Goa to Bangalore

Day 4:  Ahoy Aihole. Hi Pattadakallu


22nd September 2009

Locals say” Aihole was a primary school, Badami the high school and Pattadakallu was a college” when it came to temple architecture. The name Aihole has an interesting history and is associated with the fiery sage Parshuraman who having destroyed the entire Kshatriya race comes to the Malaprabha river which flows through Aihole and washes his bloodstained axe which sends the women screaming in fright “Ai hole” or ( O river). This was an earlier capital of the Chalukya kings and is situated 36 kilometers from Badami. About 125 temples can be found in Aihole most of them strewn around the neighboring villages with only a handful concentrated in some places. An entire day can be spent here and the temples here represent a vast canvas of temple structures that can be found across the country.

 The Parliament Building in New Delhi was a rejected temple model and its poor country cousin can be found here in the Durga complex. Taking a guide here and not relying on your local rickshaw wallah for explaining some of the temples is highly recommended. Most of the guides here, unlike in North India, are not pushy, quite well educated and trained by the ASI. For some sumptuous local fare, please visit Anand Bhuvan opposite the main temple complex rather than the joint recommended by your tourist bus guides.  

Pattadakalu is a World Heritage site and belong to the era of Vikramaditya who ruled in the 8^th century is situated about 22 kilometres from Badami. This was the second capital of the Chalukya kings and the main coronation ceremonies were held here. Each of the temples here are beautifully built and even with the local population living inside the temple complex as recently as 50 years ago, the sculptures are breathtaking.

 Of particular note are the Virupaksha temple, which is a living temple and faced by a huge black Nandi and the Mallikarjuna temple which sports carvings narrating tales from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Panchatantra tales. Badami, Aihole and Pattadakalu can be easily covered over 2 days and apart from these places, there are a few temple tanks, some old temples around Badami of some interest. Alcohol is freely available with numerous wine shops dotting the main street though the food is largely vegetarian with few joints offering non-vegetarian fare.