Archaeological Museum, Badami

This museum of the Archaeological Survey of India at Badami grew out of a sculpture shed set up in 1979 and became a full museum in 1982. It holds sculptures and inscriptions gathered from temples and ruins around Badami, with inscriptions spanning the 6th to the 16th century, much of it from the Chalukya period.

There are four indoor galleries and an open-air gallery around them. Outside stand Jain images, a Nataraja, Nandi, kirtimukha masks and architectural fragments. Inside are Makara Torana carvings, forms of Shiva and Vishnu, goddess figures, Krishna-lila panels, Lajja-Gauri fertility images and a collection of ancient coins. One section has a large model of the prehistoric rock shelter at Shidlaphadi along with stone tools and early paintings, and another has drawings copied from the Cave III paintings. A library on art and architecture and a publications counter are also on site.