This article is about the mythology of Badami or Vatapi, the erstwhile Capital of the Eastern Chalukyan Dynasty.
Time constraint at Badami
The final destination of the day is the caves of Badami. I am concerned. My fear is that we are late and left with little time at our disposal. And, I am keen to visit these caves.
Our driver is not good in communicating in both Hindi and English. It make things difficult. I wonder, if I will share my concern about less time available now, he would squarely put blame on me. It might be difficult for him to imagine someone spending hours in Pattadakal and Aihole. So, I request him to drive straight to the caves of Badami, without showing any concern about time from my side.
We are about to approach the main town of Badami. He stops the car and tells us, “Please visit above, as some people visit this place too”. I ask him, “Is this the famous cave of Badami”? He replies, “No”. I tell him, don’t stop here. We don’t have time for anything except for the caves now.
Missing Badami cave complex and reaching Banashankari Temple
We start again and soon we are in a parking surrounded by a bazaar and a huge Kalyani. The area around is speaking loud of its old quarters. Driver suggests, “Please remove your shoes in car only.” We oblige.
While walking along, I ask a passerby, “which direction I should take for the famous caves of Badami”. He replies, “Here is the ancient temple of Banashankari Amma”. If you are looking for the caves of Badami, they are on outskirts. Oh no! It seems that the driver thought that we are interested in the popular pilgrimage destination of Badami and not the popular tourist destination.
Three of us return immediately. I explain it to the driver. He understands, starts the engine and replies, “Sir, I stopped there and told you that some tourists visit them as well”. “But then you spoke as if this is not the most visited place, but only one among them”, I mutter to myself.
Externally, I keep my compose and reply, “No, No, we would like to visit them first. Please take us there. We will visit the temple later” He obliges with no fuss and within ten minutes we are again at the cave complex of Badami.
Location of Badami
Badami is picturesquely nestled between two rocky hills on its North and South East side. A dam built to the east of the town between the bases of the hills form a large tank. The water stored in this tank is used for supplying water to the town.
Badami the erstwhile capital of the Eastern Chalukyas is also known as the Vatapi or the Agastyaland.
Mythological Badami – story behind the name Vatapi
Mythological Badami- The boon of Vatapi
At Badami, once lived two Asura brothers Vatapi and Ilvala. The two brother were cannibals and were fond of human flesh. The younger brother Vatapi had a boon that even if he gets dismembered and killed, he can reorganize himself and become a living entity once again.
Mythological Badami- How demon brothers deceived Human Beings, killed and consumed them
They lived deep inside the jungle. In order to satiate their desire to kill and consume human beings the two brothers hatched a unique plan. If they see any rishi or any human being wandering in the jungle, the elder brother invited him to their house for a meal. In the meantime, the younger brother take the form of a goat.
After reaching home, the elder brother killed the goat, cooked it and fed it to the unsuspecting guests.
Usually the tired and hungry wanderers happily consumed the meal. Soon afterwards, the elder brother used to utter, “Vatapi comeback. Vatapi comeback”. On hearing this the younger brother used to reorganize himself and come out of that person’s stomach tearing him down. The two brothers then happily consumed the dead guest.
Mythological Badami – People avoid taking route passing through that part of forest
The two brothers killed thousands of human beings for years. Slowly and slowly the news spread that people entering that part of the forest never returns. No-one was aware what happened to those who went ahead on those paths. However, people started to avoid taking that route.
Mythological Badami – Arrival of Rishi Agastya
One day Rishi Agastya was on that path. People told him about the risk and requested him to avoid that path. The fearless Rishi ignored their suggestion and walked on that way. The two brothers were happy to see a human being coming on that way after a long time.
As usual the elder brother approached the sage. Maharaj! You look tired. Please visit my home for the food. Rishi Agastya was surprised to see a human being in the jungle where no-one else dared venturing-in. He immediately understood that he is the real cause behind the disappearance of many.
Mythological Badami – Rishi Agastya digesting Vatapi and killing Ilvala
He agreed to join him for the meal. When Rishi Agastya, arrived and looked at the goat, at that time itself, he understood the game-plan. The elder brother killed the goat form of Vatapi like a ritual and fed him to the Rishi. Agastya Rishi had special powers to digest anything to everything. He feasted on the meal. And afterwards rubbed his hand on his tummy and spoke loud, “Get digested Vatapi.”
This utterance alarmed the elder brother. He wondered, how come the Rishi knows about Vatapi. He panicked and started shouting, “Comeback Vatapi, Comeback Vatapi”. It did not help. Ilvala decided to avenge Vatapi’s death and attacked Rishi Agastya. However, the Rishi with the power of his tapas , reduced Ilvala to ashes.
Why the place is now known as Badami
Some says that Badami is an aberration of Vatapi. According to folklore, the original folk deity of the Banashankari Temple was Badubbe. The name Badami might be an aberration of this deity’s name. Well, I guess another reason for the place to be known as Badami is because of its natural almond (Badam) color mountains.
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