In the red earth of Aihole, where the temples first grew out of the ground like stubborn crops, there stands the Ravanaphadi site. Locally it is called Ravana’s Rock. The place is not one cave alone. It holds a rock-cut cave-temple, three small free-standing shrines near the entrance, and a worn fluted column that stands in front, its amalaka capital lying on the ground nearby. An eroded Nandi rests on a plinth. Some of the small shrines belong to the Early Western Chalukya years; one has an archaic look that is not later than the time of Mangalesha.
Some scholars such as Dhaky refer to this site as Ravalaphadi, from Ravakula (Rajakula), tying it to the royal family. Others speculate the dancing Shiva, flanked by the seven mother goddesses, as a deified image of the ruler himself. Chalukya inscriptions of the period begin to claim that the dynasty was protected by the seven divine mothers, and the figures here belong to that claim.
The cave opens through a triple-bayed entrance into a square mandapa. Guardians stand beside the columns, and seated figures rest in pavilions on either side. Chambers open on three sides. On the walls a ten-armed Nataraja stands with Parvati, the Saptamatrikas, Ganesha, and Subrahmanya. Other figures show Ardhanarishvara with a tall trident, Harihara, Shiva with the river goddesses above him, Varaha lifting Bhudevi, and Mahishasuramardini. The figures are slender and sinuous, with fluted costumes and tall conical headdresses. Their proportions differ from the sturdier work at Badami. Traces of paint remain on some. The ceiling carries a lotus and medallions of Indra on his elephant and Vishnu on Garuda. The right-hand chamber was left unfinished. Mangalesha’s reign ended in a struggle with his nephew Pulakeshin II, and the king lost his life in it.
A visitor sees this place best after walking the other temples and monuments of Aihole, then the Badami caves, and the great ones at Pattadakal that the UNESCO has marked as world heritage site.