Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
shows features of Shiva, while the left half has aspects of his wife Parvati. On the oppos-
ite wall is a large image of Harihara; half Shiva and half Vishnu.
Dedicated to Vishnu,
cave two
is simpler in design. As with caves one and three, the front
edge of the platform is decorated with images of pot-bellied dwarfs in various poses. Four
pillars support the verandah, their tops carved with a bracket in the shape of a
yali
(myth-
ical lion creature). On the left wall of the porch is the bull-headed figure of Varaha, an in-
carnation of Vishnu and the emblem of the Chalukya empire. To his left is Naga, a snake
with a human face. On the right wall is a large sculpture of Trivikrama, another incarna-
tion of Vishnu.
Between the second and third caves are two sets of steps to the right. The first leads to a
natural cave
, where resident monkeys laze around. The eastern wall of this cave contains a
small image of Padmapani (an incarnation of the Buddha). The second set of steps - sadly,
barred by a gate - leads to the hilltop
South Fort
.
Cave three
, carved in AD 578, is the largest and most impressive. On the left wall is a
carving of Vishnu, to whom the cave is dedicated, sitting on a snake. Nearby is an image
of Varaha with four hands. The pillars have carved brackets in the shape of
yalis
. The ceil-
ing panels contain images, including Indra riding an elephant, Shiva on a bull and Brahma
on a swan. Keep an eye out for the image of drunken revellers, in particular one lady be-
ing propped up by her husband. There's also original colour on the ceiling; the divots on
the floor at the cave's entrance were used as paint palettes.
Dedicated to Jainism,
cave four
is the smallest of the set and dates between the 7th and
8th centuries. The pillars, with their roaring
yalis,
are similar to the other caves. The right
wall has an image of Suparshvanatha (the seventh Jain
tirthankar
) surrounded by 24 Jain
tirthankars
. The inner sanctum contains an image of Adinath, the first Jain
tirthankar
.
Other Sights
Badami's caves overlook the 5th-century
Agastyatirtha Tank
and the waterside
Bhutanatha
9am-5pm Sat-Thu)
, which houses superb examples of local sculpture, including a remark-
ably explicit Lajja-Gauri image of a fertility cult that once flourished in the area. The
stairway behind the museum climbs through a sandstone chasm and fortified gateways to
reach the ruins of the
North Fort
.
HISTORIC SITES
Activities