The Hidimbeswara Temple is the oldest shrine inside Chitradurga Fort, predating most of the defensive walls around it. It is dedicated to the Shiva form worshipped by Hidimbasura, the giant of local Mahabharata legend who supposedly lived on these boulders. The temple is small and unadorned compared to the larger structures in the fort, but it sits at a naturally dramatic spot among the rocks and has an atmosphere the newer buildings lack.
Inside the upper fort, several other temples survive in varying states of preservation: Ekanathamma, Phalguneswara, Gopalakrishna, Anjaneya, and Subbaraya. A large kettle drum said to be Bhima's stands in one of them — six feet tall and ten feet in circumference, never struck except in legend.