Findings of Badoh Pathari and Gyaraspur

Srishti Ghosh

Archaeological Survey of India, Bhopal Circle, India

Keywords Badoh-Pathari, Gyaraspur, Vidisha District, Gupta, Pratihara, Rashtrakuta, Archaeological Sites, Temple

Complexes, Historical Heritage, Religious Diversity, Tolerance, Watchtower, Seated Buddha.

Abstract: This paper examines Badoh-Pathari and Gyaraspur, twin towns in Vidisha district with rich Gupta, Pratihara,

and Rashtrakuta historical connections. In Badoh, two notable structures have been unearthed near the Jain

temple: a Gateway (Toran Dwar) and the Bedi, the former having become part of a residential structure and

the latter obscured by vegetation. Gyaraspur, another town in the Vidisha district, features prominent

landmarks like the Bajramath temple, Dhekinath stupa, Ath Khamba, Hindola Torana, and Maladevi temple,

reflecting the coexistence of Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. These towns contain various archaeological

sites, some protected but many unexplored or incorporated into residences. The paper also discusses a

watchtower-like structure near Hindola Torana, emphasizing the region's religious diversity and tolerance.

1 INTRODUCTION

Badoh-Pathari and Gyaraspur are towns with rich

historical and archaeological significance. Dynasties

like Guptas, Rashtrakutas, Pratiharas and Parmaras

ruled here. A trace of Kalchuris of Tripuri is also

found in one of these towns. Many architectural

structures have been found in the twin towns of

Badoh-Pathari. These towns are filled with

architectural remains like temples, small water tanks,

pillars, rock-cut caves with sculptures, etc. In the

town of Gyaraspur, architectural structures related to

various religions of various periods are visible. A

structure like that of Bajramath is a good example of

mixing different religions under one roof. Although

the temple was made for Hindu Gods and Goddesses,

later on, Jain iconography is found inside the temple’s

garbhgriha. Another religious structure was that of

the Dhekinath Buddhist stupa. Few other structures

were found that reflect the height of architectural

development of its time.

2 OBJECTIVE

The objective of this paper is to repost the findings of

the archaeological structure found in the towns of

Badoh and Gyaraspur. Pathari has been mentioned in

this paper, so as to have an idea of what the

surroundings are of the remains in Badoh.

2.1 Geographical Features

Figure 1: Location of the sites in the state of Madhya

Pradesh.

The towns of Badoh-Pathari and Gyaraspur (Map 1)

lie in the Vidisha district, Madhya Pradesh, with the

former being a part of Kurwai tehsil and the latter

being a part of Gyaraspur tehsil. The District of

Vidisha lies on the Vindhyachal plateau, off the main

Vindhyanchal range. The plateau slopes towards the

north and is drained by several rivers of Malwa and

Bundelkhand. The Bina valley extends in a narrow

belt along the eastern boundary and also includes the

valleys of its tributaries, the Babuai and the Bagaru.

The village of Pathari also overlooks the Bina valley.

Ghosh, S.

Findings of Badoh Pathari and Gyaraspur.

DOI: 10.5220/0012522400003792

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 1st Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies (PAMIR 2023), pages 887-891

ISBN: 978-989-758-687-3

887

Figure 2: (a) Location of the Structures in Badoh (b) Location of Structures in Gyaraspur.

Figure 3: General View of the Gateway/Torana Dwar.

The Garhi-Teonda range extends from south to

north between the valleys of the Betwa and the Bina.

It is the most extensive hill range in the district and

the most prominent. The twin towns of Badoh-Pathari

lie in the eastern part of this range, with an average

elevation of 520m. The town of Gyaraspur lies in the

foothills of this range (Topography, Badoh,

Gyaraspur, Pathari, 1979).

1.1 Badoh-Pathari

In the towns of Badoh-Pathari, many archaeological

remains are found. While some have been conserved,

others are still found in ruins. These remains are a

path to great knowledge of the past and are a

testament to their time. They help determine a time's

political history, religious beliefs, and art and

architecture. The towns prospered the most during the

-10

century, architecturally. These were the

periods when Pratihars and Parmars were ruling in

this place. It consists of a large tank, which is

surrounded by remains of temples, monolithic pillars,

rock-cut panels, etc. (Gyaraspur, Badoh-Pathari,

1998) The findings of a new architectural remain

have been found in the town of Badoh. In an

exploration done in August by officers of the

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Bhopal Circle,

the ruins of a Gateway (Torana Dwar)

(23°55'39.04"N, 78°13'23.47"E) and a structure,

called Bedi (23°55'39.04"N, 78°13'21.93"E), by the

locals, was found in the village of Badoh (Map 2).

Both of these areas lie to the north of the Jain Temple

of Badoh, which lies on the main road to the village

of Badoh, at a distance of 700 m.

The Gateway (Fig. 1) has been whitewashed and

lies at a house’s entrance. It is a complete structure.

No damage as such was visible in it. There is a

possibility of a nearby structure (Ghosh, 2022). The

area where the Gateway is standing is not a private

land. At the bottom of the right-side pillars, two

motifs can be seen. The motifs look partially broken.

Since it has been whitewashed, it is difficult to

understand the embossing.

At the centre of the Gateway, a seated female

figure (Fig. 2 a) is visible. This is Goddess Lakshmi,

in Lalitasana. Her front hands rest on her respective

legs and the hands at the back are holding her

attributes. Near the head, on both sides are the heads

of elephants whose trunks are raised. The figures are

present inside the Lalatbimba.

Going further to the north-west of this structure

remains of another structure (Fig.2 b) are visible,

which the locals call Bedi. This structure is

completely covered in bushes. Only a lintel is visible

initially. Some fallen part of the structure was also

found strewn around.

When the lintel was further checked, it revealed a

whole structure (Fig. 3) beneath it. The lintels were

monolithic and at the top of the shaft, beautiful

designs can be seen. A part of this structure was still

covered by a roof. In one part of the structure, the

pillar had fallen in. The roof was barely balanced. The

whole structure had some 10 pillars that were

viewable.

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Figure 4: (a) The Structure (b) Ala.

Figure 5: (a) & (b) The Structures of 1st Site.

On the walls of the structure is some Ala, (Fig. 4)

inside which might have been sculptures, at one point.

No sculptures were found inside the structure but

some sculptures were found nearby. The Ala was

completely covered with algae. Just above it was a

lintel, supporting two pillars. On the lintel, it can be

viewed, that there are some embossed designs.

Although most of the parts of the structure are

completely covered with bushes and some part of it is

inaccessible due to the dense bush, it can be said that

the structure looked more like a Baodi (Well) than a

Bedi. It even had some steps inside to walk down.

Another reason to consider it a Baodi is because

of the presence of tanks in the north and the south of

it. During the rainy season this place and many other

such tanks gets filled with water. Moreover, since the

river is far from here. It is a good reason to store

water, in the form of tanks.

Some scholars in the earlier 1990s (Mahapatra,

1995) explored this area had found some sculptures

of Vishnu and Surya, which were then taken by the

ASI officers of Bhopal circle to be kept safe.

3 GYARASPUR

The town of Gyaraspur has been a town of importance

in the late ancient to medieval period, as is evident

front he scattered remains, in and around the town.

The place has had an influence of Hinduism,

Buddhism and Jainism. Some of the principal

monuments of this place are- Athkhamba, Bajramath,

Maladevi Temple, Dhekinath Temple and Hindola

Torana (Gateway). These monuments all show the

work of the Pratiharas and Parmaras. One of the

structures even has the influence of Kalchuris.

Besides these major monuments, there are a few

minor monuments like Garhi (fortress), Masarovara

tank, sati stones, fragmentary sculptures, etc., deserve

special mention (Badoh-Pathari, Gyaraspur, 2002).

Findings of Badoh Pathari and Gyaraspur

889

Figure 6: (a) Seated Goddess (b)View of Structure.

Figure 7: (a) Buddha’s statue (b)Face of the Buddha’s statue.

The ruins of Gyaraspur are found approximately

1 km away, (Map 3) to the north of the Hindola

Torana. The sites lay at an elevation of 480-490 m.

The 1st site (23°40'16.19"N, 78° 7'2.24"E) is at

the top of Jain Gufa (Fig. 5), Gyaraspur. The area

looks like a guard watch tower, with a decorated

window, facing the Mansarovar tank. It can also be an

open mandapa, to place the sculpture of gods and

goddesses for decoration or viewing purposes

(Ghosh, 2022). After further research, it is still

difficult to determine what architectural structure it

was and in whose period, this was made. From the

different books, these structures are a part of the

Vishnu temple, as they mention a figure of the Garuda

in the lintel (Gyaraspur, Badoh-Pathari, 1998) and

judging from its appearance, it seemed to have been

built in the 8

-9

century CE. Although the figure of

Garuda is not visible today. It could have either been

stolen or fallen.

The 2nd site (23°40'17.29"N, 78°06'58.63"E) is

on the west of the 1st site at the top of the hill, at a

distance of 100m. The area is covered with shrubs,

that have some thorns on them. The area is strewn

with small sculptures and panels. In this area, a large

seated Buddha sculpture in Padmasana on a lotus

(Fig. 6a) is seen, lying on its back. The face is

weathered (Fig. 6b), but still, some features are

visible. The hands of the Buddha are broken;

therefore, the hand mudra cannot be determined. The

base of some structures was also visible partially.

From the different books, it can be determined that

through past explorations, platforms built on dry

rubble masonry which may be the remnants of a

Buddhist stupa, were found (Mahapatra, 1995). The

books also mention about three more Buddhist

sculptures found around the site stupa in the cardinal

directions.

4 CONCLUSION

The district of Vidisha is rich in heritage, due to its

location. It has seen the rise and fall of countless

dynasties. These dynasties have left behind important

remains, which help us understand the past. Almost

all the dynasties ruled here. Badoh-Pathari and

Gyaraspur are such towns, which have countless

remains of humans. Some of them have been

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discovered while some still await, to be discovered.

The discovered ones are protected either by the

Archaeological Survey of India or by the State

Department. Their protection keeps these sites safe

and sound. Some have been explored and discovered,

yet they wait for the necessary action to be taken. The

ruins of Badoh-Pathari and Gyraspur are of such kind.

The findings of Badoh mentioned here, are a

Gateway and a Bedi/Baodi. When the sites were

explored, it was found, that the sites are close to

getting destructed, through the increasing amount of

encroachment. Most of the nearby parts of the Bedi

was already encroached and many of the sculptures

were found around the structure, some of which might

have been taken by the locals to offer daily prayers,

in their home. These sculptures are lying around in a

dilapidated condition, getting covered by the daily

garbage thrown by the inhabitants of the village.

The Gateway has already become a part of someone’s

house, resulting in the structure getting whitewashed

and losing its originality. Not only this, even nature is

taking its course and covering up the ruins and after

some time, the ruins might not even be visible to

anyone. The structures found in Gyaraspur, although

have been discovered by many other scholars, are still

left in a dilapidated condition. The structural remains

are constantly tolerating the pressure of nature,

without any outward help. Some of them are

destructed, due to certain reasons and in order to keep

them safe and show their glorious past, they need

outward help. Also from the current exploration it

was understood that some parts of the structure

mentioned by the earlier scholars are not visible

today. This could be due to the part of the structure

either falling down or getting stolen.

What both these sites require at the present time is

some form of conservation and restoration. This way

we can all protect our heritage and bring back the

beauty of the site. Conservation will also keep the site

safe from its parts being stolen. As we visit these

sites, we will see an enriched culture that has pulled

the best aspects from previous centuries.

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