Not Ellora... This is Badami Caves

If you've seen the Ellora Caves and you want to see the similar structure, you should visit Badami Caves. I've visited both the places and it is a great shock for me that how is it possible that two different cultures, places and kingdom built very similar structure during that era.

If you've not visited Ellora, I will narrate it to you. The Badami cave temples are a complex of Hindu and Jain cave temples located in Badami, a town in the Bagalkot district in northern part of Karnataka, India. The caves are considered an example of Indian rock-cut architecture, especially Badami Chalukya architecture, which dates from the 6th century.

We visited the place from Hyderabad which is 418.7 kms. I booked the car from Revv-Self Drive Cars and started the journey in night around 11PM. Using the route via Bachi - Raichur Hwy/Raichur - Bagalkote Rd it took us around 11-12 hours drive to reach the place. We were happy to see the sunrise and the countryside scenes. The place and surrounding is hilly so you will get nice spots for clicking pictures. On the way, you will not get nice place to eat so BEWARE and either have something with you or had your dinner or breakfast at any food junction which finds you well.

Place is good to visit, if you're a historian or you love the history. Reason why I'm saying this because you will have a complete architecture to study. Caves 1 to 4 are in the escarpment of the hill in soft Badami sandstone formation, to the south-east of the town. In Cave 1, among various sculptures of Hindu divinities and themes, a prominent carving is of the Tandava-dancing Shiva as Nataraja. Cave 2 is mostly similar to Cave 1 in terms of its layout and dimensions, featuring Hindu subjects of which the relief of Vishnu as Trivikrama is the largest. The largest cave is Cave 3, featuring Vishnu-related mythology, and it is also the most intricately carved cave in the complex. Cave 4 is dedicated to revered figures of Jainism. Around the lake, Badami has additional caves of which one may be a Buddhist cave. Another cave was discovered in 2015, about 500 metres (1,600 ft) from the four main caves, with 27 Hindu carvings.

The best time to visit the place is in or after monsoon. Do not go in summer, as it will be too hot. The town is small and you'll hardly find a good place to dine in. My advise is, have some food with you and carry water bottles.

How to reach Badami by Air:- Nearest airport to Badami is in Belgaum which is located at a distance of 190 km from here. From Airport you can hire prepaid taxi or you can take bus to reach Badami which is directly connected via road to Belgaum. Many domestic flights from major cities of India land in Belgaum hence it’s easy to reach this place.

How to reach Badami by Rail:- Nearest railway station to Badami is in Hubli which is situated 100 kms away from this city. Hubli runs state bus to Badami directly and you can also hire a prepaid taxi to reach this city from Hubli directly.

How to reach Badami by Road:- Badami is located in between Belgaum and Bangalore which are directly connected via national highway hence you can reach this city easily by bus or by personal vehicle. Many tours and travel agencies of various cities provide travel packages to Badami.

Overall the trip experience was really good, apart from few hiccups, which is usual for a travel. Visit in monsoon for better experience or in winters and you will love the place for sure.