A UNESCO-listed complex of 8th-century Chalukya temples on the banks of the Malaprabha River, Pattadakal uniquely combines both northern (nagara) and southern (dravida) Indian temple architectural styles side by side, a deliberate experiment in fusion by the Chalukya dynasty, who used the site as their royal coronation ground.
Did you know? Pattadakal's name comes from "Pattadakisuvolal," meaning "town of the coronation stone", every Chalukya king was formally crowned here, making the site as much a ceremonial capital as a religious one.
