File:Aihole - durg temple.jpg

English: The Durg temple that owes its name to the fort (durg in kannada). This was a temple dedicated to Surya, that was later rededicated to Vishnu. It sports an semi-circular and apsidal shape, and is said to be the first complete structure that has all temple elements planned - a garbha griha or sanctum santorum, a mukha mantapa or entrance, a sabha mantapa or assembly hall, an ardha mantapa or ante-chamber, a pradakshina patha or path for circumambulation and finally, a shikhara or the temple mount. Early literature calls the shape - gajaprushtaakriti - or shaped like a backside of an elephant. The temple itself is shaped like a horseshoe, and was ransacked in later years.