Bhootnath Temple Complex (Badami) | archaeological site, 7th century constructions

 temple, archaeological site, 7th century constructions

The Bhutanatha group is a cluster of sandstone temples dedicated to the deity Bhutanatha, in Badami town of Karnataka state, India. 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 or Veranda) 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 (hall) 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.