Mandsaur is a district town in western Madhya Pradesh with a surprisingly rich archaeological heritage. The main attraction is the Pashupatinath Temple on the bank of the Shivna River — its rare eight-faced Shiva idol has a parallel only in the famous Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu.
The town sits in the Malwa plateau region, where the local language is Malwi, a blend of Rajasthani and Hindi. The surrounding area is one of India's major opium-producing regions, cultivated legally under government license for the pharmaceutical industry. Ancient stone inscriptions and ruins scattered around the district point to a long history of settlement. The Yashodharman Pillar at Sondhni commemorates a sixth-century king who defeated the Huna invaders, and the Dharmarajeshwara Temple — a rock-cut Shaiva shrine sometimes called the Ellora of Madhya Pradesh — is within easy reach of the town.