The Varaha Temple is one of the simpler structures in the western group — a small open pavilion housing a colossal monolithic sandstone sculpture of Varaha, the boar avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. The image stands nearly two and a half metres high and is remarkable for the thousands of tiny figures carved across its entire surface: gods, goddesses, celestial attendants, and mythological scenes covering every inch of the boar's body like an illustrated cosmology.
The pavilion itself is relatively modest, but the sculpture inside is one of the finest pieces of art from the Chandela period. Varaha is shown rescuing the earth goddess Bhudevi from the primordial ocean, with her resting on his snout in a gesture of dependence and trust. The contrast between the massive scale of the beast and the delicacy of the individual carved figures is startling.
The temple sits near the entrance to the western enclosure and is easy to miss if you walk straight toward the larger temples. Worth a careful look before you do anything else.