minor inscriptions in Badami north fort

Well known inscriptions at Badami are the following: 1. Mangaleshana Shasana, 2. Kappe Arabhattana Shasana, 3. Pulakeshiya Shasana, and 4. Pallava Shasana. Then there's one inscription in shell script which is yet to be deciphered by archaeologists. Apart from these five there are several minor inscriptions of sculptors' names & tally marks mostly found near the four rock-cut temples which is the southern fort side. Across the Agastya Tirtha is the northern fort side. On these rocks are ruins of three structural temples, two Mantapas and fortifications connected by a maze of narrow pathways. On the rock faces there are minor sculptures and inscriptions which a very few tourists notice. I too hadn't noticed the ones seen here during my past visits.

The first one is a drawing of Hanuman and Vishnu's Chakra situated on a rock face close to the top-most doorway. It was spotted by a fellow tourist we had met a few minutes back. On the left edge of the picture is Vishnu's Chakra. In the middle is Hanuman with his tail looping over him. This could be from the late VI Century CE i.e. the period during the making of Vishnu shrines Cave-II and Cave-III.

That's the discoverer Shankar from Vijayapura. This rock face is about 6 feet away from the footpath, barely visible from here unless one has a sharp sense of observation. The inscription is encircled using a photo editor.

The next inscription is a Trisula close to the last but one gateway. This image is about 7 to 8 feet above the ground level.

A little further away from the Trisula inscription, on the opposite rock face is a group of writings consisting of a few names and tally marks. The tally marks seem to indicate the number of days or weeks or months worked by sculptors.

There could be other such inscriptions hidden despite being in the open. Looking forward to another visit to Badami, the Chalukyan capital.

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inscription of Mangalesha at Badami

The four important Chalukyan period inscriptions found at Badami are:
1. Pulakeshi Shasana,
2. Pallava Shasana,
3. Kappe Arabhatta Shasana and
4. Mangalesha Shasana.
While the first three are situated at different locations in the North fort, the fourth inscription i.e. Mangalesha Shasana is on the rock face besides rock-cut cave temple number 3. Just above the four-line inscription is a separate inscription which seems to be the name of an individual. It could be one of the scribes or sculptors who worked here.

Mangalesha was one of the well known kings of Chalukyan empire, he was a son of  Pulakeshi I. This relationship is mentioned in the pillar inscription at Mahakoota. This four-line inscription at Badami is about the grant from the income of a village named Lannjigesara. Below is the transcription as given in the booklet on Badami published by The Department of Archaeology, Museums & Heritage:

svasti srimat prithivivallabha mamgalēsanā
kalmanege ittōdu lamjigēsaram dēvarkke puniruva
malakarargge ardha-visadi ittōdān-alivõn
pancha-mahāpātakan-akum ēlaneyā narakadā pulu akkum

The grant was given to to the garland makers supplying flowers to MahaVishnu shrine i.e. the rock-cut shrine known as Badami Cave III. The inscription also issues a warning to those attempting to scuttle this grant.

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shell script inscription at Badami

Badami, the ancient capital of the Chalukyan empire is known for rock inscriptions. The most important ones are Kannada inscriptions dating back to VI Century CE namely-
1. cliff inscription of Pulakeshi in North fort,
2. inscription of Mangalesha besides Cave III,
3. Pallava inscription near Pulakeshi's cliff inscription and,
4. Kappe Arabhatta inscription.

Apart from these four there are several minor inscriptions on the rock faces between the rock-cut cave shrines. Some of the inscriptions are probably names of the sculptors who worked here. Then there are groups of short vertical lines lines etched on the rocks which could be sculptors work log. Lastly there's one inscription which doesn't resemble any known script known to common folks like us. This inscription is on the rock next to the steps between Cave III and Cave IV. I noticed the inscription during my visit in July 2023 and then happened to see its photo in the booklet published by The Department of Archaeology, Museums & Heritage. It is referred to as "inscription in shell script."

There is no other images on the web like this inscription. However there's a page dedicated to Shankhalipi on Wikipedia which features a picture of an pillar inscription at Deogarh in Nepal. The scripts are not alike, there could be different types of shell scripts.

Readers, please do share any information you are aware of.

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Tattukoti group of temples, Badami

On the northeastern side of Agastya Tirta is a group of four temples called Tattikoti temples, also referred to as northern Bhootnath group. All four temples are south-facing, are in a completed state and seemingly well preserved. There are signs of repair work in the recent past i.e. by the ASI. As per the booklet on Badami, these temples are said to be built in XI or XII Century CE during Kalyana Chalukyan rule. This picture below was shot from the other side of Agastya Tirta i.e. from a spot close to Cave-4.

Aug 29, 2023. My friend from Hyderabad, Srinu and I were on a tour of the Badami Chalukyan realm. We started the tour from the rock-cut temples and then drove to the northern side. We parked Srinu's car near the entrance of Bhootnath and Tattikoti groups, that's the farthest one could drive here. I have to mention that all these temples are inactive i.e. there aren't any deities and no rituals take place.

Architecture of all four temples is same. The Shikharas over their sanctums are Kadambanagara, also called Phamsana. As per iconographic study, these temples are dedicated to Yoga Narayana. As you see the exterior walls are plain, devoid of decor. Nevertheless, these are well designed and built to last.

This smaller temple is behind the chief temple. It's porch is clearly visible. Going by the structure, the sanctum and the porch are connected through a vestibule. The seating platform "Sukhanasi" looks very inviting. One could take a break from the blazing sunlight in the porch.

Coming to the third temple, a Dwikutachala i.e. a two sanctum temple, east-facing and south-facing. The east-facing sanctum does not have a Shikhara. Not sure if it wasn't built or if it went missing at some point in history.

Another view of temple #3. In the background is temple #4.

This structure is slightly off in terms of design. Firstly, the porch is missing. Then, it has fiive Kadambanagara Shikharas, one above it's sanctum and four at each of the corners of the Sabhamantapa.

That's Srinu in front of temple #1.

View of Agastya Tirta and southern cliff from the porch of temple #1.

The southeastern corner of the porch. In the background is Bhootnath group which is much larger than this group and more interesting since it is closer to water and has rock-cut sculptures.

That's it from Tattikoti group. We head towards Bhootnath group.

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Sunrise at Vaughan

These sunrise pictures were shot on Nov-21st by my brother at Vaughan, Canada. Red sky indicates oncoming rain or snow. Weather forecast for that day said possibility of snowfall.

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Jaina Narayana Gudi, Pattadakal

This monument is is seldom visited by tourists because of its location. Though it is just a few meters away from the main road, it is situated on a narrow road, parking a large MPV or a bus is not really convenient. Hence a few tourists traveling by car may stop to see this monument restored between 2002 and 2004. My previous visit here was Aug 2010, that's 13 years ago. In those thirteen years I'd passed by this place half a dozen times, somehow I didn't bother giving it another visit.

Aug 29, 2023. This visit was mainly to show the Chalukyan realm to Srinu, my friend from Hyderabad. We had left Dharwad early morning, reached Badami around 9 am. First we saw the rock-cut temples on the southern side and then went to the northern side where we saw Bhootnath group and then climbed the hill from the path used mostly by cattle-herds and local people. We spent about hour on the hill, saw the Shivalayas, the royal Mantapas and descended the hill. From Badami we drove to Shivayogi mandir where we took a break. We had homemade jolada rotti & sprouts for lunch followed by a short nap. As we approached Pattadakal, I thought we must see the Jaina Narayana Gudi before going to the main complex. Here we are looking at recently restored monument.

A information board planted close to the temple reads as below:
Jaina temple
This east-facing Jaina temple built in Dravida style is assigned to the Rashtrakuta period, and probably dates from 9th century. It was raised beside an earlier brick temple of Jina. The temple comprises of a large porch, a hall and a sanctuary with an ambulatory around. Its basement mouldings, wall pilasters and columns, the hara parapet, etc., conform to Dravida tradition. An additional sanctuary over the ground storey is a feature noticed in some Jaina temples, such as those found in Hallur, Lakkundi and Shravanabelagola. Tirthankara images from both the sanctuaries are missing. Noteworthy in the temple are the sculptures of two large elephants with riders in the porch that flank the doorway of the hall. A small figure of Jaina Tirthankara on the northern side confirms the temple's Jaina association.

The temple's side walls are almost plain except for a couple of windows, one each for Sabhamantapa and circumambulatory around the Garbhagudi.

This temple actually has two Garbhagudi positioned one above the other. The upper Gabhagudi is not visible from the ground level. This type of construction is called Dvi-tala Vimana.

The structure looks small and simple in this view. The Shikhara is completely out of view. A balustraded staircase leads up to the portico (Mukhamantapa). There are twelve turned pillars supporting this space's roof.

The Sabhamanatapa door is flanked by life-size elephants with mahouts. This is the only temple in the Badami Chalukyan realm having such a sculpture which is typically Rashtrakutan.

The doorframe is quite simple. There's no lalatha-bindhu (central block) in the lintel. Usually doorframes have a central block showing Gajalakshmi in Shiva or Vishnu temples. In case of Jain Basadi, the central block would have an icon of seated Mahaveera.

This is the Sabha Mantapa. The stout pillars indicate this is an early design. Similar type of pillars can be seen at Sangamaeshwar Gudi, Mallikarjuna Gudi and Kasi Visveswara Gudi in the main complex. The interior of this temple had a strong odor of bat droppings, in fact the Sabhamantapa floor was littered with droppings. The smell was overpowering, discouraged me from venturing deeper into the temple.

As we step across the door into the Sabhamantapa, on the right hand side is this leaning stone block. This is an ancient stone ladder which was used to climb upto the upper sanctum. I asked the guard if tourists were allowed to climb up. No. I was really curious to see how the roof was. Unfortunately ASI has its rules.

A diagonal view of the ladder. The ladder has 8 or 9 steps, each step at least a foot high. The ladder is placed in a stone block approximately one and half feet high. Adding up the inches, floor to ceiling height is about 12 feet. This ladder looks simple but making it involves a lot of geometrical calculations. There are three more ladders I've seen, they are at three different temples in Aihole. One could check out the four ladders under one article- stone step-ladders in Chalukyan temples.

The stone ladder and the temple door. Light and shadow create interesting views in here.

Here's a view of the sanctum with a Shivalinga. I have to say that this is an inactive temple, this Shivalinga made its way into this temple at some point of time when Shivaivites were dominating the social structure.

As per the booklet on Pattadakal by Archaeological Survey of India, this temple was built  during the Rashtrakuta Krishna II (878 to 914 CE).

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