Kappe Arabhatta Shasana, Badami

Dec 17, 2011. The entire morning was dedicated to seeing a natural wonder called Sidlapadi. I'd waited almost a year to see the naturally formed sandstone arch on Hiregudda, and the wait ended that morning. Thanks to my hosts' Ranganath Juttannavar and Dhariappa Dharegonnanavar's hospitality. Due to a prior engagement, Ranganath couldn't join us, Dhariappa and I had done the 4 km + 4 km trek on the deserted hill. We spent about an hour at Sidlapadi and also explored the immediate surroundings checking out caverns and smaller rock shelters, all the while on our toes expecting some wild creature to leap out from them. No such thing happened, we returned safely. Back at Badami, Dhariappa went straight to his college where he worked as a lecturer. That afternoon I caught up with Ranganath, and we did a small tour of the northern hill checking out inscriptions, all dating back to Chalukyan times. After the visit I did not follow up on the inscriptions and memories about them faded. After more than a decade I yearned to see Kappe Arabhata inscription again.

Aug 29, 2023. My friend Srinu from Hyderabad had come to Dharwad to spend a few days with us. I suggested a two-day tour of the Chalukyan realm. We reached Badami around 9 am, first we saw the rock-cut cave shrines and then drove to the northern fort side. We parked Srinu's car near Bhootanath complex and checked out the complex in detail. From the parking lot, Kappe Arabhatta inscription was just a couple of minutes walk. The inscription is situated on a rock face to the left of Badami-Mahakoota trail - a trail which has been used since the Chalukyan times or even earlier. Below is a picture of the place. The staircase, I guess is a recent creation. The inscription is on the left hand side under the overhang. In ancient times, caretakers were appointed for important inscriptions. The caretaker duty included reading out the message to people.

Kappe Arabhatta inscription which consist of text and a drawing. There are ten lines of text and a drawing of a wheel with ten petals. The wheel is ochre colored, looks like a natural paint made using certain minerals, blood and juice from crushed leaves. I believe this paint is ancient, probably applied soon after the text were inscribed.

A closer look at the text. Since I cannot red ancient text, I had to refer a few sources- booklet on Badami my the Dept of Archaeology. Museums & Heritage; and Wikipedia -to learn its meaning. As per historians, Kappe Arabhatta was a heroic figure from Chalukyan times, probably a great warrior. This inscription is dedicated to him, outlining his personality briefly. The inscription's transliteration and translation are given below.

Transliteration:
Kappe-arabhattan sishtajana-priyan
kashtajana-varjitan Kaliyuga-viparitan ||
Varan-tējasvinō mṛittyur-na-tu mānāvakhandanam
mrittyus-tatkshanikō duḥkham-manabhangan-dinē dine ||
Sadhuge sadhu mädhuryyange madhuryyan badhippa
kalige Kaliyuga-viparitan-Madhavanitan-peranallan ||
Ollitta keyvōrār-ppolladum-adarante ballittu kalige
viparita purakritamilli sandhikkum-adu bandum ||
kattida simghaman-kettoden-emagendu bittavol-kalige vi-
paritamg-ahitarkkal-kettar-men-sattar-avichāram ||

Literal translation:
Kappe Arabhata, beloved of the good people
avoided by evil people, an exceptional man in Kaliyuga
To the good people, good, to the sweet, sweetness; | causing distress
to the kali age, an exceptional man in Kaliyuga, | Madhava (or Vishnu), this man another is not ||
What is good those who do who the evil like that | strong
exception to (or opposite) the ancient karma | here samdhikkum it having come ||
Bound the lion harmful thing what | in the same way as releasing 
exception to or opposite the enemies | were ruined and died without foresight (or without doubt) ||

I think the literal translation is good enough and I'll not attempt adding anything more.

Apart from Kappe Arabhatta inscription, there are two more inscriptions in the vicinity. One is on the rock face right besides the museum. The inscription is sheltered by a half Mantapa. The other inscription- inscription of Pulakeshi I -is situated higher up in the rocks, it can be reached by climbing up three or four staircases. I hope to see that during another visit to Badami.

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Shuleshwar Gudi and stepped well

Less than six weeks after the tour of the Chalukyan realm with Srinu, I redid the tour with Sridhar on October 5th & 6th. The tour was almost identical to the previous two, except that I made a few changes in the itinerary which was an attempt to optimize our foot movements. On the first day i.e. Oct 5th, we spent about 3 hours at Badami covering the caves temples and, structural temples & fort ramparts on the northern hill. Then we had Anna Prasada at Shivayogi Mandir and saw the Vibhuti manufacturing unit. After the short break, we moved on to Mahakoota, unlike last year this time it was almost peaceful. We had a good Darshan of Mahakooteshwara and other deities. Then on the way to Pattadakal we stopped at the twin-chamber dolmen near Pattadakal. Now I feel this dolmen is an ancient temple and not a grave as I believed earlier. We reached Pattadakal by 3-00 PM. First we saw the Brahma Jinalaya and then came to the main temple complex. This was probably my 5th visit yet I'd never made an attempt to touch the waters of Malaprabha. We spent about 30 minutes on the sandy riverbed, water flowed in narrow strips, we entered only the shallow parts. The day was warm & humid, the time spent in the river was truly relaxing. Back at the temple complex, we saw the temples at a slow pace. Around 5-30 pm we called it a tour, had hot tea and resumed our journey towards Aihole. We went straight to Aihole KSTDC lodge, checked in, bathed & changed into fresh clothes, had dinner and hit the bed. The following morning our tour of Aihole started with Ramlingeshwar complex followed by Galaganatha complex. Then we saw the rock-cut Jain Basadi, Huchimalli temple, Ravalaphadi, Buddha Chaitya, Meguti Gudi, Gowri Gudi and Jain shrines. Lastly we came to Durga temple complex. It was around 11 when we completed seeing Durga complex. The warm weather had sapped our energy and in no mood to walk around. However since it was too early to wind up, I suggested we see one ancient stepped well situated about 8 km away. It's a straight road to Shulebhavi village. The road to Shuleshwara Bhavi went around the village and with the help of people we reached our destination. That's Sridhar walking towards the stepped well & shrine.

As you see the structure is made of sandstone. By the looks of the stone and building design it is a Chalukyan creation. The sandstone structure and the well are adjacent to each other, the structure houses a temple. This is the formal entrance to the temple is south-facing but the deity is west-facing.

This is the Mukhamantapa, the portico. Unfortunately we couldn't enter the shrine since the gates were locked. probably the Pujari has completed morning rituals for the day and left. The structure looks original, I couldn't see any signs of repair except for the flooring slabs.

We walked around the temple to the open well. The steps starting at the temple door descended straight into the well. This well is on the similar lines as other stepped wells which facilitates one to bathe and enter the shrine quickly without any kind of distractions or disturbances. As examples I would like to quote a few examples- Japada Baavi at Dambal, Musukina Baavi at Lakkundi, the row of shrines at the southwest corner of Agastya Tirta at Badami, to name a few.

View of the well and temple. The structure is symmetric in elevation. The roof has sloping sides and a flat center. This design is close to Chalukya Shivalaya (formerly Lad Khan temple). I think this temple was designed sans Shikhara.

The deep green colored water is an indication of deep water. This well is situated in the middle of an agricultural plot and very convenient for the farmer. A pipe has been lowered into the water which in turn is connected to a pump. It's good that water is put to use. Probably that's one reason, the water is clean, no odor as such. I must mention about the ramp on the northwest corner of the well facilitated drawing water. The ramp was covered in vegetation and out of bounds.

There was no one in sight here, so no hope of getting historical information of this well. I feel this well might've been made at the behest of a rich land owner or an officer in Chalukyan kingdom. It was common that powerful people had temples built as a contribution to the society.

A thorny tree next to the drawing ramp was a weaver birds' colony. Most of the nests look completed, the extreme left nest is half done. And the one next to it was in the finishing stages.

The little bird, a Baya Weaver, is proudly perched on its home. If you look carefully at the nests above, the extreme right one has two bulges while the other have one bulge each. It could be like a single bedroom home and two bedroom home.

Hope to get some information about Shuleshwara Baavi in the near future. Before I close this post I would like to add that we saw a stone wall about 300 meters from here. The wall looked ancient, possible there was a fort here or may be a Desai Vada. We were too tired to go exploring. May be I'll check on that during another visit.

We head back to our lodge, bathe, rest, have lunch, check-out and head back to Dharwad.

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