Kings' rendezvous, Badami

July 17, 2022

The tour of Badami north fort started with Lower Shivalaya followed by Upper Shivalaya. The two manatpa enclosure was the last item on the agenda here. These mantapa pair is one of the prominent monuments of Badami, easily seen from south hill. This picture below was shot from Lower Shivalaya. The way to reach these mantapas is below, close to the second gateway.

The wall across the two rocks is the second gateway. On the right hand side a multilevel wall can be see. The path leading up to the mantapas passes between the wall and rock, then you climb a few steps leading to a cleft. The passage through the cleft is narrow, angled & steep, approximately 25' to 30' long. The rough cut stone steps seemed like the original ones laid when those mantapas were constructed. Its so narrow that I had to go in sideways, balancing myself with legs and arms. Often people give up this daunting adventure, especially the ones suffering claustrophobia. The effort was so much that I did not bother taking pictures of the passage!

Coming out of the passage was a big relief. So here are the two mantapas. Not much is known of these marvelous structures. They seem to be built during the same period as upper & lower Shivalayas which is mid VI Centurt CE. These solid looking structures have withstood forces of nature for 1400 years!

The surrounding space is rough and uneven on the eastern side i.e. the foreground here. On the other side its little friendly. The building blocks of these mantapas seem to be sourced from this very rock, there are signs of rock cutting here.

Take a close look around the foundation of this mantapa, stone has been removed to make a level floor. On the left side, a single step is visible which can be used to climb up to a rectangular platform. It looks like the builders had planned a staircase for this single-storeyed mantapa, for some reason it never happened. On the floor a rectangular pit is seen. Its is a shallow pit filled with rainwater, may be 2" or 3" deep. I feel this was made for washing feet.

The two storeyed mantapa has projecting beams in the upper level. Its possible the builders had plans to expand this mantapa horizontally.

Now I'm on the western side, the ground is friendlier than the opposite side but, you see the gradient.

It is said that these mantapas were used by Chalukyan kings to hold secret meetings. Since the place is at an elevation, sheer drops on all sides, no one could possible eavesdrop here. Also the place is well ventilated and scenic, very favorable conditions to think clearly.

This single-storeyed mantapa bears a majestic look. The height of the base is approximately 10' or 11' difficult to climb up without a ladder. The mantapa itself is big, probably its inner height is 10' or 11'. Had there been a staircase, the mantapa would be filled with people ...local and tourists. In the background is the southern side of Badami hill, somewhere in that stretch is Arali Thirtha, a rockcut shrine rarely visited by tourists. For that matter, most tourists aren't even aware of its existence.

Sandstone surfaces are very interesting, I always get captivated by the textures, formations and embedded stones. Close to the single storeyed mantapa is this 2" circle. I don't know if the dark colored circle is made of stone or iron. On the left side is a white pebble embedded into the parent stone.

Vein like formations on the boulders. I imagine them to be miniature fort walls. The sight of these veins reminds me of rocks at Sidlapadi, the naturally formed arch, about 4 km from here. If one starts studying the artworks of Nature, there's no end to it, it tends to get addictive.

Before we leave this place, lets take a look at Lower Shivalaya...

...end Upper Shivalaya.

Truly an amazing spot!

The return journey through the passage was slower and scarier. I had to go sideways, can't see where I'm stepping. And if you are in a line, the very thought of someone losing balancing itself is frightening. So the safe way is to keep have at least 8' distance from the next person. Getting of the passage was a huge relief. One should never be in this cleft during rains, can be very slippery. By the way, Pushpa had taken one picture of the passage...

From here we head back to the parking lot below the cave temples.

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