A Trip Towards History - The Bagalkote District

Do you remember Doraemon? The cartoon where one middle-schooler always cries and a talking raccoon dog comes to its rescue? Yes, that Doraemon. Do you remember the time machine in the drawer? Let's say you have the same time machine. Where and when will you time travel to? To the future at Mars, of course, duh! But magically, the machine malfunctions and you now see Badami's 500 CE to 700 CE. What do you think you will see? Tribes? Kings? Aliens?

"Ann, I wanna see the future at Mars."

"Hah! No can do- My time machine, my rules."

"It's not yours, it's Doraemon."

"Oh, shucks... Did I just call myself out? Oop- Please don't take me back to the 22nd century."

• Badami Caves

Alright, moving on- Badami. This historical town is located in the Bagalkot District, North Karnataka, India. Similar to that of Hampi (If you want to know more about Hampi- here's the blog ) the references to Badami can be seen in Hindu mythology - Vatapi and Ilvala were two demon brothers. Vatapi would transform into a goat and Ilvala would cook him and serve it to people, In their stomachs, Vatapi would regenerate and kill from the inside. This was known to Agasthya. When Agasthya ate the cooked goat, he said a mantra that ends up killing Vatapi before he could reform. Due to this legend, Badami is also known as Vatapi and the lake at the Badami caves is known as the Agasthya Lake. 

Agasthya Lake : 

During the 540 CE, Badami was founded by Pulakeshin I of the Chalukya dynasty. He chose the location strategically as it was above the land surface and on the mountains, making the place more protected. The Badami Cave temples were thus beautifully carved through the mountains. This was constructed from top to bottom (just like Ellora caves). It comprises four main caves- Cave 1 dedicated to Lord Shiva, Cave 2 and 3 for Lord Vishnu and Cave 4 is known as the Jain cave. 

The natural beauty of Badami cannot be described in words by someone who studied English for 11 years (me, that's me.) Each carving, each inscription is so minutely detailed it leaves you in awe of their skill. Thousands of travelers visit Badami from all over the world. The world. Yes. Each sculpture has a story to tell. The engraving on the ceiling is not just a design, it tells the different stories of our Indian Epics. When you visit it, make sure to take a tour guide with you, what you thought was ordinary will turn out to be extraordinary. 

• Pattadkal

Ooh, looks like the time machine is back on track. But what's this? How did we reach the 7th Century CE at Pattadkal? Well, now that we are here, let's explore.

Patta - means Coronation. Coronation is the event when the prince is crowned as the king. And Kal - means stone. So, Pattadkal translates to the place of Coronation. The exact location of the Coronation place is not known yet. It consists of Hindu and Jain temples and is protected by UNESCO. Yes, kids, places in Karnataka are international assets. 

The moment I entered this place, I was blown away. This place- This place which I just got to know existed- is breathtaking. How is this place so less known?! I could stare at it all day. How did they build this masterpiece in the 7th century? With the flowers, grass, and sky, the monument bloomed out as the most attractive rose in the garden. No joke, take a look:

See, it's just so appealing to gaze at! 

The inscriptions on this majestic monument tell the stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata. 

• Aihole 

Okay, kids, the time machine seems to be taking time to repair, let's go to the cradle of Hindu rock architecture- Aihole.

Okay, so here's the structure of the Indian parliament: 

And here is the structure of the famous Durga Temple of Aihole: 

You see the similarities, don't you? Does this mean Aihole copied the Indian parliament? Is that legal?

No, the Indian parliament's structure was inspired by the Durga Temple at Aihole. Fun fact, it is named Durga temple not because it is devoted to Goddess Durga but because it is the nearest temple to the fort. You can even see the remains of the fort walls right beside the temple. 

The surviving monuments date back from the 7th to the 10th century. There are Hindu and Jain temples and a Buddha temple at Aihole.

As mentioned earlier, Aihole is known as the cradle of architecture. Why so? The designs at Aihole were kinda like a trial and error. There are monuments of South and North Indian-style temples. Fun fact two, the architecrure style of the Jagannath of Puri temple was also inspired by one of the structures at Aihole.

Here's a picture of Jagannath Puri:

I do not have a proper picture of the one at Aihole, but just for reference, here it is:

Oh, okay, the time machine is finally fixed. And we're back in the present. What did we learn today, kids?

The artwork of these beautiful monuments came from bare rocks and mountains. The way they translate sentences to pictures by carving is jaw-dropping. (Yes, I had to Google synonyms of beautiful). These were built in the 7th century CE. A time when technology had not even started. It's insane how much potential and skill were present. These have also gone through several years of wars and destruction, unfortunately. So it becomes a responsibility to preserve them. 

"But but Ann, I want to go to the future on Mars."

Hm, we don't know much about the future of Mars or that of ourselves. But what we do have is history on our planet Earth.

Until next time.

Signed,

Ann.