Jaina temple at Pattadakal. The caretaker speaks only Kannada.

Located 150km to the north of Hampi, Badami was briefly the capital of the Chalukyas and the rock-cut caves and sandstone temples here are definitely worth a visit.

The caves have super carvings and are dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Lord Buddha. The temples display 7th and 8th Chalukyan architecture and are still being excavated. They are centered around the 6th century artificial Agastytirtha tank that is functional even today.

I f there’s one temple that will definitely take your breath away for the serenity of its location, it is the Bhutana temple on the tank’s east bank. The hill behind the temple has few more temples under it because carved stones and idols are constantly being uncovered by the locals. According to the caretaker of the archeological museum on the north bank, there are plans to carry out a major excavation at the site.

A pleasant 20km drive away lies Pattadakal which has more temples, mainly the Virupaksha and Mallikarjuna temples built by Vikramaditya the second’s queens. The queens, Lokamahadevi and Trailokanahadevi, built them to commemorate his capture of the Kanchipuram from the Pallavas.