BharatSangraha

Bayaluseeme · Deccan Inland Plateau

Terrain and eco-zones

Semi-arid across most of the plain, with a sharp west-to-east rainfall gradient: Khanapur and the ghat-foot taluks of Belagavi take 1,500–2,500 mm, Dharwad around 800 mm, and Vijayapura 550–600 mm, which makes the eastern end one of the driest places in Karnataka. Summers reach 40–42 °C in the Krishna plain and stay three or four degrees cooler at Belagavi, which sits higher and closer to the crest. Dharwad's climate is transitional in a way its residents will tell you about — the town gets a long, grey, drizzling monsoon that the plain sixty kilometres east does not.

Landforms

Deccan trap plateau under deep black cotton soil, almost featureless over long distancesThe Kaladgi sandstone belt in the Malaprabha valley, forming the red escarpments at Badami and AiholeGhat-foot uplands rising west of Belagavi into moist deciduous and semi-evergreen forestIsolated flat-topped hills and boulder outcrops used as fort sites at Badami, Belagavi and VijayapuraCanal-irrigated alluvium along the Ghataprabha, Malaprabha and Krishna

Rivers and waters

Krishna — the northern trunk, ponded behind the Almatti dam across the Vijayapura and Bagalkot districtsGhataprabha — rising in the Ghats, falling 50-odd metres at Gokak, dammed at HidkalMalaprabha — the Badami and Aihole river, dammed at Navilutheertha, joining the Krishna at KudalasangamaTungabhadra along the southern edge of HaveriBennihalla, Tuparihalla and Markandeya as the plain's own seasonal drainage

Through the year

SeasonMonthsTypicalWhat it is like
WinterNovember–February14–32 °CThe season for jatras, monument visits and weddings. Banashankari's fair falls in it, and the rabi jowar stands in the fields.
SummerMarch–May24–42 °CHot and glaring on the plain, with the sandstone at Badami radiating heat until well after dark. Grapes and raisins come off the vine at Vijayapura in this window.
MonsoonJune–September21–31 °CHeavy and continuous under the crest, thin and unreliable at the eastern end. The Dharwad monsoon is long and grey rather than violent; the Vijayapura one arrives in a handful of storms.
Post-monsoonOctober19–33 °CClear, green and the best light on the sandstone. Reservoirs are full and the falls at Gokak run.

Best time to visitNovember to February for the whole region. October if the point is Gokak and the Ghataprabha in flood. Late January or early February for the Banashankari jatre at Badami, which is the largest fair in the Malaprabha valley and fills every room in the town.

The climate, landforms, rivers and seasons of Bayaluseeme, and the best time of year to visit. (4)