[4] Located around an eponymous small village surrounded by farmlands and sandstone hills, Aihole is a major archaeological site, featuring over 120 stone and cave temples spread along the Malaprabha river valley, in Bagalakote district.

[17] Aihole is referred to as Ayyavole and Aryapura in its inscriptions and Hindu texts from 4th to 12th century CE, as Aivalli and Ahivolal in colonial British era archaeological reports.

Aihole started the experimentations with other materials such as stone around the 5th century when the Indian subcontinent saw a period of political and cultural stability under the Gupta Empire rulers.

[26][27] Even though the area was not the capital or in immediate vicinity from 9th to 12th centuries, new temples and monasteries of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism continued to be built in the region based on inscriptional, textual and stylistic evidence.

Aihole served as a hub of Hindu temple arts in this period with guild of artisans and merchants called the Ayyavole 500, celebrated for their talent and accomplishments in the historical texts of the Deccan region and South India.

After the defeat of the Vijayanagara Empire on 23 January 1565 at Talikota, Aihole became a part of the Adil Shahi rule from Bijapur, with some of the Muslim commanders using the temples as residence and their compounds as garrison for storing weapons and supplies.

[30] According to T. Richard Blurton, the history of temple arts in north India is unclear as the region was repeatedly sacked by invaders from Central Asia, particularly the Muslim incursion into the subcontinent from 11th-century onwards, and "warfare has greatly reduced the quantity of surviving examples".

Investments in infrastructure, land acquisition and relocation of some residences has allowed limited excavations and created a few dedicated archaeological parks including one for the much-studied Durga temple at Aihole.

[36][37][38] The Aihole's antiquity, along with four other major 5th to 9th century sites – Badami, Pattadakal, Mahakuteshvara and Alampur – is significant to scholarship relating to archaeology and religions.

Though excavations have yielded evidence that scholars disagree in dating, states Harle, it is probable that the earliest surviving temples in Aihole are from the 6th century and later.

According to one theory, it stands near the ruins of a fort-like enclosure or durg during a time of late medieval era Hindu Muslim conflict in the region.

On the opposite wall of Harihara is Shiva with three primary river goddesses of Hindu theology, and he stands with Parvati and the skeletal ascetic Bhringi.

To its north is the sanctum, flanked by Shaiva guardians at its entrance, then Vaishnava Varaha or Vishnu's boar avatar rescuing goddess earth on its left.

[76] Inside the doorway is the mandapa whose ceiling has three large intricate and circular carvings, one each showing Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva on their respective vahanas.

The carvings show religious themes (Vishnu's avatar Narasimha and Shiva Nataraja on wall, Shaiva dvarapalas, Garuda man-bird clasping two serpents), as well as the daily life of the people (dancers, musicians, individuals in Namaste posture, couple carrying offerings for prayers, flowers and animals).

[80][79] Some panels are humorous such as young women with horse head embracing bearded older men found on the eastern porch column.

[81] Its structure and layout feature all elements of the Hindu temple but it is damaged, the image inside the sanctum is missing and the face, nose, and limbs of most of its intricate carvings on the walls are defaced.

[83] According to the hypothesis of Rao, the excavating archaeologist, the 3rd century CE brick temple served as a model and sanctum ground on which a more lasting stone was built.

It is located about 2.5 kilometres south of the Durga temple and ASI museum complex, near the river dam, close to the Veniyar and Ramalinga shrines.

[97] This main temple is from Early Chalukya period (6th or 7th century), has a Kadamba-Nagara style pyramidal shikhara of shrinking squares concentrically placed.

[91][97] The artwork found in the Aihole Galaganatha temple complex includes various styles of auspicious pot motifs (now common in Hindu ceremonies), Durga, Harihara, Maheshvari, Saptamatrikas, mythical makaras, foliage and flowers, birds, and others.

[100] The Galaganatha complex has a diversity of temples and styles with a pastiche effect, states Sinha, which is perhaps evidence of "the degree to which interaction of architectural ideas was taking place in this period in this merchantile town".

The door jambs explore floral and geometric designs, as do the small perforated windows in the sabha mandapa integrated to bring light into the temple.

The carvings include natural themes and amorous couples (for example, man cuddles a woman's shoulder as she lovingly caresses him with one hand and holds him with other both looking at each other).

The artwork presents unusual perspective such as the top view of Vishnu as he sleeps on Sesha, without Lakshmi, but with chakra and conch not in his hand but on the top edge of the bed; Shiva in yoga asana with Parvati seated on his side and her hand on his thigh; three-headed Brahma holding a pasha and kamandalu seated on lotus rather than Hamsa; Durga killing demon buffalo but from an unusual perspective.

The carvings carry symbolic Jain motifs, such as the mythical giant makaras disgorging tiny humans and lotus petals decorations.

[133] The square antechamber leads to sanctum where there is another image of the Mahavira seated in the padmasana yoga position, on a lion throne flanked by two attendants.

[citation needed] Scattered in the prehistoric period megalithic site behind the Meguti temple are many dolmens, numbering about 45 and more are destroyed by treasure hunters.

[139] The Hindu temples at Aihole reflect a "meeting and fragmentation of styles", one that became a creative cradle for new experiments in construction and architecture yielding their local variants, states George Michell.

[142] The Jain temples of Aihole are significant in helping decipher the spread, influence, and interaction of Jainism and Hinduism traditions in the Deccan region.