“Our town’s transformed into Malnad now,” said Sudheendra Mutalik Desai, before going out for a walk, an open umbrella in hand. I couldn’t determine whether there was helplessness or regret or plain sarcasm in those words. After all, incessant rains during Holi in the arid plains (bayaluseeme) bring memories of the rain-fed area.
Pattadakal is a World Heritage site. The stone monuments beckon tourists time and again. I was on my third visit. But the rains dampened my enthusiasm. Cloudy weather greeted me on the afternoon of March 22, as I set foot in Pattadakal.

Though the dim light allowed a view of the Virupaksha Temple and the Nandi before it, it was not enough to take the camera out. By then, the drizzle turned to rain, and the light deteriorated. We came home disappointed. It rained all night then.

The next morning revealed not a single tourist at the main entrance. Pattadakal receives not less than 500 to 1,000 visitors daily, the number topping 5,000 on special occasions, with people queuing up as early as 5 am! “We are yet to issue the day’s first ticket,” said the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) employee behind the counter.

Historians have recorded the glory of the Badami Chalukyas right from Pulikeshi in 543 AD, continuing with Keertivarma, Pulikeshi II and Vikramaditya II before reaching its pinnacle during Keertivarma II’s reign and its subsequent end with the surrender to the Rashtrakutas in 757 AD. And the innumerable temples and basadis found in Aihole, Badami, Pattadakal and Mahakuta provide testimony to the encouragement art received at the hands of the Chalukyan kings. The UNESCO in 1986 declared this site of monuments in which scenes from the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavata and the Panchatantra are engraved, as a World Heritage Site.

The unseasonal rains had formed small pools in the stone courtyard. Though it was a Sunday, there was hardly anyone about. I tried clicking pictures while holding the umbrella, but the occasional breeze lifted it off, and the camera got wet.

I tried to engage four raincoat-clad foreign tourists. One could sense the disappointment when Neils and Bob and their partners from Denmark said, “ We are feeling wet,” with a smile.

Water continued to drip on the Someshwara Linga long after the rains ceased, just like a night-long abhisheka. It is indeed strange that except for Virupaksha of Pattadakal, none of the deities in the hundreds of ancient temples in Badami, Aihole and Pattadakal are offered pooja or abhisheka!

Pattadakal is variously described as a World Heritage Site, a fine representative of Chalukyan architecture and the cradle of architecture. Our Tourism Department uses the same in its advertisements to lure tourists from abroad as well.

It is well-known that the more number of tourists the better it is for the thousands of people eking a livelihood out of offering boarding, guided tours, restaurants, transport and the sale of handicrafts. But the tourist to Pattadakal will not find clean food and water atleast, leave alone boarding and lodging. Why doesn’t the ASI, which is doing a fine job of preserving the monuments under its care, provide these facilities to tourists?
The Tourist Department and the local administration, whose responsibility it is to provide the facilities, are yet to wake up to the fact. One has to cover their noses to visit the Papanatha and the Jain Narayana Temples outside the main complex. The Shouchalaya Jagruti Andolana seems to have given Pattadakal a miss as well. A single shower offers a glimpse of hell.

It is indeed unfortunate to witness the disdainful attitude of these places towards tourists at a time of ‘tourism development.’

Translated by B S Srivani