The tower over the entrance is three tiered and the temple has a large prakara (bounding wall) which makes for a large court yard. The open mantapa (hall) leads to a closed mantapa (or navaranga) which has minor shrines for several Hindu deities: Rama, Ambegal Krishna, Sriranga (a form of Vishnu in the reclining posture), Narasimha (Vishnu with the head of a Lion), Ganesha and Saptamatrika.
According to the critic Veena Shekar, the art of mural paintings migrated to Karnataka and the murals in this temple are "folkish" in character.According to the art historian George Michell, the murals of this temple are among the best from the Mysore period and the courtly paintings depicting processions exude a Mogul influence.
The murals on the walls and ceiling are divided into three rows: The first row depicts the Krishna Leela ("Krishna's play") of the god Krishna, the second row depicts a scene from the court of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar III with Nallappa (one of the sons of the Dewan Krishnappa) in attendance, while the third row depicts a scene from the court of Haidar Ali and his son Tipu Sultan with Kacheri Krishnappa, and Ravanappa and Venkatappa (maternal uncles of Nallappa who held high posts) in attendance. According to Veena Shekar, based on the style, the portrait of Maharaja Krishna Raja Wodeyar III (who ruled after the death of Haider and Tipu Sultan) may have been incorporated in the early 19th century.
The ceiling of the main entrance mantapa has a mural in which the god Krishna plays the flute to other cowherd friends while watching Tipu Sultan fighting a Tiger. The ceiling has four beams each with a mural: the first depicts riderless horses followed by elephants; the second depicts horsemen wearing conical caps (common during the Vijayanagara era) with some horsman in gallop, others carrying flags and a couple on foot; the third depicts horseman, some riding and others on foot followed by elephants and a cart carrying cannons.
Michell concurs regarding the likeness these murals bear to the ones in the Virupaksha temple at Hampi as well as at the Siddheshvara temple at Holalgundi, also a late 18th-century construction.
