In the Bagalkot district of Karnataka, India, Badami, formerly known as Vātāpi (Sanskrit: from āpi, ‘friend, ally’; ‘having the wind (vāta) as an ally’), is a town and the administrative center of a taluk of the same name. From 540 to 757, it served as the Badami Chalukyas’ royal capital. It is well-known for both its structure temples, like the Bhutanatha Temples, Badami Shivalaya, and Jambulingesvara Temple, and its rock-cut monuments, like the Badami cave temples. It is situated in a gully at the base of an untamed outcrop of red sandstone that encircles Agastya Lake.