Badami
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Badami ಬಾದಾಮಿ Vatapi |
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| town | |
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 Badami
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| Coordinates: 15°55′12″N 75°40′49″E / 15.92000°N 75.68028°ECoordinates: 15°55′12″N 75°40′49″E / 15.92000°N 75.68028°E | |
| Country |
 India
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| State | Karnataka |
| District | Bagalkot |
| Area | |
| • Total | 10.9 km2 (4.2 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 586 m (1,923 ft) |
| Population (2001) | |
| • Total | 25,851 |
| • Density | 2,400/km2 (6,100/sq mi) |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Kannada |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| PIN | 587 201 |
| Telephone code | 08357 |
Badami, formerly known as Vatapi, is a town and headquarters of a taluk by the same name, in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka, India. It was the regal capital of the Badami Chalukyas from 540 to 757 AD. It is famous for its rock cut structural temples. It is located in a ravine at the foot of a rugged, red sandstone outcrop that surrounds Agastya lake. Badami has been selected as one of the heritage cities for HRIDAY - Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme of Government of India.
Badami is surrounded by many pre-historic places, Hiregudda,Sidlaphadi and Kutkankeri (Junjunpadi, Shigipadi and Anipadi), there we can see the rock shelters megalithic burial sites and paintings.
The Puranic story says the wicked asura Vatapi was killed by sage Agastya (as per Agastya-Vatapi story), the area in which the incident happened so named as Vatapi. At Aihole there was a merchant guild known as Ayyavole Ainuravaru lived in the area have reformed. As per scholar Dr. D. P. Dikshit, the first Chalukya king was Jayasimha (a feudatory lord in the Kadamba dynasty), who in 500 AD established the Chalukya kingdom. His grandson Pulakeshin I built a fort at Vatapi.
It was founded in 540 AD by Pulakeshin I (535-566 AD), an early ruler of the Chalukyas is generally regarded as the founder of the Early Chalukya line. An inscription record of this king engraved on a boulder in Badami records the fortification of the hill above "Vatapi" in 544. Pulakeshin's choice of this location for his capital was no doubt dedicated by strategic considerations since Badami is protected on three sides by rugged sandstone cliffs. His sons Kirtivarman I (567-598 AD) and his brother Mangalesha (598-610 AD) constructed the cave temples.Kirtivarman I strengthened Vatapi and had three sons Pulakeshin II, Vishnuvardhana and Buddhavarasa, who at his death were minors, thus making them ineligible to rule, so Kirtivarman I's brother Mangalesha took the throne and tried to establish rule, only to be killed by Pulakeshin II who ruled between 610 A.D to 642 A.D. Vatapi was the capital of the Early Chalukyas, who ruled much of Karnataka, Maharashtra ,Few parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh between the 6th and 8th centuries. The greatest among them was Pulakeshin II (610-642 AD) who defeated many kings including the Pallavas of Kanchipuram.
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Wikipedia