Bijapur (Karnataka)

Bijapur now known officially as Vijayapura (Kannada: ವಿಜಯಪುರ), is a city in Karnataka. Bijapur is located 530 km northwest of Bangalore and about 550 km from Mumbai

Understand
From 1490 to 1686, Bijapur was ruled by the Adil Shahi dynasty which left the most important monuments of the town.

By train
The railway station (Station Code : BJP) is linked with Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and other major cities. There are four trains per day from Badami to Bijapur, the journey takes two and a half hours.

By bus
Bijapur is also well connected with other cities by bus. There are five buses from Badami to Bijapur per day. The journey lasts four hours.

From Mumbai, there are direct bus services to Bijapur (but very few). The most convenient option is to take a bus to Belgaum (there are more than 25-30 buses). From Belgaum Central bus stand, there are regular express buses (every 15-20 minutes) to Bijapur. The journey takes 3 hours or so.

Get around
Mahatma Gandhi Square (chowk) is the main place and it is situated in the heart of the city. It is the main market place for the locals and also for the people from towns nearby. There are a lot of rickshaws in town. Their drivers knows all the major attractions of the town. Since no rickshaw has a meter, you need to negotiate their prices very hard.

A very quaint way to get around, especially for tourists, is by tonga or horse buggy as its called. There is a horse buggy stand at MG Square. Alternatively, outside Gol Gumbaz, there are many horse buggies waiting for business. Negotiate a round figure for the whole day and the tonga will take you to all the important places. A small tip at the end (in the name of the horse - tell the driver to buy something special for the horse) will get you a friend for life.

See






Drink
The drinking places of Bijapur are a little squalid. If you would like to have a drink it is more pleasant to do that during day time. The local bars are patronised by the rural population who like to gulp the entire contents of their quarter sized whisky bottle in go. It is an experience for those who like to observe local customs.

Most of the decent hotels on Station Road have a more 'civilised' bar with air conditioning. The range of alcohol choices may be limited i.e. mostly Indian made brands.

Go next

 * Aihole, another Hindu temple complex near Pattadakal.
 * Badami, a village famous for its cave temples located 128 km southwest of Bijapur.
 * Hampi, former capital of the Vijayanagar Empire, now in ruins, destroyed by the armies of Bijapur after the Battle of Talikota. Take a bus from Bijapur bus stand to Hospet and then take the regular 15-minute bus service to Hampi.
 * Pattadakal, Hindu temples which are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. 60 km southwest of Bijapur.
 * Lakkundi
 * Udupi
 * Anshi National Park
 * Tumkur
 * Dakshina Kannada