Badami

Badami is a small town in northern Karnataka occupying a gorge formed by two sandstone bluffs above an artificial lake, the setting for four rock-cut cave temples carved between the sixth and eighth centuries under the Chalukya dynasty. Cave 3 contains the most elaborately carved interior, featuring a celebrated ceiling with narrative sculptural panels and a large Vishnu figure in cosmic form. The red sandstone cliffs above the caves are popular with rock climbers, and the reflections of the cliff faces in the tank below are a photographers' subject at dawn.