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Aihole, Karnataka · 16.0207°, 75.8819°
The most photographed monument of Aihole — the 'cradle of Indian temple architecture' with 120+ experimental shrines — its apsidal buddhist-chaitya-like plan wrapped in a pillared veranda of superb sculpture. Despite the name it was never a Durga temple: 'Durga' here means fort, from the bastion it adjoined.
Aihole's own name is folk-tied to Parashurama, who washed his axe in the Malaprabha here crying 'Ayyo, hole!' ('Ah, the river!') as it ran red.
Aihole is about 450 km from Bengaluru along NH50 via Bagalkot. The nearest railway station is Bagalkot, 34 km away, and the closest airport is Hubballi at roughly 140 km.
coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-26 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Chalukya (Badami)