On 3 April 2015 (Good Friday) my mother and myself boarded Hubballi Express in Hyderabad at 4:00 PM and got down in Badami at 3:45 AM on the next day. The railway station is 5 kms away from the town. There were autos to go to the town even at that time. As we noticed other travellers hiring the autos, we also hired an auto and went to the town. We took a room in a hotel near the bus complex and slept for some time.
On 4 April 2015, we came out of our hotel room at 7:00 AM and hired an auto to go to Banashankari temple as we wanted to have Her darshan first in the morning.
Banashankari
The temple is located in a place called Cholachagudd. It is also 5 kms away from the town, but in the opposite direction to the railway station. This is a famous temple which attracts many devotees not only from Karnataka, but from Maharashtra also. The deity here is Goddess Parvati who is worshipped as Sri Banashankari.
There were more than 500 people in the temple at that time. We stood in the queue and had the darshan of Sri Banashankari within 15 minutes. The Goddess is sitting on a Lion and is in the posture of killing one demon who is at her foot. The idol was made of black stone.
We came out and bought prasadam. We noticed a pond in front of the temple and a lot of people were having there bath in the pond. We hired an auto and got down at the bus complex in Badami at 9:00 AM.
We wanted to visit both Aihole and Pattadakal in this trip. But, the bus to Aihole left at 8:30 AM and the RTC staff told that there was another bus at 9:30 AM which would go to Pattadakal. So, we wanted to board that bus as Pattadakal is on the way to Aihole. We had our breakfast in a restaurant beside the bus complex and, by the time we came back, the bus was ready. From there, Pattadakal is just 22 kms away and we reached in 45 minutes.
Pattadakal
Pattadakal was declared as heritage site by the Indian government. It is a very small village, which is on the banks of the river Malaprabha (However, we could not see the river). This place is famous for the temples built by the Chalukya kings between the 7th and the 8th centuries. We reached the temple complex in 5 minutes as it is just 200 meters away from the place where the bus stops.
The oldest temple in this complex was built by the king Vijayaditya in 697 AD. It is dedicated to Shiva who is worshipped as Sangameswara. It looks it is the only temple in the complex where daily pooja is still going on. There is a very big Nandi in front of this temple. We had the darshan of Sangameswara and prayed him.
This temple complex is spread into acres of land and is well maintained. There are a few South Indian films that were shot here (Some part of the song Jum Jum Maya in the Telugu movie Vikramarkudu was picturized here).
We spent more than one hour there looking at everything in detail. We came back and had coconut water in a shop opposite to the temple. Our original plan was to go to Aihole from there, however, there was no bus to Aihole at that time and no cabs were available. There were a few autos and I checked with those auto drivers if they could come to Aihole as it`s just 12 kms away from there. But, they were not willing to come to Aihole as it is located in a remote place. They were happy to come to Badami. So, we boarded an auto and reached Badami at 11:45 AM. Upon our request, the auto driver had taken us to the cave temple which is almost 2 kms away from the bus-stand.
Badami
Badami was previously known as Vatapi. It was the capital of the Chalukya kings, who were known as Badami Chalukyas. Badami is famous for the cave temples which are visited by lakhs of visitors every year - not only from India, but from other countries also. These cave temples were selected as one of the heritage places by the Indian government.
The cave temples are sculpted in four levels. On the first level, there is a temple for Shiva. On the second level, there is a temple for Vishnu. On the third and fourth levels, there are Buddhist and Jain temples. Some part of the song Jum Jum Maya (Vikramarkudu) and one scene in the same film was picturized here as well.
We hired another auto and came back to the bus complex after spending one and a half hour at the cave temples. We had our lunch in the same restaurant where we had our breakfast. We went to our lodge to check out and boarded a bus to Gadag which is 65 kms from there. We reached Gadag at 3:30 PM. Our actual plan was to visit two important temples in Gadag in the evening and then to go to Hospet for the night. However, as we missed out Aihole, we were ahead of our schedule. So, we wanted to go to Lakkundi also (which was suggested by the hotel proprietor in Badami). We immediately boarded another bus and reached Lakkundi in less than half an hour (It is 15 kms away from Gadag).
Lakkundi
Lakkundi is a small village on the highway to Hospet. There are a few beautiful temples in Lakkundi which were constructed in the 11th century. The first temple we went to was Brahma Jainalaya which was constructed both in the Hindu and Jain styles. There is a museum behind the temple. We spent a good amount of time in the temple and then moved ahead to visit the next temple in Lakkundi.
There are around 50 temples in Lakkundi. Out of these temples, Kashi Vishwanath temple is the most famous one. This temple is also known as Kashi Vishweshwara temple. This temple remains open throughout the day. The temple is very beautiful as it was constructed in the typical Hoysala style. It is the same style that the temples at Belur and Halibedu were constructed.
Gadag
We boarded another bus and came back to Gadag. We hired an auto and reached Trikuteshwara temple at 5:30 PM.
This is one of the famous temples in Gadag. This temple is dedicated to Shiva. This temple was said to have been constructed during the Kalyani Chalukya`s era in 1200 AD. This temple was also built in the Hoysala architecture. Each and every pillar in this temple looks graceful.
There is also a temple for Goddess Saraswati in the same premises, opposite to the main temple. We went in and had the darshan of Saraswati also. The temple was very silent as there was nobody around.
We came out of this temple at 6:15 PM and our next plan was to visit Veera Narayana temple, another famous temple in Gadag. As there were no autos found when we came out of the temple, we started walking down towards the main road. When we were just about to reach the main road, my mother noticed a small temple on the left side. It was written at the entrance of the temple as Jodi Hanuman and the photo of the main deity was also there. It looked interesting and we went in. Though it's a small temple, it's crowded.
Generally, we see only one idol of Hanuman in all Hanuman temples (In some temples, Hanuman may have different number of heads). But here, there are two idols of Hanuman - both are of the same size, sculpted on the same rock and in the same posture (side by side). That is why it is called as Jodi Hanuman and that is what made this temple so unique. I started my travel in 2002 and visited different temples all over India, but I had never seen such a temple anywhere in the country. Hanuman here is said to be very powerful.
We came out and boarded an auto on the main road. We got down at Veera Narayana temple at 6:40 PM. The Hoysala king Bitti Deva was influenced by the Vaishnava Saint Sri Ramanujacharya and was converted into Hinduism from Jainism. He changed his name as Vishnu Vardhana and built this temple in the 12th century. It is also believed that the Kannada poet Kumara Vyasa wrote his version of the Mahabharata in this temple.
r The main idol was so beautiful as was sculpted in the Hoysala style. We were in the temple for about 20 minutes We came out and hired an auto to go to the bus complex where we got down earlier. But, the auto driver said that the buses going towards Hospet would stop in the newly built bus complex. He also told that there was a bus to Bellary at 7:30 PM which would go via Hospet. We reached the bus complex at 7:20 PM. We had our evening tea in the bus complex and boarded the bus which came exactly at 7:30 PM. We reached Hospet at 9:45 PM, half an hour late, as the driver stopped the bus at a dhaba near Hospet for half an hour for dinner.
