Badami Cave Temples

The Badami Cave Temples are a group of four rock-cut sanctuaries carved into vivid red sandstone cliffs above the Agastyatirtha tank in Badami, Karnataka. Three temples are Hindu, one Jain, and together they represent some of the earliest surviving examples of Chalukya rock-cut architecture. Cave III — the largest — was completed in 578 CE under King Mangalesha, as recorded in a pilaster inscription, and is dedicated to Vishnu; its sculpted panels of Vishnu as Trivikrama spanning the universe are considered masterworks of early medieval Indian relief carving. A steep stairway cut into the cliff connects the four shrines and opens onto sweeping views of the surrounding gorge and reservoir below. Epigraphic inscriptions in early Kannada and Sanskrit make the site significant for scholars of Indian linguistics and ancient temple ritual alike.