Bagalkot

Bagalkot is a small town in Northern Karnataka. It's a beautiful town full of rich heritage.

There are stone inscriptions from a long time back that suggest that the name of the town is Bagadige. It is said that the town was actually gifted to Bajantries (or musicians) by the kind of Lanka, Ravana. A king of Bijapur is supposed to have offered this town as dowry money for his daughter. Later on, the town came to be known as Bagdikot and this name soon became Bgalkot.

Bagalkot is an area that has been controlled by lots of emperors and empires- it was ruled by the Vijayanagar emperors, the Peshwas, Hyder Ali from Mysore, the Marathas and then finally, the British. Bagalkot is actually one of the most important southern towns when it comes to the study of the unification movement as well.

Bagalkot is one of the most popular tourist destinations in all of Karnataka because of the fact that it has a rich cultural heritage. Some of the most popular tourist locations in Karnataka, such as Aihole, Pattadakkal, Badami, etc. are in Badami. The Jain Temple of Pattadakkal is one of the most beautiful places in the entire district- it is located on the banks of the river Malaprabha and it's a 9th century table with amazing architecture. You should not miss the Badami Cave Temples when you are there either. Badami was a Chalukya capital and it boasts tonnes of beautiful monuments that are over a 1000 years olf! The Virupaksha temple in Hampi is probably the most important one of these temples, followed by the Mallikarjuna temple. The Archaeological Museum is also really impressive.

If you have some time, you should certainly go to Badami Fort and spend some time on the river banks. If you are free during March, you could always visit Bagalkot during it's famous "Holi habba". It's celebrated for four whole days and it is celebrated with a lot of pomp and show.

It's quite easy to reach Bagalkot. It is well connected by road to the major cities. It's connected by the NH-218 to cities like Hubli and Belgaum, which, in turn, are connected to Mysore, Bangalore and other major cities. Bagalkot is also well connected by the railway lines. You can easily find trains from Bangalore, Mysore, Hubli, etc. bringing you to various towns in Bagalkot.

The best time to visit Bagalkot would be post August- right after the monsoons. The river would be flowing quite heavily at that point of time and it would look stunning. The weather would also be really pleasant. There are a lot of home-stay options for visitors to this part of town. Almost all of them are really affordable as well.

Some of the best restaurants that you must try out during your travels in Bagalkot include the Mango Tree in Hampi, Pakwan Restaurant in Vidayagiri, Same Place in Vidayagiri, Parag Restaurant, etc. The local restaurants are also quite good.