Aihole was the first capital of Badami Chalukyas who ruled between the 6th & the 9th CE in this part of the country. During the 5th and 6th CE, while Hinduism was going through a renaissance started by the Guptas of North India, the Hindus restarted Temple construction but now with stones rather than other material. Not knowing how to built temples in stones, they experimented with the plan of the temple, its exterior shape, its towers & toranas, its sanctum-sanctorum, its circumabulatory path, etc. Therefore, this site has come to be known as the the Cradle of Temple Architecture. No student of Architecture can miss visiting Badami, Aihole & Pattadakal unless they want to miss understanding the evolution of Hindu temple architecture which started in the 5th CE.

Pattadakal is a World Heritage monument aptly listed due to its stunning array of abandoned & living Shiva temples elaborating the history of evolution of temple architecture in its advanced stage. Here, we clearly distinguish the Rekahnagara and the Dravida styles of temple towers which were evolved here and subsequently adopted by all successive architects. Kadasiddeshwara, Jambulinga, Galaganatha, Sangameshwara, Kashi Vishweshwara and the Virupatksha temples, stand testimony to the artists of the 7th and 8th CE during when these temples were built. Do not miss watching the inner walls of the Mallikarjuna temple where you see futuristic designs of headgear and hair locks imagined 1200 years ago!

The Badami Cave temples, carved out of 200 million year old sandstone, showcase extraordinary artistic & engineering skills of Indians some 1300 years ago. Ajanta, Ellora, Elephanta, Mahabalipuram are some equivalent comparisons of the stellar Badami caves. There are four caves among which the first 3 are Hindu in character while the last one is Jain. While the first three were carved in the 6th CE the last one was created during the 9th CE. A flight of 200 steps needs to be climbed in order to see all the cave temples. From the 2nd and the 4th caves, one can see the stunning view of the Vatapi lake & the various temples that dot the edge of the lake. The rock-cut statues of various Hindu Gods such as Narasimha, Mahavishnu, Trivikrama, Varaha, etc, are awe-inspiring, to say the least. While visiting the cave temples, one should understand the fact that the artists did not have the luxury of committing mistakes in making these statues since once damaged they were irreplaceable.

No where in India can you find a structure which is so well designed and engineered as the Gol Gumbaz of Bijapur. It is a mausoleum built over the tomb of Mohammed Adil Shah in 17 CE. Towering above seven floors is the awe-inspiring dome which is the second largest in the world measuring 40 m in diameter. Built over a flattened rock, Gol Gumbaz offers stunning views from the terrace as well as haunting music from its whispering gallery on the inside. Imagine facing the inner wall of the dome and speaking in hushed tone and being heard clearly 40 m diametrically opposite by someone else. Such was the mastery over acoustics achieved by these master builders.

Ibrahim Roza is one of the most beautiful monuments of Bijapur, built in the the 17 CE. Two buildings, one mosque and the other mausoleum, built with great symmetry, impresses the visitors with its perfect proportions. Intricate carvings, delicate filigree work, grand acoustics, chains carved out of single stones, beautiful minarets, ornamental pond, photogenic perspectives, domes & turrets typical of islamic architecture, etc. have all these given this building the nick-name "Taj Mahal of the Deccan". If you have courage, you can peek and enter into the maze of secret corridors that are found under the mausoleum!

Malik-i-maidan literally means "Emperor of the Plains"! The emperor here is the 55 tonne bronze cannon which sits majestically on the top of a firing mound! This is the World's largest single casting cannon and is a metallurgical wonder. This was cast in Ahmed Nagar by Turkish engineers in the 16 CE. This cannon made a decisive difference in the war between the Vijayanagara kings and the Muslim rulers of Deccan in the battle of Tallikota in the year 1565. Apparently after the war was over, the Bijapur King, who had borrowed this cannon from the Ahmed Nagar king, refused to return it! In fact, he trained the gun on the soldiers of his ex-friend when confronted! It is also said that the British was unable to move this cannon from its original place and so is still found here.

This is easily one of the eeriest & most haunting places that you will see anywhere in India. This is the site where you find the graves of 63 ladies, all wives of Afzal Khan, who were killed by the husband before he went to the battle with Marathas. The storey goes that Afzal Khan, army general of the Adil Shahi dynasty, was to meet Maratha warrior Shivaji in a one-to-one meeting. Afzal Khan, who was a giant of a man, wanted to embrace Shivaji & kill him with his shoulder power. But Shivaji, the wily warrior, was ready for this. When Afzal started tightening his embrace, Shivaji ripped Afzal's back with fingers adorned with tiger nails (Vyaghra Nakha). Since Afzal was not sure if he would return, he didn't want his wives to be someone else's property & so had decided to kill each one of them! And so the graves stand today, as mute testimony, of a monstrous act by a tyrannical person. This place is hardly visited, but we will visit it as it has an Auschwitz like feel if we can compare!

Vithala temple is the crowning glory of Hampi. The image of the Stone Chariot standing majestically in the centre of the temple alone must have brought millions to visit Hampi. The very approach to this temple watching the broken tower startles you with the thought of what this temple must have gone through at the hands of the invaders. The unmissable highlights of this temple are; the iconic Stone Chariot which was the temple for Garuda the mount of Lord Vithala to whom this temple is dedicated; the front porch of the main temple with its musical pillars & intricate stone carvings; the Kalyana mantapa with its majestic pillars & mythological stories; the verdant environs of the temple with Anjanadri hill at a distance; the calm but powerful currents of the Tungabhadra river flowing nearby; the ancient Vithala Bazar which may have sold precious & semi-precious stones on the pavements some 500 years ago; When in Hampi, the ruins & the rumblings of the past hound you all the time!

Virupaksha temple is the most visited temple in Hampi because of it active status. It is situated with Hemakuta hill on one side & Tungabhadra river on the other side. Almost all other major temples, except this, are abandoned since they were desecrated during the battle in 1565 CE. This temple is one of the oldest in Hampi. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva & is called Virupaksha or Pampapathi. Large courtyards, the remains of an old Temple Kitchen, 500 year-old paintings on the ceilings of the front porch of the temple, a number of secondary shrines dedicated to various Hindu Gods, a large stepped water tank next to the temple wall, tall entrance gopuras, an evocative & powerful Shiva linga in the sanctum-sanctorum, an inverted image of the temple tower falling on the rear wall of the temple, an elephant blessing the devotees in exchange for a few rupees, etc. characterise this temple. Please note that dresses should cover legs & shoulders to visit this temple.

Lakshmi Narasimha Statue is a jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring work in Hampi. See it to believe it! According to the stone inscription near by, a certain sculptor Arya Krishna Bhatta requested the King to allow him to work alone on a huge boulder which was present at this site. The King agreed and let the artist work on the stone. But since there was no news of him for several months, the King sent his guards who found him dead at the feet of Lord Narasimha which he had finished. The beauty, the scale, the ferocity of the lion god, the curling serpent on which he sits, the elegance of the goddess Lakshmi who once sat on his thigh, etc. all have mesmerised people watching this work. Right next to it is one of the biggest statues of Shiva Linga housed in a shrine inundated with water. This is called Badavi Linga and is among the top 10 Shiva Lingas of the country.

The Zenana complex is one of the best-known cluster of monuments in Hampi. The beautiful, elegant and artistic Lotus Mahal and the imposing and unbelievable stables built for the Royal Elephants take your breath away. And luckily these two structures escaped the axe of the marauding muslims since they was built in the Islamic style! And we thank them for this gesture! The lotus mahal used to be the day-time abode of the two queens, Tirumaladevi & Channadevi, of the King Krishnadevaraya. There are pipes which run along the celling which sprinkled cool and perfumed water on the queens whey the day got very hot. Such was the love & affection for the queens! There are also watch towers and largely destroyed palaces of the erstwhile queens that we find in the Zenana.