English: Cave 1 at Badami is dedicated to Shiva, yet reverentially displays themes and ideas of Vaishnavism and Shaktism. The cave also presents the Hindu equivalence and interdependence concepts of Harihara (fused equal Shiva-Vishnu) and Ardhanarishvara (fused equal masculine-feminine).

The temple has many panels of kama / mithuna scenes of couples in courtship and intimacy. The temple is most known for its dancing Shiva (Nataraja) carving at entrance.

Badami, also mentioned as Vatapi, Vatapipura and Vatapinagari in historical texts, was an important ancient and early medieval era capital. It is the site of the earliest Hindu cave temples whose date can be established with certainty. The earliest cave temple (Cave 3, Vaishnavism) is from the 6th century, with Cave 1 (Shaivism) built shortly thereafter. Cave 2 (Vaishnavism) is dated to the 7th century. Cave 4 features theology and ideas of Jainism, built after the first three. The Badami region is home to numerous medieval era Hindu and Jain temples and monuments. It also has artwork that seem like Buddhist monuments but the syncretic nature of the artwork make them difficult to categorize as belonging to Buddhism or Hinduism.