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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