The site is located on sandstone ridges typical of central India, next to a deep gorge through which the Betwā River flows.

[2] He mis-interpreted an account in a Persian chronicle (recording that a dam was opened on the orders of Hoshang Shah of Malwa), as referring to Bhojpur, an idea elaborated by U. N. Day in 1965 and repeated in the subsequent years.

[3] The account, translated by U. N. Day from Persian, states that the king pulled down a dam at the request of local merchants in Bhopal and Vidisha whose caravans were being raided by bandits who would take refuge at an inaccessible spot protected by the lake.

[4] There is no archaeological evidence from Bhojpur before the eleventh century, a fact confirmed by local legends which recount how Bhoja made a vow to build a series of dams "to arrest the streams of nine rivers and ninety-nine rivulets".

The temple at Bhojpur is unique in being left unfinished, with a series of large architectural parts still located in the quarries where the stones were cut and fashioned.

In addition, there are a significant number of architectural drawings engraved on the flat surfaces of the quarry showing mouldings, pillars, and temple plans.

[10] The Suparshanath image on left has an inscription date samvat 1157 which mentions Naravarman, the nephew of king Bhoja, and mentions that the two smaller idols were installed by the grandson of Nemichandra of Vemaka community, who had installed the main image in the middle[11] The same temple complex hosts shrine for Ācārya Manatunga who wrote Bhaktamara Stotra.

The miraculous idol of principal deity Bhagwan Shantinath in standing posture, 6.25 metres (20.5 ft) feet in height, installed in the huge sanctum of this temple.

Immediately opposite the temple, on the west side of the gorge facing the Betwā, is a rock-shelter or cave, now occupied by religious mendicants.

Its association with Bhoja and its close conformity to a text ascribed to the king mark it out as a site of national and international cultural importance.