Probably I'm the only person who has taken Srinu, my friend from Hyderabad, to historical sites. When Srinu decided to take a short vacation at Dharwad, I planned a two-day trip to the Chalukyan realm Badami-Pattadakal-Aihole. Aug 29th morning we reached Badami, we covered the rock-cut caves, Agastya pond, Bhootnath group and the northern fort. Afternoon we headed towards Pattadakal, we stopped at Shivayogi Mandir for lunch break. Pushpa had packed us rotti-sprouts-chatnipudi lunch which we had under a neem tree in the peaceful premises of Shivayogi Mandir. Then we drove to Pattadakal where had a good tour except that my camera battery got drained completely. By sunset we had checked into KSTDC lodge at Aihole.
Aug 30, 2023
From past experiences, it's best to do the hill trek early morning. That was the plan for the morning- explore the historic and prehistoric sites on Aihole hill seen in the background of this picture. Two monuments can be seen in the picture here- Buddhist Chaitya, and Meguti Gudi which is partly concealed by the fort wall.
Durga Gudi in the background. Durga temple complex is the center of Aihole. We had plans of visiting after the trek and breakfast.
On the left is Desai Waade which offers home-stay services. Further ahead there are more Chalukyan temple complex; on the left is Tryambakeshwara, and on the right is the Jain Basadi complex.
At the southern edge of the village is Huchchappayyana Matha.
About half kilometer from Huchchappayyana Matha we leave the road and get on to the hill slope. Aihole hill is a long & narrow mound with a sloping plateau if I may call it that. The southern slope is an ancient quarry which supplied sandstone blocks for temple construction here.
Here's one spot from which flat-sided blocks were removed. While the lower portion is a former quarry, the upper portions of the slope have many natural rock-shelters which were inhabited in the prehistoric times. The prehistoric inhabitants had a marvelous view of river Malaprabha flowing in the valley. It is said that Vishnu's Avatar Parashurama had washed his bloodied axe in the river here which caused the river to turn red. The sight of the red stream left people in awe and exclaimed aayo hole which later transformed to Aihole. That's the story behind the name Aihole.
During my earlier visits, I had located a few paintings in the rock-shelters. I was glad that Srinu could see them. The painting has faded over the centuries but one can still recognize the hyena fur pattern. There's another important prehistoric site of this region- Kutkankeri. On the hill is a huge boulder called Anepadi which means elephant-stone. On Anepadi is a large painting of hyena fur pattern. Until I saw that painting I wasn't aware that hyenas existed here. Well, hyenas can be found here to this day.
Srinu pointing at a smaller painting.
This is one of the multi-leveled rock-shelter. If you climb on to the top of this formation, you'll reach the sloping plateau. The entire hill had been a busy place, historically speaking. On the sloping plateau are remans of prehistoric burial chambers. There are close to eighty megalithic tombs, one of the largest in Karnataka state.
While prehistoric people painted hyena fur patterns Mother Nature has imitated wood grain pattern in sandstone. Isn't that amazing!
We climb down and return to the quarry site and stop at the spot which is an open bathing space with a shower. The water shower functions only if the rains are sufficient enough for the rocks to hold water. During an earlier visit here, with Pushpa, we had seen a waterfall in which a villager was bathing. If you taker a closer look at the flat surface, you can find a few inscriptions in Kannada. Also there's an floral etching. I believe this shower bathing space was created by sculptors engaged during Chalukyan times.
We climb up to see the showerhead. Srinu's stepping across the canal which channelizes rain / stored water into a steady stream.
Srinu inspecting the straight edges here. The ancient people had mastered the art & science of cutting stones into blocks with perfectly straight edges. Those ancient techniques are still being used to this day.
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized silicate grains cemented together by another mineral. Sand grains are compacted and cemented over thousands of years. During the process other types of stones are also cemented, like pieces of tutti frutti in sponge cakes.
We reach the southwestern end of Aihole hill. At this tip is an important monument- a rock-cut Jaina shrine, also called as Menada Basadi. Srinu's resting on the bench with a headrest to his right side. The dressed block wall seems to be a relatively later addition. I feel, the pillared hall of his temple was open. For some reason the builders decided to wall it up. Maybe to keep the place warmer during cold weather.
The temple has two main spaces, outer and inner. The outer space is one wide hall with a complex looking ceiling sculpture. The sculpture has several Swastika, floral motifs and imaginary creatures. One must see this sculpture for real. Barring the front wall this Basadi is a monolithic temple. Aihole has two more monolithic temples, no exceptions in them. While one is a named monument, the other one is an unnamed and almost impossible to access. The named monument is Ravalapadi. The unnamed temple is situated on the northwestern slope of Aihole hill.
This is the inner chamber with an altar. The deity is Mahaveera. I haven't posted more pictures since I need to cover other monuments. However, to see more of this Basadi see this blog post: Rock-cut Jain Basadi.
Having rested in the Basadi we resume our trek, Just behind the Basadi are several paths to reach the lower end of the sloping plateau. Like I said earlier, this plateau is a prehistoric grave site - there are about eighty megalithic burial chambers, also called cromlechs. Though many are vandalized, some of the larger chamber are pretty much in their original condition. This is one which is best preserved, in my opinion. Srinu's pointing his walking stick to the red dirt between the rocks. Basically the inner space of this cromlech is packed with dirt which in turn keeps a corpse (corpses) buried. My understanding is that such tombs were made for leaders (like a king) in the prehistoric times.
We trek up to the western end of the plateau seeing more cromlechs on the way. This one here is probably the largest, large enough to hold four or five adult human bodies. As you see the inner space is empty. It had been emptied at some point of time, either by archaeologists or vandals hunting treasure. In the background is the fortification surrounding Meguti Gudi.
The fort wall has been breached in a friendly way for the sake of tourists. We clambered across the breach and Meguti Gudi comes into view.
Isn't it a handsome looking structure. Apparently the story behind the name Meguti is this: since the temple sits atop a hill, it was called Meliruva Gudi which eventually became Meguti Gudi. This is one of the 100+ temples of Aihole. Here I would like to say that most temples here were dedicated to Shiva. I guess, even Meguti was a Shiva temple.
The fort has one official entrance which is opposite Meguti temple. Out thro the gateway, we get the stairs which goes down to the two tiered Buddhist Chaitya. On the ceiling of the upper tier is an sculpture of meditating Buddha. That's the only indication that this temple is a Chaitya. From here one can get a bird's eye view of Aihole's monuments. Also, this is a great sunset point.
Now, looking back the way we came, what all are on this hill. Prehistoric dwellings with paintings, a prehistoric burial chamber, early Chalukyan quarry site with bathing place, a Shiva temple, a Jaina Basadi, a Buddhist Chaitya, a fort and monolithic temple. See how the ancient cultures of Indian subcontinent gelled. Considering the visual aspect, all the monuments are in harmony. That's the beauty of our Bharatvarsha.
Having trekked more than two kilometers, we were hungry. We went straight to the only decent eatery of Aihole, enjoyed the breakfast, rested and entered the Durga Gudi complex. Considering the time, I planned to see only Durga temple complex. We spent an hour or so at the complex then headed back to the lodge. We rested for a while, had a light lunch and then started our journey back to Dharwad. For the past three times, I've taken Dharwad - Hubli - Badami - Aihole route for the forward journeys and, and for the return journey it's Aihole - Badami - Ramdurga - Sirasangi - Saundatti - Dharwad. The return route is scenic between Kulageri cross and Saundatti. Srinu really enjoyed driving this route. Overall, it was a wonderful trip!
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