English: The Dasavatara temples, also referred to as Dashavatara archaeological site, is a large site of temple ruins and mounds in Badoh-Pathari, Madhya Pradesh. According to one survey estimate by the French scholar Anne Casile, this site has remains and ruins of about sixty temples. The current site has six standing temples, a few pillared mandapas and vast scatter of ruins, punctuated by mounds and patches of farms.

The site is called Dashavatara temples because it is famous for statues and Hindu artwork of the ten avataras of Vishnu, many of which have been relocated to major museums in and out of India. The Gwalior museum, for example, has the zoomorphic Varaha statue found at this site and serves as one of its star attractions. Many more were discovered here and moved during the colonial era, but mislabelled. Though many temples here are dedicated to each avatar of Vishnu and the site is named Dasavatara, this site includes equal sized temples for other Hindu traditions. For example, one of the temples that still stands is for Surya. All these temples and artwork at this site are from the 5th to 13th-century CE. The mandapika temple ruins here are from 7th to 9th-century.

The Dasavatara site of Badoh includes remains of some colossal sculptures. For example, the Nri-Varaha here is similar to one of the two Eran Varahas, one that has been moved to and preserved at the museum of Sagar university.

The standing temples at this site have remarkable Vaishnava tradition artwork as they offer a comparative basis for dating and study of the same symbolism all over South Asian and Southeast Asian Hindu sites. Similarly, some of the mithuna (amorous couple) panels seen midst these ruins are found in Vishnu temples built between the 7th and 14th centuries all over India.

These ruins show signs of natural erosion, as well as deliberate destruction such of defacement, beheading, chopping of limbs. Similarly the scattering of ruins was not caused by a earthquake as the damaged and broken pieces are randomly mixed and scattered over a wide area.

For a scholarly discussion of this site, see Anne Casile (2009), Temples and the expansion of a religious center in central India: readings of the archaeological landscape of Badoh-Pathari from the 5th to the 10th century AD

Background:

Badoh-Pathari was a major ancient religious and trade hub with many 4th to 6th-century Gupta era monuments and inscriptions, as well as temples through the 11th-century. Rock paintings, microliths and archaeological items discovered here and locations within about 10 miles suggest that this is one of most ancient sites with human activity and creative innovation in central India. Badoh-Pathari along with nearby sites such as Eran and Ramgarh have yielded objective evidence for better understanding of ancient India, as well as the development of Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. Sanskrit texts and early inscriptions found in this region call it Vatodaka. This likely evolved to Vatanagara, then Barnagara, finally to their modern era rural vernacular names.

Badoh-Pathari are now a pair of neighboring villages in eastern Malwa, Vidisha district. Pathari means "rocky, hillock" it is the older site and now the village to the north of Badoh. They are located in a somewhat remote, scenic terrain punctuated by monadnocks. The twin villages are in a valley within four hills – Gyannath, Gadori, Anhora and Sapa – of which the Gyannath (Jnannath) hill is the highest. These hillocks are a rich source of beautiful and excellent constructional sandstone, and they offered a natural resource to build caves, stambhas (pillars) and temples.

Badoh-Pathari has many notable Hindu temples with Shiva, Devi (Shakta) and Vishnu artwork, as well as some notable Jain monuments. Modern highways and roads built in late 2010s have significantly improved access to numerous historic sites centered around Badoh-Pathari.