Aihole is a temple complex in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka, India. It is a very popular tourist spot in north Karnataka. Aihole is to the east of Pattadakal, along the Malaprabha River, while Badami is to the west of both.
Early inscriptions call this town Aryapura and Arya-vole. According to hindu mythology Aihole is the place were parshuram washed his axe after killing Kshathriya’s. He saw a pond(Hole in Kannada) with exclamation he called it as “Ayyo Hole” thus the name Aihole came to existance since from then. Aihole has its own historical significance and is called as cradle of Hindu rock architecture. Many temples and caves of historical importance can be found at Aihole.
Aihole was the first capital of the early Chalukyas. Here they built over 125 temples in various styles and is said to be a laboratory of experiments in rock cut architecture.
Aihole, was the cradle of ancient Hindu temple architecture. It has more than 70 temples. The experimentation with different styles was undertaken by the artisans. The artisans worked on the rocks to create the earliest rock cut shrines. The artisans graduated to the full fledged Chalukya style of architecture.
