Bad Timing in Badami (Karnataka, January 7-8, 2009)

I arrive in Badami very late and am dropped off near the bus stand, not much more than an open parking lot off the village's sole main road, near the area's only hotels. I knock on the doors of several of the hotels until finally someone answers. As I have no choice of where to stay, I have no leverage to use in bargaining. Nonetheless, I still try to hint that the price is a little high. The night hotel boy makes a strange deal with me, that if I pay him bakshish (a bribe), he will say I came in that morning so that I don't have to check out so early the next day. So I basically pay the written price (which is always too high), but he gets a cut and I can stay later the next day, before I catch the night bus to Bangalore en route to Mamallapuram.

The next day, after little sleep, I am up and out touring the rock-cut caves temples surrounding the village of Badami. According to my Lonely Planet Guidebook, "Badami was once the capital of the Chalukya empire, which covered much of the central Deccan between the 4th and 8th centuries AD" (926). This explains why there are so many magnificent sculpted rock cave temples scattering Badami and the surrounding areas, which are today only small villages. These cave temples, according to the Lonely Planet, are "some of the earliest and finest examples of Dravidian temples and rock-cut caves, as well as the earliest free-standing temple in India...The forms and sculptural work at these sites inspired the later South Indian Hindu empires that rose and fell before the arrival of the Muslims" (927).

On the way from my hotel to the cave temples, I come across a large group of boys and men. They tell me they are preparing for a Muslim holiday celebrating something having to do with the prophet Muhammad. It seems that not all of the participants are Muslim, but I am informed that everyone celebrates this festival. It is a great photo opportunity:

Finally, I reach the cave temples. The first and oldest is dedicated to Shiva, the second is dedicated to Vishnu, the the third contains carvings or images of several deities, and the fourth and smallest cave is dedicated to Jainism and has an image of Suparshvanatha (the seventh Jain tirthankar) surrounded by 24 Jain tirthankars, and a sanctum containing an image of adinath, the first Jain tirthankar. At one point while I am at the caves, the night hotel boy finds me and asks for a photo. He is very short compared to the carvings:

Here are some other images from the cave temples:

After visiting the caves, I explore the 5th-century Agastyatirtha Tank and the waterside Bhutanatha temples, discovering more great photo opportunities:

I am not surprised to find some men sleeping next to the temple, an historical landmark. People sleep everywhere in India-it is so hot, the culture is relaxed, and unemployment is common.

On the other side of the tank is an archaeological museum, which houses examples of local sculpture. The stairway just behind the museum climbs through a dramatic sandstone chasm and fortified gateways to reach the various temples and ruins of the north fort, with expansive views overlooking the rooftops of Badami. On my walk from place to place, I encounter village children playing and doing chores:

I walk back to my hotel, have a snack from a street food wala, and see that the Muslim holiday festival is still happening: