While growing up, Indian history for us meant learning about the ancient Indian civilisations of Mohenjo-Daro, the Guptas , the Mauryas the early Muslim invasions, the Mughals, the British and then the Indian Freedom Movement.

We did have a page or two devoted to the rulers of the Deccan, such as the Chalukyas, the Cholas, the Rashtrakutas, the Pallavas, and the Marathas, but they were literally touched upon to tick the boxes. The temples of South India, along with a few other architectural marvels such as Khajuraho and the cave temples of Ajanta, were only mentioned as part of the glory of ancient India. Apart from the Mughal Era which we learned about in great detail, much of India’s history remained unfamiliar to most of us.

So when my sister-in-law, who hails from Bijapur, was organising a trip to her hometown, I just had to jump on the Intercity to join up with her 4-day trip to Bijapur, Badami, Aihole and Pattadkal.

The trip begins

We began our road trip from Pune with a 3-hour train journey to Solapur. Though it was an early start to catch the 6 am Pune Hyderabad Intercity, we enjoyed the ride.. With nine of us chattering away, the three hours went by in a jiffy. The Rajlways surprised me with their ‘airline’ style welcome tea and breakfast. It was definitely an improvement on the limp paper plate with a bread-draped omelet that I had had the day before on the Intercity.

Ciao