May in Aihole is the heat dome at peak intensity. Daytime 41-43C, nights 25-27C, humidity 35 percent, rainfall under 25mm. The Bagalkot district plateau records its annual heat peak in the third and fourth week — the same Bayaluseeme rain-shadow belt that locks Hampi, Badami, and Bijapur in the same furnace window. The 120-temple village walks unworkable between 8:30am and 6pm — stone-surface temperatures at the Durga Temple, Lad Khan, and Meguti hilltop reach 50-52C by 1pm. Pre-monsoon dust storms hit the last fortnight, blowing fine red sand across the open-air temple clusters and knocking visibility on the cluster-to-cluster photography routes. The Pulakeshi II inscription at Meguti (the eastern wall, 634 CE, the foundational Chalukya date marker) becomes hard to read in the dust haze. Ravan Phadi cave interior holds 28-30C cool but the route in is brutal. Village homestays drop to year-low ₹800-1,500; Badami base similarly ₹1,800-3k. Aihole is the most heat-vulnerable of the three Chalukya sites — Pattadakal and Badami have small canopies and cliff-shadow respectively, Aihole has neither. Skip. October-February is dramatically better.

Why May scores 2.0/10