English: Pali is a village in Korba district of Chhattisgarh, about 50 kilometers northeast of Bilaspur. East of highway 130 is a 9th-century stone temple with artwork of Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism traditions of Hinduism.

Known as the Pali temple – Pali Shiva Mandir, Shiv Mandir of Pali – it was expanded and renovated in 11th and 12th-century with the 9th-century sanctum and structure intact. For dating and other details of this temple, see S. Adhikari (2012), Proceedings of the Indian History Congress , Vol. 73, pp. 1242-1249.

The temple is notable for its square sanctum and intricate carvings both inside and outside the temple. It is also notable for its uncommon octagonal mandapam. The temple and its artwork was badly damaged in Mughal era regional raids of expansion after the 15th-century. It was largely abandoned except for the devotion of yogis. British archaeologists rediscovered its significance and archival photographs of early 20th-century show a forest overtaking it. The temple has been restored. The temple sanctum is dedicated to Shiva and now a popular site for pilgrims on Maha Shivaratri.

The archival photograph was taken in late 19th-century and published in 1906 by A.H. Nelson. This is a photograph of a personally owned copy of that archival 2D work whose copyright has expired worldwide. Therefore wikimedia commons PD-Art license rules apply. Any rights I have as a photographer, I herewith donate it to wikimedia commons, under Creative Commons 4.0 license.