Started early morning 6.30 AM to Pattadakal. Being winter, sun rises a little late. Otherwise would have left even early. All the ASI Monuments are open from 6.00 AM to 6.00 PM. So if one goes early, one can avoid the crowds that descend on the monuments in holiday season. Drive from Badami to Pattadakal takes about 25 minutes. The road is good to drive, with fields on both sides.
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| Early morning drive to Patadakkal |
When you drive early morning, you see a procession of people going to the fields with a mug in their hands to do their morning ablutions. It was surprising to see this in Karnataka in 2019. This part of the country is not Open Defecation Free yet.
Pattadakal is dated to 7th Century CE, situated on the banks of Malaprabha River. It was the coronation town for Chalukya Kings. It is a complex of nine Shiva temples and a Jain temple. The Virupaksha temple is the only functioning temple there now. The various temples were built from 7th century onwards and are examples of North Indian style of architecture (Nagara) and South Indian style of architecture
(Rekha-Nagara-Prasada) and South Indian style of architecture (Dravida Vimana). You can identify this by simply looking at the Gopuram.
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North Indian style architecture (Rekha-Nagara-Prasada)
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| South Indian style architecture - Dravida Vimana |
We were the first to enter the complex that day. The first view was amazing. The silence, the early morning sun, absence of crowds all together transported one to 7th century itself. One half expected a King to come from one of the temples.
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| The temple complex at sun rise |
We spent a lot of time clicking pictures of the temples and intricate carvings. Most of the carvings depicted scenes from Ramayana or Mahabharata, though the temples are all Shiva temples. A special mention should be made about the windows in temples, each of a different design.
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| Amorous couple stone carving in Virupaksha temple |
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| Shiva and Parvati (?) playing Dice |
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| Intricately carved stone windows |
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| Each stone window is of different design |
Drove back to Badami, checked out of the hotel and started on the next stop of our journey. Bijapur / Vijayapura. From Chalukya Kingdom we were now proceeding to the Decann Sultanates. The Road to Bijapur was fairly good, till you enter Bijapur. The last stretch was really a stretch as road works were going on.
Bijapur was the capital of Adil Shahi dynasty which ruled Bijapur Sultanate for about 200 years. The sultans broke away from Bahmani Sultanate in 1489 and ruled till 1686. They were weakened by Shivaji's raids on their forts and establishment of Maratha Empire. They were finally conquered by Aurangazeb in 1686.
In these 200 years they had built some amazing monuments in the city of Bijapur. Gol Gumbaz is the most popular of them all. It is the tomb of Muhammad Adil Shah, the seventh ruler of the dynasty. It is claimed to be the second largest tomb in the world, next only to St Peter's Basilica. Probably in the medieval times. It is an impressive structure. As you enter the complex the dome seems to be atop the square building. As you go nearer, you realise there are three structures and the Gol Gumbaz stands behind the two square buildings.
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| Gol Gumbaz viewed from front |
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Gol Gumbaz
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Gol Gumbaz houses the tomb of Mohammed Adil Shah. It is a cavernous structure with a huge ceiling. The acoustics of the structure is amazing. There is a circular gallery on top which is called the whispering gallery. A whisper from one end of the gallery is heard very clearly in the other end. Also any sound echoes 7 times at least.
When we entered the tomb it was a shrieking mad house. At 4.00 PM the crowd was at its peak and every one was clapping and shrieking to hear the echo. It was hard to hear even the person next to you. We asked the guard why can't people be silent. He said "When I tell them to keep quiet, they say 'we have purchased ticket for 25 Rs. So it is our right to shout'. What can I say Sir". Fair enough.
We climbed 7 storeys up to the whispering gallery, through the circular steps in the minarets. It is a steep climb, leaves one huffing and puffing. Our Guide tried to show us the acoustic effects, but it was impossible in the noise. We told him we will come tomorrow early morning and try again.
After clicking a few photos, our guide asked us if we were planning to go to the other monuments in the city. He convinced us the other three can be seen in 2 hours and took us in a Tonga (horse cart) ride. Initally we were self conscious riding through the city in a Tonga, where cars and two wheelers were buzzing about. Then it became fun.
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| Tonga Ride through the city of Vijayapura |
Our next stop was Bara Kaman. It is an unfinished monument, housing the tombs of Ali Adil Shah II and his family. It was supposed to be 12 interconnected arches vertically and horizontally but only the first level of arches were built. At its completion, its shadow was supposed to fall on Gol Gumbaz, his father's tomb. As the guide said, each son wants to outdo his father. There was hardly any crowd here.
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| Posing in Bara Kaman |
We made a short stop next to see Malik e Maidan (general of the battlefield), the largest cast bronze canon in the world. It is one of the largest medieval guns and weighs 55 tons. Take all these claims with a pinch of salt as the guides are known to exaggerate. It is a massive piece of armament.
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| Malik-i- Maidan, Bronze cannon |
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| Ibrahim Rouza |
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