The sculptures here are superb, particularly the beautiful dancing Shiva who seems to be trembling with motion. Then there is image of the fearsome Mahishasuramardini or the Mother Goddess Durga destroying the demon Mahisha. This cave is well worth a long visit.The main Aihole temple complex is some distance away. There are about a hundred shrines, large and small, dotted all across this abandoned capital of the Chalukyas though only a few of them are in the fenced area. At one time, Aihole was a thriving trading town with a guild of 500 merchants. Today, it is a hamlet, though fenced out of the area protected by the Archeological Survey of India.
Of particular interest is the Durg Temple, which is not only the most decorated monument in Aihole, but it is also famous as an imitation of a Buddhist rock-cut chaitya hall. There is also the unusual Lad Khan temple. Some historians believe that this was never intended to be a temple but a village meeting place built to resemble a thatched hall. It is also likely that the early Chalukyan architects created these two shrines when they first attempted to build structural temples for the Hindus to worship in.
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