We had heard a lot about Hampi, the expansive ruined city of the 16th century Vijayanagara empire. The iconic Garuda Chariot and Narsimha images from our history books and tales of Vijayanagara king Krishnadeva Raya (and Tenaliraman) were imprinted in our memories from our childhoods. Both of us had a long-standing desire to visit the place so it was part of our travel plan. Also, our non-Indian friends who came to visit India always had Hampi on their list and recommended highly of the place. When we realized that some of the ruins in and around Badami (which is hardly 150 kms from Hampi) are almost a 1000-years older, we decided that Badami would be our main destination. Also, Pattadakal and Hampi are the two UNESCO world heritage sites situated in Karnataka.
Badami takes its name because of the almond (badam) coloured rocks of red sandstone that dot the landscape all around and its earlier name was Vatapi. The area with Aihole and Pattadakal in the vicinity, was the seat of the Chalukya dynasty and was at its peak between between 6th and 8th centuries AD. Pulakeshin I was the founder of the Chalukyas with Badami as his capital. During the reign of Pulakeshin II in the 7th century AD, Chalukyas were one of the most powerful kingdoms in the Deccan region.
The temple architecture of the Badami caves, Aihole and Pattadakal is not only splendid but probably unparalleled in that time in the north Deccan region.The magnificent ruins of Badami and those at Hampi are testimony to the established fact that architecture and art forms travel far and wide across time and space.
There exists a relationship between the cave temple architecture (and the paintings) of Badami region and Hampi with that of Ajanta and Ellora, the other two UNESCO world heritage sites in Aurangabad about 600 kms away. The rock-cut temples techniques and the paintings perfected in Badami and Pattadakal temples were first tested in Aihole and they are said to be inspired by the Ajanta caves that date from the 2nd century BC to 5th to 7th century AD.
Chalukyas, who built the temples around Badami, rose to power in the Deccan after the decline of Vakatakas of the Deccan. Harishena, a Vakataka ruler is said to have done much of the work in Ajanta caves and it is likely that the Ajanta caves would have awed the builders of the Chalukyan kingdom. Also, not only did the Ajanta caves inspired the Badami temples, Ajanta caves were inspired by the Badami kingdom too. Few of the painitings in Ajanta caves depict the events of the Chalukyan kings including the reception given to a Persian embassy by Pulakesin II.
The marvels of Pattadakal also influenced the Ellora caves of Aurangabad.. The Kailasantha temple at Ellora was modeled around the Virupaksha temple of Pattadakal (which was also modeled on the Kailasa temple of Kanchi). The Virupaksha temple at Pattadakal, dedicated to Lord Shiva, was also improvised later by the Vijayanagar kings at Hampi and is one of the iconic sites in Hampi today. Surprisingly, amongst the numerous ruins of the temples both at Pattadatkal and Hampi, the Virupaksha temples in both places are still worshipped.
There is also another strand of continuity between Badami and Hampi’s architecture through the form of architecture developed by Western Chalukyas. Western Chalukyas, who are believed to be from the line of Chalukyas of Badami, influenced the Hoyasala architecture (Hoysalas succeeded the the Western Chalukyas), which then inspired the Vijayanagar architecture too after them. The Hoysalas and then the Vijayanagara kings incorporated in their architecture, the decorated stepped-wells called Pushkarni which were developed in the times of Western Chalukyas. The step-well in Hampi was discovered as early (or late) as mid 1980s.
As we go further south, we look forward to the splendor of the architecture of Chola kings, which also influenced the ruins of what we see in Hampi today and what was one of the largest and prosperous city of its time.
