Located at about fifteen kilometers of Badami, the village of Pattadakal, offers, just like that of Aihole, an extraordinary whole of temples set up by the Chalukyas kings of Badami. The monuments present an astonishing variety of styles, which tends to show that sculptors came from various regions, sometimes remote, to exert their talent here.
The temple of Kada Siddheshavara, low in hieght ,is of the 8th century.The temple of Jambulinga, also of the 8th century, has the characteristic to show, has the shikhara, medallion of a dancing Shiva, accompanied by Pārvatī
The temple of Galaganath
is in front of the precedent. Its shikhara with the curvilinear edges,
is in the northern style (Nagara style), is surmounted by
a stone ball (amālāka), like the deul of Orissa. On the southern wall, a beautiful
relief is detached from a wall with jali; it represents Shiva killing the
Andaka demon.
The temple of Sangameshvara, unfinished and dating from the beginning of the 8th century, with its typically dravidien style , is beautiful.
The temple of Virupaksha,
, constitutes the centre piece of the visit of Pattadakal. Virupaksha is the
name which is locally given to the shape of the God Shiva
and this temple, splendid synthesis of the Chalukya and Pallava styles , was
built to commemorate the victory of the Great Vikramaditya II against
Pallava of Kanchipuram. The external walls and the porches carry
large statues carved with a wealth of details. The pillars of the mandapa
are nicely worked mythological scenes of Rāmāyana and Mahābhārata
The temple of Papanatha
on the edge of a river, a hundred meters of the enclosure
of the Virupaksha temple which one leaves by a porch that the
small a gopuram surmounts. Built at the end of the 7 th century, it is dedicated
to God Shiva , richly decorated with many low-reliefs and planks.
The southern wall, in particular, tells episodes of Rāmāyana. "traditional"
as shown by, Gajalakshmi, the dvārapāla, and the Naga .
The temple of Mallikarjuna, whose style appears completely similar , remained unfinished because of the death of the king.
The pillars and ceilings of the Chandrashekara Temple and the Kashi Vishveshvara Temple describe mythological episodes.