras. This cave is the last and leads to the fort.

It is a very good place to visit with both family/friends and appreciate the ancient architecture. It is located in the North central part of Karnataka around 450 kms from Bengaluru and there are other tourist places like Pattadakal which is 20 kms away and Aihole which is 35 kms away.

Badami caves Timings: Open from 6 am to 6 pm every day

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