File:Sidilu Mallikarjuna Swamy temple complex, Bettadapura, Karnataka 03.jpg

English: Bettadapura is a scenic village in southwestern Karnataka about 90 kilometers from Kerala border. Bettadapura means "town of hills". On the southeast side of the village is an isolated conical hill with 180 degrees view of the terrain around – a location highly recommended in Hindu Sanskrit texts as a site for temple. On top of this hill is a fortified temples complex, with Sidilu Mallikarjun temple as the main temple.

A historic pilgrim trail with about 3000 steps lead to this large complex with numerous structures such as toranas, gopuras, mandapas, pond, small temples for Durga, Vishnu as well as Shaiva saints overgrown with forest, Narada-titha, rock-cut caves, many inscription stones from different centuries. The fort and many structures in the temple complex are from the 17th-century, but shows considerable damage as it repeatedly changed hands from Hindu kings and those of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan who attempted to create a Mysore Sultanate.

The Mallikarjuna temple is dedicated to Shiva. Its floor plan follows the square and circle symmetry principle of Hindu architecture. The linga in the sanctum is called Annadani Mallikarjuna and Sidilu Mallikarjuna.

This complex has notable artwork of Mahisasuramardini, Nandi, Venugopala (Vishnu), Brahma, Yogi-Shiva, Shiva-Parvati wedding, Saptamatrikas, Bhramarambike, Kalingamardana, Dakshinamurti, Ganesha, Kesava, Bhairava, and a scene from the Ramayana epic. The most impressive artwork is that of a royal Shiva bhakta wearing dhoti and jewelry in namaste posture and bent in reverence in the northeast corner of the Mallikarjuna temple. This is a Hoysala artwork, and helps date the temple and the earliest layer of structures here to late 12th to mid 13th century.