The sculpture of Papanatha temple is the only one in Pattakadal that follows both the north and south Indian style of temple building. The architecture of the temple reveals that there has been a clear shift in the style of the architecture. The construction of Papanatha temple commenced in the Nagara style but it later altered to the Dravidian style. The presiding deity here is Muktesvara.

The main features of the architecture of Papanatha temple are its narrow pradakshinapatha. The floor slabs of the circumambulatory path cover up the outer moulding of the garbhagriha. The projections from the north and south walls of the garbhagriha extend to the ardha-mandapa. Both these features are quite unusual for a Pattadakal temple.

Papanatha temple`s main entrance faces the eastern direction. The garbhagriha of the main shrine is surrounded by pradakshinapatha while the three walls have devakoshtha pavilions. On the other hand the ardha-mandpa, sabha-mandapa and an entrance porch have been provided with kakshasana. Another unusual feature of this temple is that the Nandi temple is missing. In its place a well sculpted image of Nandi has been placed on the eastern part of the sabha-mandapa.

The temple building is built on a plinth that has five mouldings. It ahs also been profusely decorated with floral sculptures, animal motifs and kudus. The sculpture of Papanatha temple also comprises the popular perforated windows. The niches in the walls have been filled up with the sculpted figures of Shaiva, Vasihnava deities and tales from Ramayana. On the top of these nooks one will come across chaitya-arch motifs and the perforated windows. Another striking feature of the sculpture of Papanatha temple is the `rekha nagara` shikhara that lies on the northern side. It has been decorated with a well sculpted chaitya arch that houses the image of Nataraja. The regular elements like the kalasa and the amalaka are missing.

The narrative panels in the temple are quite interesting. Incidents from Ramayna and Kiratarjuniya have been sculpted on stone. What is noteworthy here is that the names of the characters have also been etched out along with the characters. The sculptures of Baladeva, Devaraya, Changama, Revadi, Ovajja and others are to be found with the figures. Such details make the sculpture of Papanatha temple worth exploring.

Pillars constitute an integral part of temple architecture. The pillars standing on the porch of this Pattadakal temple have been decorated with Kinnara couples and the columns have the figures of the `dwarapalas.` The corners of the entablature bear the figures of lions and sardulas. On the other hand the ceiling panels of Papanatha temple have been decorated with dancing Shiva with Parvati and musicians and flying figures. Sculptures of damsels and couples have been used as embellishments for pillars and pilasters of the other mandapas. While Anantasayana surrounded by the Dikpalas, Nagaraja and Gajalakshmi adorns the bay ceiling of the sabha mandapa, the ceiling of the ardha mandapa has reliefs of dancing Lord Shiva and He is accompanied by his consort Parvati and musicians.

Another major feature of the sculpture of Papanatha temple is the well carved doorframes.