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Photo: Dineshkannambadi (talk) 03:35, 13 August 2008 (UTC), CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The main attractions of Badami are its caves. There are four main caves. The first one, dedicated to Shiva, was excavated by the Chalukyas in 550 AD. The second one is dedicated to Vishnu. In this cave there are statues of Vishnu avatars like Varaha, the boar or Krishna. The third cave is also dedicated to Vishnu and the last one is a cave with Jain representations.
The Badami cave temples are a complex of Buddhist, Hindu and Jain cave temples located in Badami, a town in the Bagalkot district in northern part of Karnataka, India. The caves are important examples of Indian rock-cut architecture, especially Badami Chalukya architecture, and the earliest date from the 6th century. Badami is a modern name and was previously known as "Vataapi", the capital of the early Chalukya dynasty, which ruled much of Karnataka from the 6th to the 8th century. Badami is situated on the west bank of a man-made lake ringed by an earthen wall with stone steps; it is surrounded on the north and south by forts built during Early Chalukya and in later times.
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Contains sculptures of various era from the region. To the left of it starts the footpath going up 300 stairs leading to the Lower and Upper Shivalayas.
A cluster of sandstone shrines dedicated to the deity Bhutanatha, built between the 7th and 11th century CE.
When facing the museum, walk through the gate on your left and follow the path up the 300 stairs or so. You will pass by the Lower Shivalaya, a canon platform, the granary and will eventually arrive at the top of the plateau, where you will see the ruins of the three granaries and the Upper Shivalaya. Great point for watching the sun set over Badami. Get down in time, as the metal gate to the museum will be locked at 6PM.
This temple is the oldest one of the town. It is built on a flat rock and offers a nice view on Badami. The gate towards the footpath may be closed, though, and it is not accessible from the other Shivalaya temples.