Sixth Century Shiva Temple

Mahakuta is a tiny village in Karnataka. The main attraction of this place is a Sixth Century CE group of temples. This is a place of religious significance for Shaivites. It is situated in Bagalkot District of Karnataka, a few kilometres away from Badami.

These temple's architecture is a hybrid of Dravidian and Nagara style and they also resemble northern and southern styles. Probably the architects of those times were experimenting on different styles.

At the centre of these temples there is a spring fed tank called Vishnu Pushkarni. A constant stream of water passes through this tank from a mountain spring. They also call it by another name Papavinasha Tirth meaning tank which purifies from sins. This tank has a rare statue of Lingam called Panchamukhi Shiva Linga - with five faces of Shiva. Since swimming is allowed in this tank, swimming here is the greatest past-time of boys who live around these temples.

The outer walls of the temple bear a number of pieces of art executed by sculptors of the Early Chalukyan times. Noteworthy among them are Ardhanareershwara, Varaha rescuing Prithvi, Lakulisha propounder of Yoga system and a few guardian deities. There are also pierced windows characteristic of the Chalukyan temples.