Badami- A glimpse




A sense of peace prevailed here. Having driven from Bijapur back to Badami, through a road which is seldom followed by tourists, we gazed with awe at the ethereal beauty of the Badami Caves.

The journey here was an adventure in itself and I whole heartedly thank my husband for pushing himself, taking change in his stride and getting us to this place safely

It was touch and go. 
We left Bijapur late, around 3.30pm. Light fades fast in November and a sense of urgency prevailed as we had to get to see the cave temples before closing time and we had no clue whether it was 5, or later.  

People are extremely nice and helpful here, and as we pressed on, asking for directions to get to Badami, one vehicle driver, decided to take a detour and guide us himself. That saved us an hour! 

We really did not know if we were heading in the right direction...but we reached finally. The town was a hustle-bustle and though we could see rocky crags we could not make out where and how the temples would emerge. Through a narrow road, and then there we were... 
It was really beautiful!!

Calm, Serene, and immensely peaceful. We reached Badami Cave Temples, just in time, with half an hour before closing time (It closes at 6).

The Bhoothnath temple-Badami 



Vishnu, Shiva, and Jain Cave temples built by the Chalukyas during the late 6th or 7th century can be found here. 






I tried my hand at composing..he he...and it looks beautiful!



The Agasthya lake in between and the temples carved into the rock face around were a stark contrast to the monuments at Bijapur.
Children were quite bewitched by the rocky caves and kept taking pictures from every possible angle.
As you can see, the photographs look very hazy, as the sun had set, and we managed a few shots with the natural light available.

I felt sad we could be there only for half an hour, but now Pattadakkal/ Aihole remains to be seen...

 But
I have no stories to tell as well, alas, no guide, no time...

Hope we can revisit these places again and this time I hope to have more family with me, as they enjoy history as much as I do. 


Comments

  1. Anuradha ShankarNovember 23, 2012 at 4:28 AM

    Its sometimes better to explore without a guide, not focussing on the details, but just the place,, and i am sure u and the kids enjoyed it! incidentally, we were there just as the sun was setting too.. and were probably the last visitors to come out before they closed up :D another coincidence!! the only difference was that the place was filled with students on a picnic!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SoulSpaceNovember 23, 2012 at 7:21 PM

      Nice to hear the coincidence! This time as you say we got the overall feel for the place, but next time I will get the details:))

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear Narrative Practices - a love letter

  Dear Narrative Practices and Ideas, How are you? Have you found all the people you need to find? My hopes and dreams for you is that you reach every storyteller-soul and re-author their thinking and ways of being! The song “Rekhe iddara sake” from kannada movie Chinnari mutha has the following words: Listen to the song here  Are mere wings enough? Birds need the sky to fly high. Are mere legs enough? Deer need speed to jump high. Are mere flowers enough? It needs the wind to spread the scent. Mere water is not enough A river needs the valley to make a river. Mere clouds are not enough Isn't Earth required for rain to pour upon? Are mere eyes enough? Do we not need objects to see? Is mere voice enough? Do we not need a song to sing together?!   This song reminds me that a person does not exist in isolation or in small confined relationships. We are more than that one relationship; we are all that we seek in our landscape. We are agents of value
Read more

The Land tells me .... ( a poem) - Versespace 16

Image
  The land offers me a memory, intangible as it can be, A memory of royal, benevolent Rajas. I wonder who his Rani was and then I slip into the memory again. Land is granted, temples built, and priests brought in from faraway lands. I wonder if the Raja and his escorts come back today to witness what they bestowed, Will they know it or even recognise it?   Lord Ganesha is the guardian of this temple, He is still worshiped in his own little shrine, placed at the entrance. Yet the main deity lies forgotten somewhere in the nether regions of the temple, While their replacement is feted in the sanctum-sanctorum.   Human memory is so fragile and ephemeral. Old is lost and abandoned, While New is painted and polished. We forget stories of the old and wish to reinvent every wheel again.   It is time to Remember the past and acknowledge it. And let go our greed for new and nearer things. It is time to Reclaim all that we already have. And to sit with
Read more

625 Moons and counting! - Externalising the story of my past, present and future through the landscape metaphor!

Like all stories, mine is a nested story.  Stories within stories. Yet it starts at the very beginning - a very good place to start. When you sing we begin with DO RE ME , when we read we begin with ABC, when we tell a story we begin with One upon a time.... there lived a person who knew a huge big tree! Let me open the door to the landscape of my birth and growing up. It was a Forest of Adventure! We had a huge tree near our lunch ground in school and the moment bell rang we would call dibs on who would get to climb the tree and eat while sitting on it. Life was full of adventure. The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton was my favorite book growing up and climbing trees was my favorite thing to do. Every day was an adventure. I eagerly looked forward to the new day – not for the studying part, but for the newness that awaited me at school and dance and sometimes music class! Dance class was in a community hall with place to play in front and even huge gulmohur trees! My dance teacher w
Read more