Padhavali is a small 18th c AD fort or garhi built around a 10th c AD temple, close to the Bateshwar (or Batesar) group of temples. All that is left of the temple is the plinth and a portion of the entrance structure. It looks like the fort was built to take advantage of the high plinth that the temple was built on. Continue reading
On a previous visit to Gwalior I had visited a host of temples in Morena district, but had missed out on a couple of them, including the Kakanmath temple in Sihoniya village a little to the north of the other monument sites. Continue reading
Gwalior’s Jami Masjid is a Mughal-era structure built in the 1660s, soon after Shah Jahan was deposed by Aurangzeb, making it an early late-Mughal structure. Continue reading
Muhammad Ghaus (or Ghawth) was a 16th c Sufi saint and teacher of the Mughal emperor Humayun as well as Tansen, the famous musician in Akbar’s court. Continue reading
The hill of the Chausath Yogini temple at Mitaoli overlooks an adjacent rocky hill, or what’s left of it. This adjacent hill has been almost entirely excavated and quarried for its stone, to be used in India’s booming construction industry. Continue reading
If the group of temples at nearby Nareshwar get their drama and spectacle from the ravine they are situated in, the temples at Bateshwar get it from the atmospherics created by their sheer number, and elements such as the two stepped tanks at the heart of the group. Continue reading
The unusual 14th c Chausath Yogini temple in Mitaoli (or Mitavali) is among only a handful of such circular temples in India dedicated (originally, in this case) to a cult goddess. Continue reading
