Pali is a small village in the Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh. Not much has been published about the town and its temple in the annals of Indian temple scholarship.
Shiv Temple – The temple is constructed over a high platform and faces east. It has survived with its garbhagrha and antarala. There was once a mukha-mandapa in the front. The garbhagrha doorway is exquisitely carved with figures and motifs. It has four shakhas (jambs). The innermost shakha has a floral scroll. The next shakha has dancers and musicians. The following shakha has sculptural panels depicting amorous couples. The last and outermost shakha has floral scrolls. At the base of the jambs are the river goddesses, Ganga and Yamuna, standing over their respective vahanas, makara and kachchapa. They are accompanied by three attendants, one holding a parasol above. Over the extreme ends are Shaiva dvarapalas. Various water plants, lotuses, and nagas are above and around the river goddesses, representing the water world. A few rishis are shown doing yajna in a panel above Ganga.
The lintel is equally decorated. Shiva with Uma is present over the lalata-bimba. The left terminal niche has a statue of Vaishnavi; the goddess in the right terminal niche can not be satisfactorily identified. She may represent Brahmani but lacks all the usual characteristics. The recessed space has three registers of sculptures. The topmost register has a frieze of Navagrahs, all shown standing with their respective vahanas. The two registers below have sculptures of flying vidhyadhara couples and seated semi-divine divinities. The architrave above the lintel has Shiva on its lalata-bimba, Vishnu, and Brahma over the terminal niches. The recessed space is occupied by the Saptamatrika group, accompanied by Veerabhadra and Ganesha at the terminals.
The vertical elevation comprises adhishthana (or vedibandha), jangha, and shikhara. The shikhara has not survived. The adhishthana rests over an upana molding topped with a mahapadma (cyma recta). This is followed by the multiple moldings of adhishthana: khura, kumbha, kalasa, and kapotapali. The moldings are plain except for a geometrical frieze below the kapotapali. The jangha follows the pancharatha (five projections) plan and has a pillared niche on the bhadra and sculptures over the karna. The bhadra niches are empty, while the karna has sculptures of ashta-dikpalas. The kapali section also has niches, but all are empty at present. The temple belongs to the 10th-11th century CE.
Acknowledgment: Some of the photos above are in CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain from the collection released by the Tapesh Yadav Foundation for Indian Heritage.