Either the roads have been laid wrongly, or the hills. For it?s only when you're almost at Badami that you suddenly notice the twin orange-hued soapstone hills, with a ravine running through. The stupendous caves, rock-cut temples, forts and sculptures of this glorious former Chalukya capital, occupy the ravine. The initial disappointment at the discovery that one's daydreams of an almond-shaped town or hill, were indeed just dreams, quickly vanishes.
Badami was founded by the mighty Chalukya King Pulakesin I in the 6th century. The artistes of his kingdom evolved a highly sophisticated style of temple architecture with their matchless carving skills, that continues to draw connoisseurs of fine art and heritage from across the world in the modern era.
Gazing at the vast open-air museum that is Badami, you'd think those Chalukyan artistes could have converted the soft stone hills soft enough to carve, tough enough to endure the wear of centuries into any shape of their choosing. The sheer quantum of fine art in varying stages of completion scattered across Badami and its sister Chalukya towns of Aihole and Pattadakkal nearby, get you thinking. The Chalukyas must have been very ecologically sensitive and tried to use as little paper as possible. Whenever the muse hit them, they just took up their tools and started chiselling their thoughts and dreams into stone. And there was plenty of space to store their records. Their musings still live in the vast open-air museum that is Badami. The staggering number of temples in Badami leads one to believe the Chalukyas were immensely spiritual as well.
That said, you don't have to be an expert on heritage to cringe at the acute squalor surrounding this rich artistry. The idle tourist too is appalled by the neglect of so rich a legacy. The mighty capital of a region that once stretched from Orissa in the east to Kanchipuram in the far south is now just a dusty taluk headquarters. We thus urge you to visit Badami, Pattadakkal and Aihole before their ruin is complete. For the locals, the art of the past is, understandably, now just a major source of livelihood, so patience with pesky guides is indeed a great virtue here. The rest of the people here seem almost too humble, perhaps paying for the arrogance during the hey days of this erstwhile capital, which lasted over centuries. Hope the power hungry people in Delhi take notice.