The temple was part of a fortification that possibly included old pictures of the Marathas showing walls constructed on the top.The temple 's original dedication may have been to the Surya, or possibly either Vishnu or Shiva as Vishnu's depictions are as numerous as Shiva's. The temple's most original feature is a peristyle that delimit an ambulatory around the temple itself, and whose walls are lined with sculptures of various gods or goddesses.
The rounded ends at the rear or sanctuary end contain a total of three layers: the sanctuary wall itself, the main temple wall along a passageway running behind it, and a pteroma or outpatient as an open pillar loggia running all around the structure. Stone grilles with various geometrical openwork designs ventilate the ambulatory interior. The center of the shrine is surmounted by a tower that announces shikharas and vimanas of the future higher towers. The amalaka that the shikara once crowned is on the surrounding field.
The temple appears much more conventional from the front; two staircases provide access to the porch, with many richly carved relief panels, including roundels with lovers' groups. The sober and square pillars are decorated with characters around the porch and the peristyle entrance.
The parapet is decorated with tiny animals and niches. The porch offers access to pillar rooms to reach the sanctuary, the heart of the sanctuary. The sanctuary now has no cult image, and two ceiling panels have been removed and are now in the National Museum, New Delhi.
In traditional Indian architecture, the temple form is known as Gajaprasta, which means the resemblance of an elephant 's back. The unusual apsidal shape of the temple is thought to emulate the earlier Buddhist chaitya halls, but recent studies indicate that apsidal designs in Indian architecture were a pan-Asian tradition, adopted by various 2nd century BC faiths.