Badami caves are located in Badami, Karnataka, India. Inscriptions here help date two of these caves to the 6th-century, while parts of the third cave and the most of the fourth is likely from the 7th-century. All were likely complete in 6th to 7th century, with some additions to the Jain caves likely in early 8th century.
<ul><li>The above panel shows Harihara – half Shiva, half Vishnu, a symbolism of equivalence and oneness-of-the-Brahman-principle manifesting in everything in many forms in Hinduism (henotheism).</li></ul><ul><li>The right side of Harihara  – which is the left side of the panel above – is Shiva. He holds a snake in his right rear hand. Parvati stands to that side. A small anthropomorphic Nandi stands below, in between them.</li></ul><ul><li>The left side of Harihara  – which is the right side of the panel above – is Vishnu. He holds a conch (<i>sankha</i>) in his left rear hand. Lakshmi stands to that side. A small anthropomorphic Garuda stands below, in between them.</li></ul><ul><li>All of them wear tall tapering conical–cylindrical crowns. The crown of this 6th-century Harihara shows the iconography for Shiva and Vishnu on the respective sides. He wears the sacred thread of Hinduism over his chest. Harihara's right front hand is lost.</li></ul><ul><li>There are green, blue, white and red shades and fragments in parts of this panel. That  is because the Badami caves were originally painted caves. Almost all of the original paint has been lost to history and natural elements, except for certain sections.</li></ul>
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ms_Sarah_Welch" title="User:Ms Sarah Welch">Ms Sarah Welch</a>
2021-08-22 11:34:48
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>