Bhutanatha Group of Temples, Badami, Karnataka India

The Bhutanatha group of temples comprises of a bunch of sandstone temples, all dedicated to Lord Shiva. This group of temples is located in Badami, near the famous Badami cave temples.

Bhutanatha Temple is one of the two major shrines of the Bhutanatha Group of Temples. This sandstone temple is extremely popular among devotees of Lord Shiva, who is worshipped here in his Bhutanatha avatar, the God of Souls. The open mantapa (a hall or veranda) that stretches to the lake will remind tourists of the early South Indian Dravidian or North Indian Nagara styles of architecture.

The Bhutanatha group of temples along with the cave temples on the hills is the major attraction in Badami, a historical town in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka. This little town, then known as Vatapi, was the capital of the Early Chalukyan Dynasty.