Aihole

At a distance of 443 Kms from Bangalore, 136 Kms from Hubli, 33 Kms from Bagalkot, 34 Kms from Badami & 13.5 Kms from Pattadakal, Aihole is a historical site in Bagalkot District of Karnataka situated on the banks of Malaprabha River. It is being considered for World Heritage Site status by UNESCO.

Aihole, along with Pattadakal, is considered as the cradle for South Indian Temple architecture. There are more than 125 temples in Aihole constructed between 5th and 8th centuries during Badami Chalukya's rule. Few temples were built during Rashtrakutas and Kalyani Chalukya's rule until 12th century. The temples are built in different architectural styles representing Dravidian, Nagara, Phamsana and Gajaprastha models.

Most of the temples are located within 2-3 km radius while the important monuments are situated within a secured compound. Main temples are well preserved by archeology department and several other sites are still being renovated.

The main monuments in Aihole are Durga Temple, Ladkhan Temple, Ravana Pahadi and Archeology Museum. Except Ravana Pahadi, all other sites are located in same compound.

It usually takes around 4-5 hours to visit all the monuments in Aihole. The road between Badami and Aihole was worse (as of Oct 2014) and the 34 Kms stretch took almost 1.5 hours.