Category:Badoh-Pathari historic sites, Vidisha

Badoh-Pathari, Vidisha 

Twin villages, many ancient and medieval monuments
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Instance of	archaeological site
Location	Vidisha district, Bhopal division, Madhya Pradesh, India
23° 56′ 10″ N, 78° 13′ 11.5″ E
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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 India's oldest known Saptamatrika cave and inscription, many beautiful Hindu temples with Shiva, Devi (Shakta) and Vishnu artwork, as well as notable Jain monuments. While nine notable 5th to 11th century sites are ASI or MP state protected sites, Badoh-Pathari have many more clusters of unprotected small Hindu and Jain temples from 7th to 13th century as one drives on the rural roads that connect Badoh-Pathari – these remain unpublished and rarely visited by anyone other than the villagers. Modern highways and roads built in late 2010s have significantly improved access to the major historic sites centered around Badoh-Pathari.