Badami rock-cut caves at Karnataka

Badami was the capital of the early Chalukyans and is situated in between two rocky hills at Karnataka state, India. Badami is famous for its four cave temples and all hewn out of sand stone on the precipice of a hill. Of the four temples, three are Brahmanical temples while the fourth one is a Jain cave. The four ancient rock-cut caves are embellished with carved pillars and bracket figures.

The largest of them is the third cave, dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The first sculptural embellishment to dazzle the eye is the 18-armed Nataraja striking 81 dance poses in the first cave. These caves boast of a profusion of sculptures of Vishnu in different avatars (incarnations) - Narasimha (Vishnu as Man-Lion), Varaha, Harihara (Shiva Vishnu) and as Trivikrama.