Badami, cave 1, Nataraja, dancing Shiva

Badami, school class

Badami formerly known as Vatapi, is a town in the state of Karnataka, India. It was the regal capital of the Badami Chalukyas from 540 to 757 AD. It is famous for rock cut and other structural temples. It is located in a ravine at the foot of a rugged, red sandstone outcrop that surrounds Agastya lake, an artificial lake filled with greenish water, dammed by an earthen wall faced with stone steps.

The Badami cave temples are considered an example of Indian rock-cut architecture, especially Badami Chalukya Architecture. The Early Chalukyas ruled much of Karnataka from the middle of the 6th until the middle of the 8th century.

The Badami cave temples are composed of four caves, all carved out of the soft Badami sandstone on a hill cliff in the late 6th to 7th centuries. The planning of four caves is simple. The entrance is a verandah (mukha mandapa) with stone columns and brackets, a distinctive feature of these caves, leading to a columned mandapa – main hall (also maha mandapa) and then to the small square shrine (sanctum sanctorum, garbhagriha) cut deep into the cave. The Cave temples are linked by a stepped path with intermediate terraces that offer spectacular views across the town and lake.

Cave 1 portrays Lord Shiva in his very beautiful incarnation of Nataraja. Lord Shiva in this incarnation has 18 arms. Some of the arms have weapons while some of the arms depict beautiful dance postures. The weapons include drums, trident, axe, etc. Some arms also have serpents coiled around them. Lord Shiva has his son Ganesha and the bull Nandi by his side. They also are in beautiful postures.