<P> The nearest airport to Pattadakal is Sambra Belgaum Airport (IATA Code: IXG), a 3 hour drive to the west, which operates daily flights to Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai . Access to the site by train is also possible via an Indian Railways service that stops at Badami on the Hubli - Solapur metre - gauge line . </P> <P> Pattadakal ("place of coronation") was considered a holy place, being where the Malprabha river turned northwards towards the Himalayas and the Kailasha mountan (uttara - vahini). As its name implies, it was used during the Chalukya dynasty for coronation ceremonies, such as that of Vinayaditya in the 7th century CE . Other names this place was known by were Kisuvolal meaning "valley of red soil", Raktapura meaning "city of red", and Pattada - Kisuvolal meaning "red soil valley for coronation". The site, states Archaeological Survey of India, is mentioned in texts by Srivijaya and is referred to by Ptolemy as "Petirgal" in his Geography . </P> <P> Pattadakal became, along with nearby Aihole and Badami, a major cultural center and religious site for innovations in architecture and experimentation of ideas . The rule of the Gupta Empire during the 5th century brought about a period of political stability, during which Aihole became a locus of scholarship . The experimentations in architecture extended into Badami over the course of the next two centuries . This culture of learning encompassed Pattadakal in the 7th century which became a nexus where ideas from northern and southern India fused . It was during this latter period that the Chalukya empire constructed many of the temples in Aihole - Badami - Pattadakal region . </P> <P> After the fall of the Chalukya Empire, the region was annexed by the Rashtrakuta kingdom, who would rule over the region into the 10th century . In the 11th century, and into the 12th century, the region came under the rule of the Late Chalukyas (Western Chalukya Empire, Chalukyas of Kalyani), an offshoot of the Early Chalukya Empire . Although the area was not a capital region, nor in proximity to one, numerous sources such as inscriptions, contemporaneous texts and the architectural style indicate that, from the 9th to 12th centuries, new Hindu, Jain and Buddhist temples and monasteries continued to be built in the Pattadakal region . Historian George Michell attributes this to the presence of a substantial population and its burgeoning wealth . </P>

Who built the temples at aihole badami and pattadakal