Category:Ramgarh hill, Vidisha

Ramgarh hill, Vidisha 

4th to 7th century archaeological site with Hindu temples and caves
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Instance of	archaeological site
Location	Vidisha district, Bhopal division, Madhya Pradesh, India
23° 58′ 37.82″ N, 78° 13′ 21.73″ E
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Ramgarh and Parsora are two villages about 4 kilometers north of the Badoh-Pathari. Between Ramgarh and Parsora is the Ramgarh hill, an important Gupta and post-Gupta archaeological site. Located in the direction of ancient Eran (Airikina), it is one of many ancient Hindu sites that developed as a religious center on their own between the 2nd and 12th centuries, leaving behind important archaeological remains.

The Ramgarh hills are made of historically sought after good quality sandstone. These hills have three sites – lower, intermediate and upper sites – within about 400 meters of each other, located near large manmade ancient water reservoirs. The lower site is the largest and is also called Satmarhia or Ramgarh caves. It is at the foot of the primary Ramgarh hill, faces southwest towards Badoh-Pathari, and consists of seven Hindu caves, rock-cut Hindu reliefs and some temple remains. The intermediate and upper sites each have a few standing stone temples and nearby scatter of lost temple ruins.

The Satmarhia site on Ramgarh hill is from 5th to 7th-century, and primarily devoted to Vishnu. In rows on the rock face are 17 reliefs of Vishnu, 5 reliefs of Varaha, 3 of Trivikrama and 1 of Narasimha. The nearby seven caves are in two sets – Cave 1 to 5 together, plus Cave 6 and 7 together but on a separate square plinth. These caves have both Vaishnava and Shaiva iconography. The artwork include reclining Vishnu and Siva linga. Some of the caves now have Shiva linga inside – a modern era insertion into empty caves. In front of Cave 6 and 7 is a remarkable relief of Durga standing with her brother Vishnu, and a bit northwest to it is a seated Ganesha. The surviving temples of Ramgarh hill in Vidisha district have square plan. The Hindu iconography at this site in a style that mirrors Kushana and early Gupta era. Some are too eroded or too deliberately mutilated to ascertain the details for an objective comparison.

The Satmarhia site here should not be confused with another similarly named nearby site: Satmarhi temples site in Badoh-Pathari, which is about 4 kilometers to the south (see: Category:Satmarhi temples group, Badoh). The Ramgarh hill of Vidisha district should also be not confused with the different historic sites also named Ramgarh hills, each in Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand.