The Lad Khan temple, built in the late 7th or early 8th century consists of a shrine with two halls or ‘mandapams’ in front of it. The shrine bears a Shiva lingam. The ‘mukha mandapa’ or main hall in front of the sanctum has a set of twelve carved pillars. The ‘sabhamandapa’ or assembly hall in front of the mukha mandapam has pillars arranged in such a manner as to form two concentric squares. There are also stone grids on the wall carrying floral designs. The temple is built in a Panchayat hall style, indicating a very early experiment in temple construction. The windows are filled with lattice work which is a north Indian style. The temple has a sloping two-tiered roof, which imitates wood construction. It is furnished with stone "logs" that cover the joints between the roofing slabs.
The design of the temple contains other unusual features. The porch front is a square mandapa. In the center of the mandapa, a Nandi faces the small interior shrine which abuts the rear wall of the mandapa. Instead of the usual tower, a rooftop shrine is positioned over the center of the mandapa. Aihole is connected by road to other places such as Pattadakal (17 kms), Badami (46 kms) and Bangalore (438 kms). The nearest railway station is at Bagalkot.
