Bagalkot district of Karnataka, India: Badami Fort Dinesh Badami, formerly known as Vatapi, is a town and headquarters of a taluk by the same name, in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka, India, on the summit of a cliff and just opposite to the cave temples of Badami. It was the regal capital of the Badami Chalukyas from CE 540 to 757. Badami Fort is spread over the hills in two parts, North and South, with the Agasthya Lake in between. The Badami North Fort is considered to be the principal fort situated on the northern part of the Agasthya Lake. This fort was constructed by Pulakeshi, the Chalukyan King in the year 543 A.D. The North Badami Fort was raided and its north and the other to the south. This lake can obliterated in the year 642 A.D. by the Pallavas serve the entire Badami population even today and presently the gate and the walls of the fort and it still stands as a symbol of the place’s are possibly the sole traces of the formerly prosperity. magnificent architecture. Considering the aridity The lake has its own stepped landing, royal of the landscape, the Chalukyas first constructed structures and temples. The North Fort is a lake, named Agastheeswara Theertha, before believed to have been the place for storing the undertaking the construction of the forts, one to treasures of Tipu Sultan. A TO Z INDIA FEBRUARY 2023 PAGE 31