page_title: Tourism in Karnataka
section_title: Western Chalukya
hierarchical_section_title: Tourism in Karnataka / North Karnataka / Historical locations / Western Chalukya
caption_attribution_description: English: Ravana Phadi cave at Aihole Manjuanth Doddamani, Gajendragad / Hubli, Karnataka, India
context_page_description: Karnataka, the sixth largest state in India, has been ranked as the third most popular state in the country for tourism in 2014. It is home to 507 of the 3600 centrally protected monuments in India, the largest number after Uttar Pradesh. The State Directorate of Archaeology and Museums protects an additional 752 monuments and another 25,000 monuments yet to receive protection. Tourism centres on the ancient sculptured temples, modern cities, the hill ranges, forests and beaches. Broadly, tourism in Karnataka can be divided into four geographical regions: North Karnataka, the Hill Stations, Coastal Karnataka and South Karnataka.
  The Karnataka government has recently introduced The Golden Chariot – a train which connects popular tourist destinations in the state and Goa.
context_section_description: Aihole: a former Chalukya trading city. There are around 140 temples including examples of early Chalukya, Rashtrakuta and later Chalukya dynasties from the 6th to 12th centuries. It has a Jain and Vedic rock-cut shrine, both of about the 6th century. It has Tirthankara images and a Durga temple. The meguti on a hill is a jaina basti which has an Aihole inscription of Pulakeshin 2 and also a Buddhist two-storied rock -cut shrine below it. All the other Jain and Buddhist temples are built of stone and resemble Hindu temples. The temples were built during the Middle Ages before any style was established and hence there is a mixture of styles.
  Badami: the capital of the early Chalukyas in the 6th century, is at the mouth of a ravine between two rocky hills. The town is known for its cave temples (all carved out of sandstone hills). Badami have four caves, the cave temple dedicated to Vishnu is the largest. In front of the cave temple, there is a reservoir called Aghastya Teertha dotted with temples on its bank. Among them, two are dedicated to Vishnu, one to Shiva and the fourth is a Jain Temple. Carvings in the cave temples display the Hindu gods, Narashima and Hari Hara. The temples also have paintings on the ceiling and bracket figures on the piers.
  Basavana Bagewadi: It is 43 east of Bijapur. In the 12th century, Saint Basaveshwara was born here. It was an agrahara. The main temple here is in the Chalukya style and it was called as Sangamantha in records. The Samadhis of Siddharameshwara and Gurupadeshwara of the Inchageri school of spiritual pursuit are seen here.
  Basavakalyana, Bidar District: former capital of the Later Chalukyas. It has an old fort renovated by the Bahamani containing an Archaeological Museum. Few Chalukya or Kalachuri remains exist except the Chalukya Narayanapur temple in the outskirts of the town. There is a modern Basaveshwara temple, Prabhudevara Gadduge, Jurist of the Kalyani Chalukyas period. Vijnaneshwara's Cave, Madivala Machiah's Pond, Akka Nagamma's Cave, fully renovated Siddheshwara temple and a new structure called Anubhava Mantapa, the Qaji's mosque and Raja Bagh Sawar Dargah.
  Annigeri (30 km from Hubli): It has an Amriteshwara temple of the time of the Kalyani Chalukyas. It was the birthplace of great Kannada Poet Pampa and there is a Jain basadi of Parshwanatha. It was once a headquarters of Belvola-300. It was the capital of Chalukya Someshwara 4. In addition to Veerashaiva Mathas; there is a ruined Banashankari Temple and seven mosques and also an ancient Veerabhadra temple.
  Bankapura (80 km from Dharwad): Under Chalukya many temples were raised in the city including the Nagareshwara temple in the fort and another chalukya temple called Siddheshwara. Ali Adilshahi destroyed many temples in about 1567. There is a mosque in the fort.
  Dambal (21 km from Gadag): It was a Buddhist centre. There are two notable chalukya temples called Doddabasappa Temple and Somewshwara Temple. Doddabassapa as polygonal star shaped temple garbhagriha and fine sculptural representations and huge nandi Temple. Someshwara could have been an old basati. The temple has a 400-year-old vast tank. There is an old Ganapathi image in old ruined fort. And we can also find a huge Ganapathi image in a small shrine.
  Haveri: This town has Siddheshvara Temple that was built in the 12th century. Siddeshvara Temple situated in the heart of the city of Haveri, inside the well-maintained garden.
  Gadag: It is a twin city municipality and it is 55 km from Hubli-Dharward. It is a great centre of Kalyani Chalukyas art with the large Trikuteshwara temple. It has  Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwara temple is situated at Venkatapura Taluk near Sortur, Gadag District. Temple was renovated by Brahmananda Swami, a devotee of Gondavalekar Maharaj a sage from Gondavale. It was later expanded by Kalyani Chalukyas into a vast complex. The complex has triple shrines once housing Shiva, Brahma and Surya. The Saraswathi temple has the shining decorative pillars, and the Saraswathi image, and it is one of the largest examples of Chalukya art. The pla
caption: Ravana Phadi cave at Aihole near Pattadakal
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