The Virupaksha temple was built over centuries. While inscriptions suggest that the earliest shrine dated to the ninth-tenth centuries, it was substantially enlarged with the establishment of the Vijayanagara Empire.
- The hall in front of the main shrine was built by Krishnadeva Raya to mark his accession. .
- He is also credited with the construction of the eastern gopuram. These additions meant that the central shrine came to occupy a relatively small part of the complex.
- The halls in the temple were used for a variety of purposes. Some were spaces in which the images of gods were placed to witness special programmes of music, dance, drama, etc. Others were used to celebrate the marriages of deities, and yet others were meant for the deities to swing in.
- Other distinctive features include mandapas or pavilions and long, pillared corridors that often ran around the shrines within the temple complex.
