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About Badami Banashankari Temple
Badami Banashankari temple is located around 5 km from Badami in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka. It is a Shaktipeeth that honors the goddess Banashankari, which is a form of Parvati. The idol depicts the Goddess with eight arms sitting on a roaring lion crushing a demon at her feet. The temple is located in the Tilakaaranya forest and hence, known as Vanashankari. Locals also refer to the goddess as Vanadurga, Banadavva, Shakambhari, and Chowdamma.
The legend behind the name of Goddess Shakambhari
Shakambhari combines the Sanskrit words Shaka and Ambari, which translates to “Vegetable Goddess”. According to the legend, the goddess killed the demon Durgamasura who was harassing the villagers and saved them. Subsequently, using the heat generated by her body, she provided food to the people in order for them to survive. Thus prominent as Shakambhari by locals, which also translates to Shakam and Bhri in Sanskrit.
Temple Architecture
The temple was built in a combination of Dravidian and Nagara architectural styles in the 7th century during the Chalukyan period. Afterward, during the Maratha rule, they rebuilt the temple in the Vijayanagara architectural style. Large lamp towers stand guard at the temple’s entrance. The temple’s main area consists of maha mantapa, mukha mantapa, ardha mantapa, and vimana. The square water tank called Haridra Teertha is located in front of the temple. Further, stone mandaps surround the Teertha on all three sides.
Popular Fairs and Practices of Badami Banashankari Temple
Badami Banashankari temple is a renowned temple in the state, with thousands of devotees coming from Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh to seek the goddess’ blessings. Especially, the fair held in the month of January or February is well-known and it lasts three weeks. It begins on the eighth day of Pushya masa and ends on the full moon day which is also popular as Banada Hunnime. The festival includes cultural events, a boat festival or Teppotsava, and a rath yatra which means ride in a chariot. The temple tank hosts a boat festival. This is a unique practice in which parents use banana stem boats to cruise newly born children blessed by the grace of the goddess around the pond in the hopes of bringing good luck to the child’s future.
We also witnessed a lot of devotees performing Deergadhanda or Deedh namaskara as a result of a vow taken during our visit.
How To reach Badami Banashankari Temple
Badami is 5 km away from the Banashankari temple. You can take an auto or a cab from Badami town to the temple. Read our Badami Cave post for more detail.
Travel Tips To visit Badami Banashankari temple
- Badami Banashankari temple is open from 6 am to 1 pm and from 3 pm to 9 pm.
- Temple will be quite crowded, so it is best to arrive early to avoid the crowds. Darshan has two queue systems. You can either come in the regular line with no entry fee or buy a ticket for quick Darshan. We were unaware of it beforehand, so we only used the standard normal queue. If the crowd is moderate, the Darshan timings will be nearly identical in both lines, with only a 10-minute difference. So observe the crowd and select the appropriate queue.
- Photography is not permitted inside the temple.
- There is plenty of parking space available on the temple grounds.
- Washroom facilities are available.
- Even though the dress code is not there for visiting the temple it would be good to wear modest clothing.
Highly informative about the Temple and place. Though I have visited the place, I was not aware of many details. Appreciate the vocabulary. Thanks for sharing. Just keep the good work going.
Highly informative about the Temple and place. Though I have visited the place, I was not aware of many details. Appreciate the vocabulary. Thanks for sharing. Keep the good work going.
Thank you so much for your valuable input and warm wishes.