Bhutanatha Group of Temples, Badami

The Bhutanatha group of temples is a shrines dedicated to the deity Bhutanatha, in Badami . There are two major temples here.Temple No.1, on the east side of the lake, called the Bhutanatha temple has a superstructure that resembles early South Indian style or North Indian style with its open mantapa (hall) extending into the lake, while the smaller Temple No.2 on the north-east side of the lake, sometimes called Mallikarjuna group of temples, has a stepped superstructure, commonly found in Kalyani Chalukya constructions. The inner shrine and mantapa  of Temple No.1 were constructed in the late 7th century during the reign of the Badami Chalukyas while the outer mantapa, facing the Badami tank, was completed during the rule of the Kalyani Chalukyas of the 11th century. Hence the Bhutanatha temples contain architectural forms from different periods. Studies show that these Kalyani Chalukya architects could have belonged to the same early phase workshop that later built the nearby Yellamma temple and the Mallikarjuna temple group.

In the inner hall of the Bhutanatha temple, a heavy architrave above the columns divides the hall into a central nave and two aisles. The pillars are massive and the bays in the ceiling of the nave is decorated with lotus rosette. Perforated windows bring dim light into the inner mantapa.On either side of the foot of the shrine doorway is an image, that of goddess Ganga on her vehicle, the makara, on the right, and on the left, that of goddesses Yamuna riding the tortoise. There is no dedicatory block upon the lintel to indicate to which deity the initial dedication was for. The Shiva linga in the shrine appears to be a later addition after the original deity in the sanctum was removed.

The temple is unfinished and at the base of the superstructure (Sikhara) are vestiges of Jain architecture. The image niches on the wall of the shrine and the hall are now empty though some decorative elements like makharas (mythical beast) with long tails still remain. To the north of the hall is a small shrine which was originally consecrated for Vishnu. Following later Jain modifications, the temple was eventually taken over by the followers of Lingayatism who built an outer hall and installed a Nandi (vehicle of Shiva), and a Shiva linga inside the sanctum.

The Mallikarjuna group exhibits topological features popularised by the Kalyani Chalukya architects, including plain walls, angled eaves over the open mantapa and pyramid shaped superstructures made of closely spaced horizontal tiers.