Badami Cave Temples

Badami Cave Temples are Hindu and Jain cave temples located in Badami in Bagalkot District of Karnataka in India. The cave temples of Badami are considered as the cradle of temple architecture. Badami represents the earliest examples of Hindu temples in the Deccan region. The Badami Cave Temples are renowned for their cave temples which date back to the 6^th and 7^th centuries.  The cave temples of Badami were built in the 6^th century by Pulakeshin I. Badami Cave Temple can be rightly called the playhouse of Chalukya style of architecture. The temples are constructed on top of sandstone hills. There are 4 cave temples here. The first temple consists of a veranda, a hall with several rows, and the sanctum sanctorum.  An important sculpture here is the Nataraja statue with 18 hands. The second cave is a temple with Vishnu as the deity. In the third temple, the main sculpture is the one with a serpent and Vishnu. Here, we can see images of different incarnations of Vishnu, such as Narasimha, Varaha, and Harihara. In the fourth temple, there stands a statue of Mahavira, the Jain Tirthankara. The nearest airport is Belgaum which is 150 km away from Badami. Tourist buses and taxis are available from the important cities of Karnataka to Badami. The rich traditions of India are exhibited in these heritage monuments. Tourists and painters from different parts of the world visit the place to see this architectural wonder.