Garhi Padhavali Shiva temple, Madhya Pradesh

Address

Garhi Padhavali Shiva temple, Bateswar Temple Rd, Morena District, Mitaoli, Madhya Pradesh 476444

Diety

Shiva

Introduction

Located 35 km north of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh and very close to the impressive Bateshwar Temple Complex, Garhi Padhavali (alternate spellings; Paravali, Padawali and Padavali) is a 10th century Shiva temple that holds a bit of a surprise for anyone who decides to visit this monument. The path from the road takes you towards what appears to be a small compact fort (or garhi), with a flight of steps flanked by two posing lions enticing you into the interior. At the base is finely dressed stone with consistent carvings, followed by a rougher course of re-used stone, some of which is decorated, and then finally the upper course consisting of just plain stone bricks. The stratigraphy of this fort wall would bring joy to the heart of any archaeologist. What we are looking at here is an older temple platform that has been augmented to act as the base of the fort wall. The fort itself is actually a relatively modern construction, being built by the Jat rulers of Gohad and Dholpur in the 19th century.. Some scholars believe it was constructed by the Kachhapaghata rulers although there are no inscriptions to absolutely confirm this. Facing east on it’s own platform the temple is now incomplete, with only the mukha mandapa and ranga mandapa intact