Badami situated in North Karnataka, the Capital of the Early Chalukyas. It is marked for its gorgeous carved cave temples, artificial lake, Museme & rock-cut into the cliff face of a red sandstone hill, of the 6th & 7th Centuries. It is picturesquely located at the mouth of a ravine between two rocky hills.

 

Its all four cave temples - all hewn out of sandstone on the cliff of a hill. They display the full range of religious sects which have developed in India. Two of them are dedicated to Vishnu, one to Shiva and the fourth is a Jain temple. The first three belong to the Vedic faith and the fourth and usual cave is the only Buddhist temple in Badami.

The cave temples of Badami which date back to 600 and 700 A.D. are engraved out of sandstone hills. Each has a sanctum, a hall, an open verandah and pillars. What makes these cave temples extraordinary, are the large number of fine carvings and sculptures.

One of the various masterpieces to be found in these caves is the well-known, 18-armed Nataraja (Shiva) who if observed closely, strikes 81 poses. Cave 4, the last cave, is the only Jain Temple in Badami. The 24th Tirthankara- Mahavira is seated in a uniquely relaxed pose here, against a cushion in the inner sanctum. On the other bank of the earliest Bhutnatha Lake, straddling whose shores the caves stand is the shrine of Nagamma, the local serpent goddess, within a huge tamarind tree. Nearby, are two Shiva temples, which deify Him as Bhutanatha, God of Souls. Within the inner sanctum, on the edge of the water, He sits in a rare pose, leaning back, in all his overwhelming majesty.