MightyHikers: Garhi Padhavali – A Kachhapaghata Wonder

Madhya Pradesh - The Heart of Incredible India

MightyHikers

Garhi Padhavali – A Kachhapaghata Wonder

LOCATION: Garhi Padhavali – A Kachhapaghata Wonder (35km from Gwalior).

BEST TIME TO VISIT: September to December or you can travel any time throughout year.

Padhavali Fort

Garhi Padhavali – A Kachhapaghata Wonder

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 Garhi Padhavali temple of Madhya Pradesh survives only partially, yet it is one of most profusely and beautifully carved Hindu temple mandapa in India from pre-12th century era. This Padhavali site is from early 10th century (c. 925 CE, Kachhapaghata dynasty). The site was damaged before the 18th century. In the 18th century, Jat rulers from eastern Rajasthan built a small heavy fort just to protect this monument.

Padhavali was an ancient city, but now is a small village. Well over 15 inscriptions have been found near Padhavali, most pre-dating 14th century. Of these, the earliest mention of the importance of Padhavali is in a 7th century inscription. It is repeatedly mentioned through 8th to 12th century as a part of a college-monasteries complex along with the nearby sites of Mitawali (Chausath Yogini temple site) and Bateshwar temples (a site with 200 Hindu temples).

The Garhi Padavali temple faced west. From the ground evidence, it once consisted of a mukhamandapa, an ardhamandapa, a mahamandapa and a garbhagriha. The mahamandapa was later walled up and converted into a structure with a dome on top. The walls and dome were removed in late 1920s by the princely state of Gwalior to reveal the original mahamandapa.

The entire temple stood over a platform. The surviving mahamandapa has sixteen pillars, a high plinth and a vedika. It is open on two sides.

The mahamandapa is notable for its exquisite carvings and reliefs of pillars, ceilings, architraves and pretty much every surface. Some of these are miniatures yet with extraordinary details. The mandapa celebrates all major and some minor traditions of 10th century Hinduism – Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism, Sauraism and some esoteric tantra traditions. Vedic legends such as the samudra manthan are included in the panels. Some of the particularly remarkable panels are of the Saptamatrikas, Natesa-Nataraja, Shaiva legends such as of Andhakasuravadha, Krishna legends, Vishnu dasavataras, Surya, Navagrahas, Chamundi, Ramayana and Mahabharata.

The Garhi Padavali temple's sanctum and sikhara was obliterated after the 13th century and associated structures with artwork are lost to history. In addition a few other Hindu and Jain temples were obliterated, their existence evidenced by numerous broken and mutilated artwork discovered near this site and the village. During the colonial era, archaeologists and amateurs found numerous statues, reliefs and temple parts scattered throughout Padhavali–Mitawali–Bateswar region. Many of better pieces were moved to museums in India and outside India. Some broken statues and artwork recovered from Garhi Padhavali temple site, for example, are now at the Gwalior museum. The Garhi Padhawali temple is a national monument, protected and managed by the ASI.

On arriving at the site you would be forgiven for thinking that there is no temple here at all. 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.
But closer inspection of this fort wall does give us some clues. Notice how the construction appears to be in three distinct layers ? 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. Also notice how the fort bastions are only built from the same material as the upper wall ?
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.
The real splendour of Garhi Padhavi lies up that flight of steps between the two lions. Note that the lions are in fact replicas, the original carvings can now be seen at the Gujari Mahal State Archaeological Museum in Gwalior. It’s one of those days when I wish I had more SD cards to hand for the camera…

The 10th century Shiva temple now stands in a courtyard in the interior of fort. Some scholars believe it was constructed by the Kachhapaghata rulers although there are no inscriptions to absolutely confirm this. Facing east on its own platform the temple is now incomplete, with only the mukha mandapa and ranga mandapa intact.
When Alexander Cunningham visited the temple in the 1880s he was faced with a very different scene to the one that exists today :

Thankfully nobody is now living on the temple roof, and clearly quite a lot of restoration has occurred here to piece back the temple to its current condition.
We have K. K. Muhammed to thank for this, the ASI regional superintendent (now retired), who spearheaded the temple reconstruction in 2006. He was also responsible for overseeing the far more complex task of reconstructing 80 of the 200 temples that can be seen today at Bateshwar, just a couple of km away.

As you enter the temple you get a sneak preview of what is about to envelop you, it’s time to brace yourself and hope those neck muscles are in very good shape.
The temple is profusely decorated, there’s hardly a plain bit of stone on any of the architectural elements. The pillars, beams, ceiling and architraves are completely covered with iconography. It’s initially hard to make sense of it, and even more difficult to contemplate how to photograph.

The detail is exceptional, going right up to the darkest corners where really it’s only modern day technology in the form of zoom cameras that can easily reveal what has been carved.
The largest contiguous panel carvings are on beams extending across the four cardinal points of the temple. I am nowhere near qualified enough to describe them in immense detail, but here is a quick summary :
North Panel (south-facing) – Lord Brahama , Shiva and Vishnu in old age, with lower section depicting celebration at Nandgaon of the birth of Lord Krishna.

East Panel (west-facing) – Chamunda, with lower section depicting Lord Ram and his army of Vanaras performing a puja by a Shiva lingam before the war with Ravana.
South Panel (north-facing) – Lord Shiva with Parvati and Nandi, lower section depicting war scene of Mahabharata killing Abhimanyu.
West Panel (east-facing) – Lord Surya, with lower section depicting Lords Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu.

How to reach (Garhi Padhavali – A Kachhapaghata Wonder:
By Road: Hire a cab so you explore all places like Chausath Yogini Temple, Garhi Padavali Temple, Kakanmath Temple, Bateshwar group of temples.
Bateshwar group of temples Morena (200 Temple) (33 km from Gwalior and 5 km away from Chausath Yogini Temple, Mitaoli and 1 km away from Garhi Padavali Temple).

By Train: Gwalior station which is around 35 kms.

By Air: Gwalior airport which is around 26 kms.

Places to explore near Gwalior city

Ancient Temples and historical gems near Gwalior city

Gwalior Fort

Shri Sahastrabahu Vishnu Mandir (7 km away from Gwalior city), Teli Ka Mandir, Man Mandir Palace Gwalior. Sun Temple, Gopachal Parvat, Samadhi of Rani Lakshmi Bai.

Chausath Yogini Temple, Mitaoli ( 35km from Gwalior).

Garhi Padavali Temple - Morena (32 km from Gwalior and 4 km away from Chausath Yogini Temple, Mitaoli).

Bateshwar group of temples Morena (200 Temple) (33 km from Gwalior and 5 km away from Chausath Yogini Temple, Mitaoli and 1 km away from Garhi Padavali Temple).

Kakanmath Temple (58 km from Gwalior and 23 km away from Chausath Yogini Temple, Mitaoli and 26 km away from Garhi Padavali Temple and 27 km away from Bateshwar group of temples Morena).

Nareshwar Shiva Temples (30 km from Gwalior and about 50 km from Morena).

# Forts of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj & Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj ki jai.....

1. https://mightyhikers.blogspot.com/2025/07/kothaligad-peth-fort-karjat.html (Budget Trip: 250 (Public transport).

2. https://mightyhikers.blogspot.com/2025/07/dhak-bahiri-fort-kamshet.html

3. https://mightyhikers.blogspot.com/2025/07/sarasgad-fort-pali.html

(Budget Trip: 400 (Public transport).

4. https://mightyhikers.blogspot.com/2025/07/31-murud-janjira-fort-murud.html

5. https://mightyhikers.blogspot.com/2025/07/vasota-fort-vyaghragad.html

6. https://mightyhikers.blogspot.com/2025/06/29-fort-asherigad-fort-palghar.html

(Budget Trip: 200 (Public transport).

7. https://mightyhikers.blogspot.com/2025/06/22-fort-mahuli-fort-bhandar-durg.html

(Budget Trip: 200 (Public transport).